AIBU to think we could happily live in a van?

[spiritofadventure]

My OH and I have been talking recently about buying a van and converting it into a self contained home to live in full time.

It started off as a joke when we had to change flats, yet again, as our landlord was selling up, but it is now something we are seriously considering.

We are in our early 30's, both work full time 50 hours a week and are still nowhere near close to saving a deposit to be able to buy in this area.

We've done the maths and think we could do this for less than £12k, including the van.

The van we would buy is a LWB Mercedes Sprinter, which would give us a living space of approx. 4.3m x 1.8m. Inside, we would have a double bed, small dining area, kitchen and a small shower/toilet room.

It would be cosy, for sure, but it would have everything we need.

We live in an area that has lots of places suitable to park up for the night so that wouldn't be an issue.

Monthly costs we think would be in the region of £3-400 excluding food costs

Obviously this wouldn't be a forever home, but we were thinking 2 or 3 years so we could build up our savings.

Are we crazy, or could this really work?

How is it a better idea financially than a second hand camper van? The insurance would be a lot harder to get and more expensive and the resale value at the end much lower. For a second hand camper van, you can surely resell in a few years for only a little bit less than you paid. For an adapted van, you are not going to sell for as much as a similar sized camper van with a door/windows etc. nor be able to resell as a straightforward van. I think you'd lose thousands.

By the way, in our poor area a camper van parked up for a few months while people lived in it. Nobody cared, there was never any noise or mess from them. I have heard that generally poorer areas don't care if you park up as long as you are not a nuisance, well off areas complain about the eye sore.

My partner and I are in the process of converting a Volkswagon T5, not for living in full time but for weeks away and a 6 month Europe trip. So far we've done insulating, soundproofing, put a new floor in, and are currently working on the walls. We haven't done any electrical work yet or laid in any additional furniture. When we've taken it away we've been sleeping in the back on camping mats and have been cooking on a trangia. My partner and I are both fulfilling our daft 12 year old wanderlust dreams, but it's great. I'm interested in diy and am enjoying the whole process of mucking about in the van. Converted vans also have good resale value.

If you're doing the work yourself, expect to spend more than 12k. We got a good deal on our van, 7 years old with 100k milage, in very good nick - we paid 8k.

You'll need to insulate and soundproof, this is important. I'd estimate we've spent 300-350 on material for this, plus new side step and back step for the added bulk on insulation. We'll probably spend another 300 doing the walls (I just don't like the carpet lining).

On our to do list for next year are

-fit an additional battery. We have a mechanic friend who is going to help us with this and wiring so it can be used for the lights in the back and as an electrical point. This is necessary so you don't make your main van battery flat when you're pissing about charging phones/laptops.
-We want a rock and roll bed. This will be the big spender - 2kish. It will be double sized and fold up into roadlegal seats when not being used as a bed.
-Flat pack cupboard set - this will probably be around 1.5k if we do decide to go for this. We want lots of room for sports gear so having lots of small cupboards may not suit us.

If you don't have any experience making furniture I really would suggest you look at the flatpacks available online. There are lots of manufacturers who make flatpack kits for all sorts of vans. Mercedes sprinters are fairly common conversions so you'll have loads of options. Don't just get an idea cupboard and plonk it in the back.

The costs really add up. On top of all the work you'll need to do inside the van, You'll also need to procure (either buy/hire/borrow if you know the right people) all the right tools. We've needed a sander, an electric drill, a saw cutter so far. Things would have been easier/safer if we had a work bench - but so far we've been deciding to just risk our fingers cutting plywood.

We aren't interested in fitting proper cooking/sink facilities and are happy to make do with the trangia, but this would probably be an additional 600 with wiring.

Our needs are different to yours (and we are both happy to be slightly grubby), but I would advise against fitting toliet/shower facilities. There are plenty of public toliets and there are lots of options for showering at gyms/community centres/your work may have shower facilities. Fitting a toliet in a van seems like a waste of space as well as unhygienic.

You'll also need to consider how much time you have to sink into converting a van. If you're both working 50 hours a week are you really going to have all that time for research/diy (because you'll need a lot of both)? If you pay someone else to do it for you, that will incur very large additional costs. It isn't a job you can do in a couple of weeks. We are doing ours at a leisurely rate but with the cost of some of the equipment we are only expecting to be finished by the beginning of spring 2018 (hopefully).

To the person commenting on insurance - it's not that difficult. You may need to make an insurer aware of modification - they are mostly interested in refrigerated units/hobs/ovens/and external work. Ours is currently just insured as a normal van as we've done limited work with direct line - £400 (probably so high because we're a couple in our early 20's.

Don't let the above commenters put you off, vans are so versatile and so stealthy. If you don't do up the outside of your van with big hippy flowers, chances are nobody is going to know you are sleeping and living inside, they're a lot less inconspicuous than a caravan and you'll be able to park up where campervans and caravans may not. You'll need to do a lot of research to know if it's for you.

There are lots of YouTube videos dealing with this subject

Have a van holiday first is my advice and work out where you will get freshwater and empty your loo, you cannot just empty it anywhere! Look into Caravan club certified locations if you need to pull up for a night to empty your loo etc.

And don’t parkup and ‘live’ on residential streets. Even if only for a few days it’s not on.

I wouldn't do it in a van conversion, but would in a motorhome or caravan that was suitable for all seasons. I would want a bit more space than a Sprinter affords. I'd also want to have a fixed bed away from the living area, a decent kitchen (with oven and grill, as well as just a hob) and a decent washroom. I don't like the washrooms where the floor of the room is the shower tray, I imagine the loo roll getting wet, and having my feet in a damp tray while sitting on the loo. Also, the seating in caravans and motorhomes with a parallel lounge configuration looks much more comfortable as you can lounge around on them, rather than having to sit upright all the time.

