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Rent prices in London are so expensive, that most people cannot afford to live in normal-sized apartments. This is like living room. space. This means that people must get creative and live smaller if they wanna be in Europe's most desirable city. This is the whole space right here. Today, I'm on a mission to track down residents living in the most claustrophobic spaces. And we begin with Harrison. All good. Let's go man. How's it going? Oh, you're good, man. All good. Who built his entire life on top of a literal dumpster.
You actually live here? I live here full time. Wait, there's no lock? It just, opens? Well, there was supposed to be a little bit of a lock. Aha. There's the lock. This is the. the technique. This is also a nice security measure. Someone did break in. Oh, no. And I came home one day, they were sitting out here smoking. And I was like -. By the way, this is a skip, which in the UK. is basically a dumpster. Yeah. So you live in a dumpster? So I did live in a dumpster.
Let's do it, man. Entering the skip house of London. Wow. cool. It's not an easy. entrance initially but, its. you get used to it. Dude, you actually live here?! This is freaking insane. bro! What is going on? Just a hop, skip, and a jump. Easy. Bro, this is so. freaking cool! This is the entire place! How long have you been living here? Two and a half years now. And you built it yourself? I built it, yeah, myself.
You seem like a construction type guy. So. Yeah. That's pretty much my job, architecture. Like, I came up with the idea. three years ago when I was looking for places to live. As everyone knows, London rent is the craziest. So I was like, oh, there's got to be another way. for me to find a place to live. And I'd already done two or three projects with skips. before, and so then I kind of connected the dots and I was like, I wonder if I could live inside one. You've literally built this. Came up with the idea, did the design. How long did it take you to build it? Took three whole weeks. That's it?
Super quick. So it's just you? Me and. mainly one of my friends. Do you actually pay rent here? I pay a little bit towards the land. Like a tiny little bit. Like. Like a? 100 quid a month? £340 a month now. Harrison, do you mind giving me a little tour here of how things operate? Of course. We'll do the main things first. Bed is above my head. So I have a ladder. all the way up. So, this is technically a living room?
This is like living room. space. Slash kitchen, slash. slash kitchen, slash everything. And then. Storage is all up on the side. So this is all. clothes. You hanging up, jackets. Yeah. Uh. toiletries. This drawing. I got for my third birthday from my dad. That's awesome! What is this thing? Rock climbing? Rock climbing. If you notice, there is a whole route. What? All the way up. It's the worst thing. You know what I'm gonna ask you next, Harrison?
I can't see a rock climbing route without taking it. I'm gonna try it, too, but just show me the first step. How do you do it? These were just like second hand. Okay. This is the start position. Both feet up. And then there's two holes. behind. And then, you can swap your feet. Okay. And there's another hole, bro. So the game is don't. The ground is. it's lava. Yeah. Can't touch the ground. Then there's one more. Little one there. And then. that's the last hole.
Nice, dude. Then you jump into bed from there. Exactly. It's. crazy! This dude's rock climbing. How many square meters is this? You could say it's like. four square meters, maybe. On this side, right here is the kitchen. I see we got a sink. Do you have running water? I have. a tap outside, which comes. through a hose. from my very kind neighbor. So I basically carry this out. Pretty much every day.
Yeah, you hear that every night when you sleep? I do. Oh, my God! So we got incense here, smelling good! Incense. We got Buddha something over there, whatever that is. We got another Buddha cat thing. That was my first gift, the day I literally moved this skip. into the land. Somebody walked past. and I spoke to her. It's only good luck if the left arm is moving. Yeah. Wow. Wait, you can't. there you go. The left arm should always be moving. You got some.
Russian money up there. You got some photos. Skips, whatever that means. Skips in a skip. I like your little travel section. That's cool. Do you have power? Have, uh. How do you have power here? The water there's an electrical box, like, just behind here. So I literally run an extension cable through here. For free? I pay for it. I pay. it works out as like, £30 a month. How much did you spend to build this house? It cost me. about four or five thousand pounds over the course of. since I've been here now two and a half years, then it works out as a. good saving.
I'm heading upstairs to Harrison's bedroom. But in order to get there, I'm gonna rock climb. So if I remember correctly, you start here. Yeah. You might want to face the other way. I'll take any tips if you have. That's the one. I'm also pretty short. No, this is good. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's it. There's another hold up the top as well. Yeah. And then foot across. Yeah. Exactly. That's good! That's a nice thing! Damn, dude. And then there's a. there's another little foot in here.
