Philly couple who went viral for living in a storage unit want to prove ‘homelessness is a flex’

Leland Brown Jr. and Breanna Hubbard started living in the Lansdale woods to save on housing costs. Millions of viewers watched.

“He told me I was grown and have a son, so I needed to figure it out,” said Brown, whose 7-year-old son lives with his mother. They started by taking naps inside the U-Haul store, then moved their belongings into one unit. Over time, they organized furniture and made it into a small housing quarter. They posted the three-part series on TikTok, which generated over 22 million views and made national news, with outlets like CBS News, Complex, and“Residing in a self-storage unit is a violation of state and federal housing laws,” Jeff Lockridge, a spokesperson for U-Haul International wrote in an email to The Inquirer.

Brown, who prefers the term “house-lessness,” said tent life is less than ideal. But the independence that comes with the low-cost lifestyle, he feels, is a sacrifice worth enduring. While Hubbard’s parents have invited her back home, she’s continued to say no. “I had to leave to be the best version of myself,” she said.Since last year, the couple has monetized videos of their daily exploits. They clean up in hotel bathrooms, use rented vehicles to run DoorDash deliveries, make food in a portable grill placed in the trunk of an electric car. All the while defending their house-free lifestyle against the naysayers who comment under their posts.

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