Amazon’s Flat Pack Home Has Gone Viral On TikTok

With sky-high mortgage rates and the ever-lingering cost-of-living crisis, for many people home ownership feels completely out of reach. But what about if you could nab your own place for under £20k, with no stamp duty or lawyer fees needed – all at the click of a button?

Well, it turns out you can. One LA-based TikToker Jeffrey Bryant has gone viral after ordering a home off Amazon (where else?) for $26,000 (£20,500). 

Amazon Houses: Will The Flat Pack Home Take Off?

Described by Amazon as an ‘Expandable Prefab House’, the home in question is essentially a flatpack shelter measuring 16.5ft by 20ft (with other sizes available), which you can allegedly build yourself in just a few hours. It features a kitchenette, a living room, a bedroom and even a built-in shower and toilet – although you will need to get someone to hook it up to the electricity and water mains.

@hittaa_jeff 5 guys and 27 mins later 😫 ITS HERE😫😍 #FYP #foryou #amazon #house #unfoldhouse #foryoupage #newhouse #update #explorepage #pt2 ♬ original sound – Jeff Bryant

‘I just bought a house on Amazon,’ says Bryant in the now-famous video. ‘I didn’t even think twice about it.’

However, the purchase wasn’t for Bryant himself: instead he bought it as a home for those in need. ‘I bought the tiny house to transform it into an AirBnB for displaced people or people facing homelessness,’ he says.

Bryant was inspired by a video by Nathan Graham, another TikToker, who posted a video tour of his Amazon home – which has now been watched over 34 million times. ‘Bro, this thing is so easy to build,’ he says. ‘You literally just unfold it.’

@unspeakk Part 1 I Bought a House on Amazon #unspeakable #vlog #fyp ♬ Aesthetic – Tollan Kim

The home does come with a disclaimer about weather, stipulating that the structure can handle winds of up to 70mph. ‘We highly recommend pouring concrete on the legs to maximize the stability,’ the website reads. ‘Please don’t stay inside in extreme weather conditions (storms, tornados, hurricanes, floods, blizzards, etc)’. 

So, really, the Amazon flatpack is perhaps not the answer to the housing crisis. However, it does fall under a wider trend for tiny homes, which have risen in popularity in recent years. More and more people are getting creative with their homes, choosing to live off-grid in converted shipping containers, cabins and vans. The movement is particularly big in America, but it’s making its way over here too: in 2023, the Office of National Statistics revealed a rise in people living in caravans or other temporary mobile structures. 

Bryant is currently in the process of working with an estate agent to buy land to put the house on. ‘As a person of colour and a Gen Z, I want to inspire others to make wise decisions with their money,’ he says. ‘People my age are told that we can’t afford to purchase homes, but I’m proof that it is possible.’