It’s no secret that rent prices are on the rise all across the United States. According to reports from Zillow, rent prices in the U.S. are 33.1% higher than they were before the pandemic.
This financial strain has become extremely common. A 2024 report from the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies found that half of renters in the U.S. are “cost-burdened” by rent, meaning they spend more than 30% of their income on rent and utilities.
As costs continue to rise, so too do rates of homelessness. Affordable housing solutions are needed — and fast.
One family business in East Texas — Hank Properties — has attempted to provide just that. Like other speedy housing solutions, they’re utilizing recycled shipping containers.
The homes they offer Texas renters start at $700 per month, with utility fees included, and come in four different floor plans: A duplex, luxury duplex, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom.
A 40-foot container provides 320 square feet of living space.
“At some point when you’re first starting out, you don’t have $1,200 or $1,500 a month or more to try to rent something to have a place to lay your head at night,” the company’s co-owner Dee Hanks told CBS19.
“The tenants either have to sell an arm or a leg to be able to afford it, and it puts them in a position where they’re one paycheck away from the house of cards folding,” added Collin Hanks, the company’s other co-owner.
The container homes, of course, require living more minimally, but still offer the same comforts of any other home — just on a smaller scale. The costs are lower than the average rental prices across the country, though some may find the smaller space to be a steep compromise.
Still, Collin said, it’s better than the alternative.
“Tiny homes and minimal living, that’s kind of the trendy thing now,” he told CBS19. “And I think it’s trendy out of necessity.”
The container homes are move-in ready within five days of building, making these spaces ideal for people in immediate need of affordable housing.
Collin said that the factory Hanks Properties uses makes almost one complete house per day. And instead of enforcing long-term lease agreements, the Hanks family offers month-to-month leasing.
“[We’re] putting together a new management model for these container homes because we noticed the traditional credit check applications, background checks, eliminates who needs this the most,” Collin said. “I’d love to scale it nationwide.”
For the thousands of low-income Texans who need a place like this to stay, Prentice Butler, the neighborhood services housing manager for the city of Tyler, Texas, said container homes make a great transitional arrangement.
“It’s smaller,” she told CBS19. “But … it’s not something you’re looking at permanently, especially if your family expands, it’s something you definitely want to look at transitioning from. In the meantime, it kind of stops the bleed.”
For the Hanks family, it’s just smart. Their approach has garnered interest from similar companies in California, Maine, and Florida, and according to Dee, the nature of the containers makes for very little repair or upkeep.
“This is just a great, cost-efficient solution to lower rent that’s just not possible with conventional construction,” Dee said. “I can’t think of a place in America that doesn’t need something like this.”
Header image courtesy of Hanks Properties