Oh, a little footsie. It's. not the best foot. And there's a hidden hold behind it. I got it. Yeah. Working up a little sweat here. And then the last hole. Got it. Don't crash down on. I made it! Damn! Like, this is actually insane. Just for the fresh breeze. So this is where you sleep? Yes. So I imagine in the. summertime. it's really hot and wintertime is really cold. Yeah. Summertime I have like. a fan here, full blast straight on me. And then. winter, I got heated downstairs and actually that works pretty good.
If you wake up from a nightmare and you stand up, you're gonna boom, bang your head. So you gotta be careful. Do you have Wi-Fi? Kind of. I have like. I have a hotspot, like a. 3G dongle thing. So you have. water, you have electricity, you kind of have Internet. Those are all pluses. Where's the bathroom, bro? Bathroom, shower, that's the. not so big, bro. Porta Potty is the toilet. That's all I've got. And then shower, a shower at the gym, a shower at work.
Whoaaaaa. Okay, now we just got more intense. There's no shower. Just outside the skip house, five meters away is. The loo. They come and empty it like every couple weeks. Okay. Which is amazing. Couple weeks, so it must be pretty stinky in there. The tools. stored here, bro. I've never in my life seen a bathroom used as a storage, you know like this. Okay. A couple of spiderwebs and stuff.
Yeah. But, you got. place to do your business and. that's all you really need. That's all you need. Yeah. A shower is what you need. A shower. I really need a shower now. Wow. Harrison, the main question I want to ask you. Are you happy in this skip house? Of course. Very happy. I pulled up, yeah. I'm trying to convince myself here, but I'm happy here. Harrison isn't the only one getting creative to save money on rent. On the other side of London, I connected with a girl named Shannon, whose home is a self-made boat on the canal.
It's quite the hipster part of town. A lot of cafes, bars. This must be the canal. right here. Little Amsterdamy vibes. Whoa. This is cool! This is the way down. It's over here. Looks like a proper. squatter area. Smells like piss. Super interesting, this neighborhood! A lot of graffiti on the walls. Nice to meet you. All right. This is Shannon's place. Well, it's a little bit sketchy around here, so. just don't leave anything out, 'cause I got my phone swiped. the other day.
The other day? So someone. Yeah. came past on a bike and took the phone out of my hand. What? Yes. You have to be quite careful. Yow. All right. So you come straight into. my bedroom. Cool. If you can call it that. It's basically a cubby hole for my bed. So when I go to sleep, I'll move all that into the. living room. Love it. You come straight through into my kitchen. And it's a proper little kitchen like, I have a gas, oven and hob, water. So that's drinking water and that's a. just.
You have a tap for drinking water? Yeah. So I have like, a filter under here. So that basically filters it to make it fresher, essentially. I've even got a little fridge freezer that actually does work. A can of Stella and some Lucozade, because I was hungover last time I came in here. So that's all you have in here? That's that's a sad fridge. There's no food. And then you come into the bathroom here. Woaaah. Uhm. So, it's a little tiny toilet and a shower. You found a shower.
Yeah, of course. I have to get cleaned somehow. It's not the canal. I'm not gonna jump in the canal. That's the toilet? That's the toilet. So, the toilet looks normal from that side, right? If we go here, I'm not gonna actually open it. Don't worry, 'cause it's gross! Under here. is where you put your cassette. Uh, that's where all my poop and piss are. But basically, I. take that out and you screw off the little yellow thing, and. you put it in the canal. No, I'm joking, I'm joking about. -- You have a thing called an Elsan, which is basically a giant well, and you basically empty it all in there, uh the Canal and River Trust, who. are basically the governors of the canal, they basically say.
you need to put it in there. So it's like a designated area. How often do you remove your poop? Probably every. two weeks? Every three weeks, maybe. But I have another one of those, so I interchange them. So there's actually one at the front that's full, that I'm waiting till I get to the point. Then I'm gonna empty them both. And shower. How does that feel? Uhm, shower is really good, surprisingly, I actually have a really good shower. I have hot water. I have a boiler. Yeah, I can show you that if you come in here. So. that is my electricity. That's for. covering windows when it's cold.