Check out Andrew Ditton's Living Simply vlogs. He explains about the legalities and things you need to consider. The rest of his vlogs are really good too. He has an Airstream, and a darling little dog called Dougal, who sometimes travels with him on Andrew's motorbike, with his little doggles on and a bandana tied over his ears!

I got a bit excited

My van is my baby. Let me know if you have any questions

Ignore the advice not to live on residential streets. Some places honestly don't care. But don't do it where parking is at a premium, some places are easy to park.

Op, I think you'd be much better off keeping your £12,000, renting a studio flat and ditching your gym membership while you continue to save up. If your van is stolen or vandalised while you are at work you'd lose everything.

Is it just me who thinks 'where do you put al your stuff?' And I'm pretty minimalist!

If it's your dream then do it but not for financial reasons. Investing 12k plus in a van that will quickly lose it's value is a terrible investment!

Could you buy a caravan and put it on a drive of one of your parents or some good friends. You could use the showering facilities in the house maybe use the kitchen in the house....you could pay them to rent the drive....

I know some people who are doing a similar thing. They sold up and now live in their (not v large) camper van. It sounds awful to me, but they love it! They're retired though, so are travelling around the UK and Europe They mainly stay in lay-bys, etc for free, but check into into a site once a week or so to wash their clothes, etc. They have a heater and cook all their meals in the van.

I think getting to see the world would make living in a van slightly less awful, but I think it would be really miserable to just stay in one place, get up in the van every morning and go to work, then come home to the van.

Have you looked at shared ownership properties? If you have £12k that would go along way towards a deposit in a flat.

It will be freezing, my parents have a gorgeous caravan. I went for a few days in October and even with a gas fire it was so cold.

Once you're cold it's hard to get warm in a van, so it's a no from me.

Go for it, sounds like an adventure. Quite sad that today two people working 50+ hours a week have to live in a van but at least it would allow you to save money so you could buy faster (in time for starting a family if that's what you choose).

The only thing which would worry me would be finding places to park, being harassed by passerbys etc but if you don't think that's a problem in your area then go for it.

My aunt and uncle do it for 10 weeks a year and love it. Not sure if they'd cope full time though.

I also know a couple who live on a narrow boat, who have no problems re heat/showers/looking presentable - they are very happy on it!

I say if you've done the sums properly then go for it!

I would love to do this if I didnt have kids, or just had one.

I'd buy a little touring caravan and try to negotiate a good monthly deal with a small local campsite. I knew a couple who did this some years ago. Gave up their flat in the city, bought a touring van and pitched it on a no-frills site in the September, got a good deal for monthly pitch rental for 6 months. They got jobs in the local Asda and worked their socks off. They saved about £1200 a month, had a bumper Xmas with all the overtime. They didn't stay over the summer as pitch rental was quite expensive then. I believe they might have moved the caravan onto an Asda colleague's driveway or something.
Of course, on a touring pitch your electricity, water, showers, waste is included, so once you've paid your pitch rental all you need to spend on is your gas bottles and your toilet chemical (for those 3am wees). Nowadays touring vans have all the mod cons, blown warm air heating etc. You could have an awning for storage.
I wonder what happened to them. Probably living in a mansion now!

surely you could just rent a room in a flat, would be cheaper for a couple. save for a deposit that way.

living in a van sounds absolutely ghastly and would grow old very quickly.

wild camping is still illegal, MN screams don't change the law.

It's not though, not in a motorhome/campervan. It's not use repeating yourself and anyway, where's the link to the legislation?

I've had a boat and a caravan. It's bloody cold living on the water, much colder than a insulated campervan.

Caravans aren't any better than a campervan, not in any way. The beauty of a campervan is that you can travel around in it and you can wild camp, which you definitely cannot do in a caravan.

We have a campervan and it's toasty warm. We've wild camped all over England and Wales, it is not illegal. Provided your van is taxed, insured and has an MOT, you are just as entitled to park as any other vehicle.

Great idea OP, go for it. Definitely keep a car, or a scooter.

I would definitely look at second hand motorhomes for your budget, and upgrade one with solar panels on the roof/wood burning stove etc

It will be a lifestyle change but it will be great. I have lived in a caravan in Canada during the winter. It’s not too bad.

For post you can rent a P.O.Box.

Don’t worry about the socialists on here telling you to pay your council tax. You will still be paying Road and income tax!

I have friends who have done this, and have enjoyed it, but it really depends on what you are like. Might you have the option of borrowing or renting a van for a month or two to see if it drives you mad?

I would love this.
It's my dream when I'm retired to covert a van and just go off travelling the world in it on my pension!
It could be tough at times but think of how much money you'll save!

You may do better to buy a caravan and site it permanently on a campsite. You can only stay for 11 months of the year I think so would likely need to move the caravan for a period once or twice a year but a caravan would offer much more space and facility than a van.
You would have proper site facilities for dealing with a loo (which if you are living in a van and working needs emptying in a proper chemical disposal once every 3 days or so - I know have done it!) , proper showers and normally an on-site laundrette. Site fees are a few thousand a year and you could buy a decent caravan with blow air heating, a kitchen, bathroom and fridge for < 8k.

I know all this as have done a lot of this. Our converted van is a lovely day van but not comfortable for long term living. We use the caravan and I do an office job by staying in the caravan and commuting to work for a few weeks on end a couple of times per year. The caravan is easy and I'd happily flog the house and live in it permenantly. The van was HARD!