To live in a Travelodge

I have lived in a touring caravan (9 months) and a tent (2 years but in a warmer less wet climate!). It was fine for us, we are very resourceful and resilient. It is not for everyone, it is cold, hardwork and everything will go wrong at once 😂

God no. I had to live in a hotel for six weeks once when work sent me on a project in India. It drove me nuts and that was in a nice hotel with a pool, gym and full laundry service.

@oakkiln watch By the curb on YouTube. He's upgraded to a motor home now but did live in a small campervan. There's other youtubers live this way too. I quite fancy it but dh wouldn't.
Also there's Facebook pages showing where you can park overnight free or behind pubs etc.

have a look on booking dot com for accommodation, it might be relatively similarity Travelodge prices but with cooking facilities - especially if you were booking for a month a time

looking at somewhere like Coventry you can get a studio apartment of a month for under £1000

It sounds quite grim.

What about lodging instead? You can get deals relatively cheaply, as long as you are happy to live with the expectations that lodging entails. Sometimes people even offer free or very reduced rent in return for services eg babysitting

Just can’t imagine how awful this would be, why would anyone even consider wanting to do this.

There is a facebook group called Van Life which is all about people living in motor homes and vans so you could see what it might be like.

Would a house share be better for you. 1 room and access to kitchen? Or become lodgers?

I don't think it's allowed
I'm sure there's a limit of how long you can stay( which is why the OP was thinking of a luxury hotel)
It's not about the cost, it's the practicality
No cooking facilities so you would eat out which is costly
What about laundry? Laundrettes aren't available everywhere and the machines are expensive.
I would consider a static caravan but obviously there are site fees/ ground rent too.
Renting isn't the worst thing in the world.
At least you can please yourself when and what to do and can relax.

They might have hybrid roles or WFH?

If they need to be in one place, a tiny home might do the trick. They are about £55K, yet because they have a wheeled chassis, so it is legal to park them in several places. They are quite popular in the States, New Zealand, Canada, Australia. There is a good YouTube called exploring alternatives that covers different types of housing like this.

Tiny Housing co indicates.

You can legally put your tiny house in a number of places including;

• Within the curtilage of your home/dwelling i.e in the garden
• On a plot of land, such as farmland for a period of 60 days or you can place it there for longer under permitted development rights and/or with a certificate of lawful development
• On a caravan site as tiny houses are movable homes on wheels, therefore they fall under the caravan rules & regulations - find sites that have long-term seasonal pitches
• On a park home / residential home site - this can be done if your tiny house is built to specific standards such as BS:EN 3632:2015 (must be no more than 3.05m tall internally) which ours are!
• On land where you’ve applied for planning permission within a residential area
• On a glamping site for holiday let purposes (with planning permission approved)
• On a certified site, offered as a site management building - check out ‘freedom camping’
• On farmland / stables / equestrian land

Unless OP comes back and says what work they do if it's remote or in an office/ building, this is all pie in the sky.

Or a container home. We looked into this a couple of years ago when DH got offered a job in a tricky location.

@oakkiln I read an article a couple of days ago about guardianship. Where you apply to be the guardian of an empty building. It's cheaper than renting, but the waiting lists are quite high now because it's so appealing for people in exactly your position. My ex did it for a year or two in London and said it was fine.

@Fountofwisdom The downside of renting is that the owner can sell up at any time and you're forced to move.
That can be a nightmare especially as you get older.

You have no security and are at the mercy and whim of someone else.
Also, rents can increase hugely when your income doesn't.

I can imagine it may work if you got the travelodge breakfast, have access to a work canteen with discounted food and then you could make a salad for dinner or get takeaway sushi.

And if it was near a laundromat.

I think the downside of a house share is they are often 'shared' by much younger people.

Late middle age suggests late 50s or older.

I'm not sure it would be easy to find a house share as a couple at their age.

How can they tour around if a) they've both working an b) they need to save that income towards a house deposit?

They need an address for a mortgage, bank statements showing regular earnings or savings - so how does a camper van road trip tick those boxes?

I would definitely avoid Travelodge.

Not bad for the odd night here and there. I've done a week or so in one on a course which wasn't ideal and I've known people who have done 3-4 months in them due to work and it was a struggle.

Travelodges don't have free WiFi so that would be an additional cost.

A houseshare with a shared kitchen or an aparthotel or something with a small kitchen would work better.

Wouldn't having to essentially eat out all the time add up quite quickly, though?

Do you have children? If it’s just you and DH, and you’re in late middle age, I’m not sure why you want to buy rather than carry on renting? To what end? Once you’re a property owner, you have all the expense of maintaining your home etc.

i travel a lot for work and find Travelodges really grim. Very basic rooms, few amenities, etc. And living in any hotel means no kitchen so where will you cook? No laundry facilities. And you and DH living on top of each other in one room. Which would strain any marriage.

What about a mobile home/static caravan?

But if you’re just planning to do this for a few years in order to save for a deposit, why? I feel if I was your age and in your situation, I would just carry on renting. Late middle age isn’t a time to do this - what if one of you gets ill and you’re stuck in a hotel room with no stability or home comforts?

There’s no way you will last more than a month with just a microwave. You will actually get quite ill.

You can survive with an Ikea travel induction hob and an air fryer.
But not having a fridge will also cause problems.

I would look at a shared room in an HMO for a couple of years. Or if you are going to do the travel lodge then sign up to house sitting services and bob around to be able to use kitchens properly.

As others have suggested, how about a campervan and tour around? At least you get to see things and have a place to cook.

Or, how about a tiny home. Some areas in Wales and Scotland allow these to be put up on a bit of land. I don’t have affiliation with the firms below, but provide the link so you can get an idea
https://www.twttinyhomes.com

https://www.thetinyhousing.co/blog/understanding-the-uk-laws-of-a-tiny-house-y24y6#:~:text=Things%20can%20get%20a%20little,completely%20legal%20under%20many%20circumstances.

big no. years ago I was referred to Social Services for a hostel place but none available as it was an urgent service I was put in a local hotel which in those days was unusual.
I lived there nearly 2 years and it was awful. I had no privacy all I heard was people coming and going, traffic outside plus as people have said it was hard with food. A breakfast was included but limited choice. the allowance I had was pitiful and I ended up on a diet of sandwiches which were reduced at the end of the day or take hot snacks.
A few years ago I ended up in a Women's Aid refuge then had to move onto a Bed And Breakfast which was miserable. it was freezing cold so the me and the 2 kids used to snuggle up today for warmth. we had to be out 9-5 so I ended up tramping the streets I used to buy reduced stuff for the kids tea again snacks etc but we had to sit in a bus stop to eat it as food was not allowed in the hotel. weekends were awful trying to entertain the kids could not afford cafes etc I would never ever contemplate living in travel lodges hotels etc through choice the twice I had to was not by choice