That's my boiler, basically. So that is really good! Even put storage behind this stairs. Every. every nook and cranny. has to have something in it, honestly. Even here, look, I've got. dining table. What? Oh, my God. Show me! Oh, my God. Uhm, uhm, my back is against the wall here. How do I film this? Okay. I can't get it out. It's too big. It basically unclips, and then. these will come down. So. there you go. And then you can fold it out and put it in there.
This is so unique! What do your friends and families. think of your lifestyle? My. Thank you. parents thought I was absolutely mad, uhm, and. my friends love it. My parents love it now as well. I think people aren't surprised that I do it, because I'm a bit of that sort of person like, I just kind of jump into crazy things. You consider yourself a minimalist? Yes, I think, but that's more because my head is so busy, that I like to have simple. pleasures in life so I can. keep active doing other things. And if you stay in here for more than like.
Like, if you're sick and you're just stuck in here, do you feel claustrophobic or do you feel lonely in here? No. Never. Never. I like being on my own. When I got it, it was like a really ugly pale blue. So as soon as I came, I was like, got to make it a bit funky because I'm an artist and that's what I do. How long have you lived here? Two and a half years. Yeah, it's been a struggle. I'm not gonna lie. It was uhm. a massive learning curve. and a lot of tears.
I have a wood burner here that you basically. put your. wood in. It's very clean at the moment 'cause I haven't used it for a while. Uhm, they. It actually works? Yeah, it works really well. You can actually. boil the kettle on top and you can put a jacket potato inside and. cook a jacket potato in there if you want. A jacket in potato? A jacket, uh, a baked potato. No. -- A jacket potato is what we. A jacket potato. That's a funny Britishism. a jacket potato.
It's like it's wearing a jacket. So, two and half years. what's been the best and the worst part about living here? The best part is definitely the community. Like the boating community is all. very creative, very fun, very free, and obviously, right next to nature. So you get to see like all the little birds and like. just amazing things. And you get to move everywhere. The worst thing. You actually drive the boat around. Yeah. To go anywhere? Yeah. Even on the main. Thames, River Thames? You can? I haven't.
You have to be like a certified driver to own this, right? No. You don't? Anyone can do it. Do you often host guests here or you just kind of stay alone when you're here? I have. a lot of parties here, yes. What's the maximum capacity to fit everyone? Uhm. 10? -- But in summer. we could sit on the roof. The government legally allows you to park on the side of the canal and just stay here? So. the maximum is two weeks. So you can't stay longer than that. And that's basically to keep the canals going because otherwise everyone would stay.
But who's checking how long you stay? There are people, they go up and down and they check your number plate. Whaaat? That's maybe why mine is facing inward. Mine's facing the wrong direction. Not gonna say why. why checking. So. Now, now you're checking. Wait. Hold on a second. What if you stay. 15 days? They could actually give you a fine? They give you. not a fine, they give you a warning. They. basically can ban you from having a boat license. And the boat license isn't like a driving license.
It basically means. that they've allowed you to be on the canal. Can I ask you. how much you spent on this whole project? The boat itself was £24,000. And I've obviously upgraded it in certain way, I've given it better electricity. All in all, probably about. £26,000. But I was paying rent before for £1,000 a month. And for one room. in a three-bed house. So that's like two years of rent there and now you have your own place. And I have my own place. How much does water and electricity cost?
Yeah. Uh. electricity and water are free. Really? Because I've got solar panels. You seem. really happy and excited to live here and that's amazing. I love it! I find it quite freeing because I had to get rid of a lot of my items, and I think living very minimally. is a good way of like, being happy. What's your job? I'm a video producer and. I also teach art classes and I'm an artist. Speaking of, can I. see you your art on your arms?
Oh. Yeah. Like, it's cool. It's it's like. So it's like a vine. Yeah. There are different flowers, basically. And. that's my dog, Gilbert. He's not here today, obviously. Oh, where's Gilbert? He's with my boyfriend. He's a bit of a nightmare. He's a little pug and he just doesn't. I have a pug, too. Do you have? You have a pug? Yeah. What?! I have a little black pug. That's Gilbert. Wait. Why is he not here? Damn.
