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Where would you go if you were to lose your home suddenly through no fault of your own? Some people might have the option of crashing with family or friends. Others might keep their belongings in a storage container and live there too. But that's not feasible or safe long-term.
Published: August 15, 2022
Where would you go if you were to lose your home suddenly through no fault of your own? Some people might have the option of crashing with family or friends. Others might keep their belongings in a storage container and live there too. But that’s not feasible or safe long-term.
The simple answer: No.
Local and federal housing laws generally prohibit people from living in storage containers. Storage facilities are typically required to evict anyone they find living on the premises to comply with these laws and most insurance policies.
The reasons for this restriction are understandable. To begin with, it’s unsafe to live in a storage container – in 2019, a man died from a fire that started inside one of these containers. Additionally, due to health concerns, police have had to evacuate people from these facilities. Finally, living in an area not zoned for residential use is against the law.
There are several dangers of living in a storage container that make it illegal.
Many storage containers have garage-style doors that can only be locked from the outside. Management does periodic walkthroughs to check that all the doors are secure, but this could unintentionally result in somebody getting trapped inside. If you’re living in a container, there’s a possibility you could get shut in for an indefinite amount of time. Feeling claustrophobic would be the best-case scenario here, the worst case being death by suffocation.
Natural light is essential to psychological well-being. People living in storage containers could find themselves depressed, lethargic, and claustrophobic due to their lack of space and light. This can be especially detrimental to children.
If you decide to reside in a storage facility, you’ll be confined to the container or sitting quietly inside it for most of your day since doing so is forbidden. Either way, you’ll be restricted on your bathing and restroom options. Personal hygiene suffers, and health problems can develop without access to regular, flowing water.
You should never reside in a storage container under any circumstances. It’s difficult to assess the scale of this problem, and it varies from region to area. Homelessness exists in many forms, and an unknown number of these individuals attempt to dwell in storage containers. At UNITS Moving and Portable Storage of New Orleans, we want to stress that this decision is illegal and unsafe.
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