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Topic: Living in a caravan

FelipeSuarez

15/10/2015 at 8:22pm
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Hello campers!

My name is Felipe, I'm new to this forum and to the caravans world. I currently live and work near London and the rent is incredibly expensive. I thought about moving to a caravan (moving definitely, not just camping on weekends) and started investigating about it.

I was surprised to find caravans out there for around 1k, I think they are very affordable. Additionally, the caravan solar panels start on £100, the decent ones from £200, so I thought it could actually be a great investment and an excellent way of saving loads of money (where I live the cost of a small studio is from £800 per month).

I have showers at work, so that wouldn't be a big problem, and on weekends I could find something. I read most of the campsites offer showers anyway.

What are your views on this? Are there taxes on the solar pannels? How expensive is a campsite? Is it legal to camp out of them? Is it reasonable to buy a caravan for 1k or does it sound like a scam?

I appreciate your opinions!

Opensauce

15/10/2015 at 9:56pm
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You don't need a solar panel. If you want to live in a caravan on a campsite you have electric hookup so you are plugged into mains electric. Yes you can buy a reasonable caravan for £1000 but you need to check it carefully for damp & be fairly practical so you can fix it on an ongoing basis. As for costs, check campsites in your area & see if any will do you a deal for a long term pitch.

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Babyfish

15/10/2015 at 10:05pm
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I would adore to live in my caravan. We paid £1800 for ours, she is 23 but watertight and no damp - just no gas but we don't need it with the EHU. I reckon it is totally doable. The only issue I can see is a lot of sites you can only live in for ten months or something like that. Not sure. You would need to research that.

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It's summer again, caravan time! Hurrah!

LobeyDosser

16/10/2015 at 12:59am
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The basic problem with living in a caravan is the cold!

You will need ventilation to cut down on the condensation and with that you will also need excellent heating to compensate.

If living in a caravan in the UK was all that good, everybody would be doing it.

Even the Travelling Community, move into proper Brick & Mortar accommodation during the winter.

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Lobey.

veema

16/10/2015 at 7:37am
Location: Blackburn
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I used to be a quantity surveyor and lived in a caravan on construction sites for most of the time...I've gone through the winter in one...and it was dead basic, just a fan heater / electric oil filled radiator for warmth and I had to get up and traipse across to the site toilets and showers. You get used to it. Granted I used to go home at the weekends, so it wasn't all hard living!

If you are buying your own, you can have one that suits your needs...mine was bought by the company and it was old and very, very basic...all the lads used to share statics, but being the only girl on site, I had to have my own little one...I loved it.

FelipeSuarez

16/10/2015 at 7:53pm
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Thank you very much fot the advice! I think I would get solar pannels anyway, they are quite cheap and grant more independence. I also think it's cool to generate your own energy from natural sources.

The cold, as some of you pointed out, can be fought with some electric heaters (I'd rather avoid gas as I consider it dangerous), and the right amount of covers during the night. Having my couple very near me would probably help too :D

Apart from camping sites, where else is legal to camp in the UK? I assume you can't do it on towns or parks. What about forests? What if I buy a terrain near a town? Would it have to be "buildable". I'd probably need to pay council tax anyway, right?

LlaniDavis

16/10/2015 at 8:23pm
Location: Llanidloes Powys
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Wild camping is illegal in England and Wales. It happens with tents as they can "hide" but a caravan is much more obvious.
The Forestry Commission and Natural Resources Wales frown on it strongly and will often prosecute. Vehicles can also be impounded and destroyed under Sect 59 Legislation.
On land it would probably need Planning Permission and you would probably end up paying Council Tax, etc.

Opensauce

16/10/2015 at 8:26pm
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You cannot just buy a piece of land, building or agricultural & site a caravan on it, the council would soon have you off & you won't get planning permission for permanent residential.

A good bet might be to join the Caravan Club, gives you access to small CL sites, only for 28days at a time but owner might allow you to stay longer.

Apart from that, it's what you can get away with. Somebody might rent you a space on their land out of sight of road. If nobody knows you are there then you may be ok.

navver

16/10/2015 at 8:48pm
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Solar panels will produce very little if any power in winter. You will need EHU for heat etc. Fine in summer.

There is a problem in England because anyone living in a caravan on waste land is seen as a traveller. They are generally considered to be scroungers and parasites on society and responsible for every crime in the area. They steal everyone's nice new caravan. They pay no taxes but the council has to provide toilets and clean up after them. I'm not saying they are all like that or tat any are, but that is how they are perceived by many people in England.

No-one wants them any where near their homes and will go to extreme lengths to get rid of them. You will probably be seen in the same light.

FelipeSuarez

16/10/2015 at 10:28pm
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That is very instructive indeed. I was expecting similar answers. I do not intend to do anything illegal, but rather to find legal cheap alternatives. I don't need much space to live anyway and I love nature, and camping.

I've read solar pannels would be enough, even in winter, to cover the basic needs of a couple who are most of the day out working. It's about setting the pannels in the right position, and they don't need sunshine, but only daylight. If there is anyone here with more experience than me (I actually have no experience at all) please correct me.

Let me put this straight: are the camping sites THE ONLY LEGAL WAY of living in a caravan?

Opensauce

17/10/2015 at 5:59am
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Correct. Campsites are about the only legal way of living in a caravan & then legally for only 28 days at a time. You can of course swap between local campsites every 28 days. As pointed out, probably cheapest way is to join Caravan Club & use CL sites mostly on farms.

Only others ways are agricultural land only if you are making a living from that land, temporarily if you are building/renovating a house on that land or get yourself on a permanent official traveller site.

Colin21

17/10/2015 at 10:57pm
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It depends what you mean by basic needs, Filipe. You can charge a battery from a solar panel but that is about all. If you want heating, you will need either an EHU, a large generator, or gas heating which you say you don't like. I'm afraid that to generate enough electricity for heating, you would probably need a solar panel the size of a football pitch. Then it would go off when it got dark, just when you need it most.

You will definitely need 240 volt electric for heating, either from the mains or from a generator, which may be noisy. You could probably manage using a decent leisure battery for lighting, topping it up during the day with a solar panel, but then you would definitely need gas for cooking and heating.

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Best Regards,
Colin

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