I love I'm like obsessed of pugs. Sorry. I know. He just gets in the way, when I'm trying to do things like this. What's in this? Just random stuff over here? Yeah. That's just all my storage, like. A storage. You have to make use of everything in here. Even under here is storage. Yeah. These clothes. Okay, gotcha. All my clothes. Oh! Oh, you get a lot of spiders. Oh, my God! Oh, my God. I hate spiders. Where's he gone?
He's right there. You don't mind holding a spider. I love spiders. You love spiders?! Yeah. They get rid of the mosquitoes. Oh, my God. You're actually playing with a spider right now. That doesn't freak you out? No, and I'm not gonna get rid of him either. I'm gonna keep him in it. I hate spiders. It's a resident spider. We are now going. upstairs. Let's go out. So. do you want to actually get on top?
Oh sure. Why Little drifter? Did you put that on there? No, but uhm. it was called that before. But I will show you something. Whoaaaa. That's cool! She's on me forever. So. you basically just need to give yourself a big jump. Get on top! Can we sit on the solar panels? Yeah, of course you can. Wow! So the solar panels. actually charge everything that you need? Yep. So when you're sitting on top of your. house and there are people walking on the street, do you get weird looks or do you have people say, is that your house?
Uh. I have everyone talking to me or taking photos. Especially when I was in Camden, I think there's a lot of tourists around there. And someone actually. poked their head into my. uhm, hatch to look in and I was like, "oh, hello!". Do you suggest it to people? Do you think it's a good lifestyle? I think it's a lot of work. You need to be a certain person to do it. You have to get your hands dirty. But if you like adventure and. you like exploring new places and you don't mind being on your own and you work from home, that helps.
Go for it. Shannon's life on the Canal shows just how much sacrifice people will make to live in London. But just wait until you see what's next. I'm taking the Tube to South Kensington to meet our next interesting character of the day, named Cesar. From what I've gathered so far, he lives in a tiny, tiny space. Excited to meet him! And excited to take the tube. It literally is a tube by the way, that's why it's called the Tube.
Quiet in here. Nobody talks. Weird. Travel tip. If you come to London, take the tube. It's like two times faster than sitting in traffic. Trust me. This is a nice little area here. Fancy building, double decker buses. Random thought here, as I'm walking the streets of London, I can't tell if I like New York better or London better. They're both really similar in my mind. The biggest difference is that there's no huge skyscrapers here. But as far as like the diversity on the streets and. the vibe of the different neighborhoods, it's pretty comparable to.
New York City. I'd like to hear your guys' uh,. thoughts in the comments down below. Which one's better, London or New York? I'm gonna say. London. If we're gonna talk about food, it's New York. But if we're gonna talk about culture and just cooler things to do, I'm gonna go London. Look at this little charming. side street that I found. Lovely. Before I take you guys into the next tiny flat of London, I wanna take a second to thank the sponsor of this video, which is. Revolut.
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Come in to my lovely home. Yes. It's cool, man. Yeah. This is the whole space? This is the whole space. Facing the bed is on top. This is my. living, sitting area where I have food, where I study, where I work sometimes. Dude, it's my home. Yeah? Arizona is where I live. Yeah. You've been there? I've been to so many places in America. This is the whole space right here. So like, does everyone have a space this small?
Every flat here is this small? No. This is. I think this is one of the smallest places in. in, in London, because this place used to be a caretaker's cupboard, janitor's cupboard. Do you pay much less rent than the other people here? Yeah. Yeah, I think so. But, you know, the rent in London is crazy. It's crazy. I pay around £1,400. Pounds? For this place? For this place, yeah. That's a lot, bro. Yeah, but. That's too much!
The location is. Hyde Park. Where we went for a run is my garden. So. Can I. do a little tour? Yeah. I take off my shoes. Wait, you have a little sink area here. This is a rice cooker? It's it's kinda like a. air fryer. This is like your little hideout area. Yeah. Air fryer. This is. I'm working from home today, so this is. this is where I work today. This is my sofa. So down here. I always put the winter clothes in here.
Wow. That's smart. It's very smart. Yeah. This is where your winter clothes here. Yeah. It's very. This place is very well, well designed, right? Oops. That's your mirror? Yeah. I got this from. China when I was there. You can't even stand up? Yeah, because. well, I'm not very tall either, but even I. I can have to walk like this. So is that stressful that you can't stand up? It's okay for me. No. It's fine. It's very quick to get into my bed.
Yes, I need to climb the stairs. Uh. here I am in my lovely bed. How many years have you been living here? Nearly five years? And you uh, like you love it? Yeah, I love it. I love the place. Do you have any plan to leave or you have gonna stay here? Well, uh. at the moment my landlord, who is a really good friend of mine is in the process of. selling the flat, so I don't know what's gonna happen. Oh, you might lose it? Yeah. That's sad. Yeah. Are you gonna live in a bigger space? I have. I prefer location rather than the space, but. we'll see what happens, I, I'm not too sure.
Here, what's your job? I do. office work. And how many years have you lived in London? Nearly 17 years? Oh wow. It's a great city. Everybody I talk to is like, I can't afford it, I can't afford it. So, tell me about the prices here. Yeah, the prices here are insane! It's like a coffee is like £5, pizza is like £15, yeah. For me, I think, uh. accommodation is the most expensive thing in.
London in the UK. So if you go further out it will get cheaper, but it's. it's crazy this. Insane! You need to have a really good job. if you wanna have a. an easy life here. Because I have some friends, they have two or three jobs -because they have to pay rent, or. you know, they share a flat. You never thought about living in a different area to be cheaper? I feel like this is. my home so I really like living in here. I prefer to spend more money living in a small place. close to. my garden, Hyde Park, than live. further out and then have to commute.
Let me show you the bathroom. There is not much space in here. In here I have some of my running shoes hanging here. And then. this is the. bathroom. This is the whole bathroom? Yeah. This is the whole bathroom. And then. this is the shower. Uh. that's it. -- The sink, the toilet sink. Sink is quite small. Yeah, very small. And I have a. cupboard here. This is yours? Yeah. It's also mine. It's in the hallway.
Yeah. In the hallway, yeah. Wait, so nobody steals anything? No, I always leave it open. So here there are some more running shoes. We're actually. in the middle of the hallway and got extras. Did you put this here or it was already. Yeah. No, it was, it was already there. And then, then your landlord just said, hey, you can take this as more storage. Yeah, sure. I think every flat. Every flat in this building has one of those. It's just funny cuz like this is a staircase and people. people live in there.
I've never seen that before. Dude, it's. Yeah, I see, yeah. it's so. small in here but like it's cozy. You understand what I mean? Yeah. Like it's. I'm not like stressed about it, like it's fine. Yeah, I mean, it's super well organized. You can If I disconnect my laptop from here, and then I put this. here, I can do this, and then I have more space. So. yeah, it's really cool. And when you just when you watch TV, you just lay down here. Yeah, I lay down here. This is all your marathon stuff? Yeah. I was like.
Dude, you're crazy! I've run. 22 marathons in five continents for. WaterAid. It is a. it's a. it's an NGO that provides clean water and sanitation facilities for. for everyone, everywhere. There are also wristbands. I have a website as well called. runcesarrun.com, and so far I've raised nearly $25,000. Congratulations! Yeah. Thank you so much. That's so inspiring, man. How you do it all yourself? Yeah. Yes. All by myself, yeah. What is your motivation and your drive to like do good for society?
My dad suffered from cancer and then he got cured. So, and then I said, oh, I wanted to do something to. you know, to give back to the community. So then. I started running and then I run. 10 marathons to refund for cancer research. Dude, you're very ki you're like a really genuine person. It's crazy. Well. Like you don't of I don't often meet people that are like, really. like when they speak from the heart, you can feel it.
You know what I mean? I think. my mom and dad made me like this. So, you know, it's like. You're very honest. I get a lot of recognition. For example, I won. I won an award a few years ago signed by. Be careful with you up. I just came in here and I banged my head on the ceiling. I won an award signed by. a King, King Charles. I don't do charity work or help people because to get recognition, I mean, it's nice to get a recognition, but I do it because I think it's.
The right thing to do. I think everyone should do. At least something with their life to help. people. Do you have any final words of wisdom about life, about anything? You just need to find your ikigai. You just need to find your purpose in life. So my purpose in life is. helping people and supporting communities. So that's. that's my advice for everyone. Cesar's story is a reminder that in London, location matters more than size. But what makes this city truly great isn't just the neighborhoods.
It's the diversity. Every corner of London feels like a different country. So my next stop takes me to a hood called Hackney, where I'm ready to experience a little slice of Bangladesh. I'm here with Ameenah, and we actually met in Bangladesh a few. weeks ago, which is pretty cool. Hi, Ameenah! Hi everyone. How are you? I'm very good. Thank you. Tell me about this like area. This is. called Hackney. What is Hack If you talk to anyone from London, what do they say about Hackney?
Oh, I mean, it's always considered the most dangerous area. Really? Uhm, I grew up here. So. I've seen it all. What makes this place so. sketchy or dodgy as you would say? Well, it used to be. Uh, I would say it's a lot nicer now. What kind of people live here? Where we are right now, it's a little bit nice. If you look around you can kind of see it's a little bit nice. So on one end of the street you'll get really nice streets like this, and on the other end it's a stark contrast. Look at these Jews.
Shalom! These are crazy! These are like, Payos, Hasidic Jews. Do you see how it's changed? so. And it's the same road. bizarre! This is. Like we've just taken one road up and we're just like in this. really ultra-Orthodox community. We're rolling up to Ameenah's. building in Lower. Clapton, Hackney. So. basically, this is all. former council estates. A private company came and bought it. So, now we have lifts, which we didn't have before. So if you live on the top, you.
Yeah. just walk there. You would have to walk up. So. Yeah. So wait, this is actually really interesting. Like, all. of the buildings around here, they're just made from the same brick and they all look the same from the outside. Yeah. Yeah, they all. So, growing up in a community like this, like, you must know all your neighbors. Oh yeah, yeah. I always knew all of my neighbors here. Do you have a lot of Bangladeshis in the community? Uhm, so here in particular, we don't have many Bangladeshi families, so it's really diverse here.
This is your childhood house? Yeah, I grew up here. That's cool. Yeah. Oh! Guess what? Like everything, the door's broken. That's how you know what you're coming into. Up we go. When you walk out your front door, you just see. like a hundred rooms in another building. Yeah. Like that's it. This is home. Yeah. This is where I ran around, learnt how to ride a bike. -- Everything was here. Welcome to my. crib. Joking. So, here is the kitchen.
Okay. You can't have a dryer and a washing machine, so. it's very, very difficult. Yeah. L-shape. And then. Starting to smell like curry. Stuffs here again? Like what's over here? Oh. My mom is cook what is that? Dal. Yeah. That's lentils. That smells good! This is the kitchen situation here. It's. it smells incredible in here like, everything looks really fresh. Oh, my God. You must have had a lot of great meals in this kitchen.
I did. Yeah. Is there like, all the curry powders in here or something? Yeah. The first one I opened. Dude, stay away! Stay away from there. Where? You know what that is? Her room? It's mine. You cannot look at this, 'cause this is crazy. First of all, I have been traveling. I'm allowed to have this. Okay. Nice to meet you! Wha- What's your name? I'm Fatima. Lovely name. Wait, we're not leaving. Yes.
Say it again? No, no. Nooo. -- I hate you guys. So this is a makeup. Oh you know what, this is actually a lovely thing you sho. maybe you. This is Ameenah. Somebody actually drew her. Yeah. That's really nice. These are like uh, new earrings that I bought from Bangladesh, and they're like gifts. So, I've unpacked them, but I've not. put them away. How many times have you been to Bangladesh? At least six times. You live in London, which is like polar opposite of Dhaka.
Complete opposite, honestly. Do you feel. like half of you belongs in Dhaka and half of you belongs in London? I do have an identity crisis all the time. Like, when I'm over there, I don't really feel like. I belong there, and they treat me very different. And over here, like, there are some moments where I. I feel like I belong, but certain. scenarios. feel like I don't really belong here. Do you agree? They just think I'm a foreigner.
Sorry. People in Bangladesh can smell me. They can literally smell me, and they know that I. just don't fit in. Well. Well, you look Bangladeshi, but when you talk and when you act, like, what's the difference? Like, if you're walking on the street, how would someone know you're not from there? First of all, I think uh. my eye color is not very Bengali. Is it green? Yeah. Uhm. and obviously, I act. a bit snobbish, like oh, smelly. It's red. And how do you feel about. like, which one do you prefer? I have a loony sister. Is there any. reason you would prefer Dhaka over the London? And for any category, food, culture, anything like that?
Yeah. Oh. The food is amazing. over there. And you speak Bengali. Yeah. My sister speaks even better than me. Like, she can do. a. two dialects really well. But we also speak uh. another dialect. We can swap in with another one. From Sylhet? Sylhet. So, you know, it would be something like. That means she gave it. to my daughter and I wore it. Okay, so what else can you show me? This is. the. living room. My mom's like, whoa!
She's uh she's tidying it up. Hi. Thank you for letting me in your house. Oh, thank you. My mom uh. is actually practicing her English. She's. quite good! She can actually speak a lot better than she gives herself credit for. Are you from. Dhaka? Yes. Originally? Yeah. Originally. It's my mom that's from Dhaka. My dad is from Sylhet. Got it. It looks nice in here. Yes. So. actually, these are like. my dad's old books.
We've kept them. That's me. I don't know why. Hold on. Actually, I got one even better. If you stay right here, I'll bring it to you. That's me standing. right here. Oh, in this spot? Yeah. And if you see, this was our old front door. That's cool. This is in my living room. I don't know why I'm putting this face. At one point, we actually had, like uh, another. three two different families staying with us. Yeah. So how many. humans slept in this house at once? Probably about good 15. Really? Absolutely! Yeah. But this is very Bangladeshi. We.
We just make space. We're all, you know, we can fit all. And you all had one bathroom? Absolutely, yes. So what if two people needed to use it? Then you're waiting. Knock on the door. You're waiting. We would just knock on the doors and like, get out. The size of the home really doesn't matter in our culture, it's the size of the heart that really matters. We have really big hearts. That was lovely! Because it's so diverse here, and you mentioned that there's not a lot of Bangladeshis in this community.
Is it harder to. get along with people? Is there kind of this like, separational divide? Not at all. No. Are there cliques in this community? Yeah. No. Do you know when. No and yes. What do you mean? No. There are no cliques. Because think about it, when we grew up. here, we got along with everyone. We knew all of our neighbors, right? Like, all the Jews and out of all, put it in. You never really felt. like the divide in terms of you're from here, you're from there. It was not nothing like that. It was just. you're simply from Hackney. That's it.
Absolutely. Do you consider this a small house? It's. This is normal. It's. very normal, yeah. Yes. For this neighborhood. The All of them are like this. They're quite identical. This is. British English versus American English. I have a canker sore. Do you know what that means? Never heard of it. Sounds like kangaroo. It's not Aussie English. A canker sore is usually called a mouth ulcer.
I knew that. Oh, mom. Thank you. Thank you! Yesss. Good, I was gonna say. Shukriya. It's watermelon. Thank you. Do you like watermelon? You want some? Ah, it's cold. So, in Bengali, it's called tormuj. Sit down. Tormuj. It's really good! Thank you. Okay, I have some more words. Ready? Truck. Truck is a truck. Lorry. The word "Lorry" is the name of a woman in my country. A sweater. Jumper. Pants. Trousers.
Yeah. Trousers. Diaper. Nappy. Perks of. I think you know all the words because you've seen movies. If you just said to me, what is a nappy? I wouldn't know what it is. Really? Yeah. Flashlight. Torch. Torch, yes. You're fast. Sorry. No, you like get it. You said we're playing a game. I'm really competitive. Vacation. Holiday. Eraser. On the opposite side of a pencil. Eraser! Rubber. Sorry, I could I couldn't understand the accent.
Try to say it like me. Rubber? Rubber. Try to say rubber in American English. Rubber. I think all of us did that. We rolled the tongue. Rubber. Just want to let you know the watermelon was. very delicious! Look, she started getting you more. What is this one? Mango. I'll try the mango. You see, we are hospitable people. Yeah. I never said you weren't. And we continue to feed.
I feel like so cultured being here. This is great. I completely forgot I was in the United Kingdom for like, the last hour. Except for your accent. After visiting four of London's smallest homes, one thing is clear. This city pushes people to be creative if they wanna live here on a tight budget. From tiny dumpsters to homemade boats to micro apartments. Londoners are reinventing what a home. can look like. The question is. would you ever live this small just to be here?
