Would you be ok with someone living in a campervan in your street?

[writergirl747474]

I live in a fairly quiet street with a few flats, a couple of houses and a sports club. Further up the road is a new housing estate being built on my road/ the next road.

I'm pretty sure that one or two of the workman are living/sleeping in a campervan in the street. The van changes position most nights. You can see there's someone in there - light on or you can see a mobile screen. No idea if there's a toilet in there.

Is living in a campervan in a residential street against the law? It makes me feel slightly uneasy but I don't know why.

It's the third van dweller I've spotted in my road. One was a big RV which eventually just moved on. The other was a white van and I assumed the guy worked at the building site - I saw him brushing his teeth one night.

Am I a snob for not being 100% ok with this?

It does sound very much like you just don't want that sort around where you live. They're not causing any hassle by your own admission, most workers will prefer proper digs so I doubt people will be sleeping in vans enmasss on your street

The Bristol story is interesting - apparently as long as the vehicle is taxed and MOTd there is nothing to stop someone living in it which answers the OP’s question. It is not against the law.

Unless I owned the street I would accept that there’s not a lot I could do about it and then mind my own business .

You have to pay at the campsite , the road is free . Hope that clears that up

Is his presence bothering you or has he actually been a nuisance?

specialsubject Tue 05-Jun-18 17:13:08
all of you who are happy with a pile of rubbish outside your door, and with excreta in the street - addresses please and the OP can send them to you.

I have seen many posters (including myself) say we would not have a problem providing they weren't going to the loo in the street or leaving rubbish or making a lot of noise. I thought I had read the full thread but obviously missed the one post which said they would be happy for them to shit in the street and leave rubbish everywhere. perhaps you would share it with us?

all of you who are happy with a pile of rubbish outside your door, and with excreta in the street - addresses please and the OP can send them to you.

Where does the OP say this is happening?

There are various Construction Industry agreements over pay and conditions Lodge Allowance is around £40 per night. Really it's not a lot of money to get a room & eat out or take-away. Caravan / Camper is a cheaper way to live many choose it over hotels / b&b.s / sharing rooms.

If he's working on site he'll move on when the jobs done. So no I wouldn't complain.

However if it was some random who had no reason to be in my street I think I would complain. But then I can't imagine anybody would do it by choice.

That also assumes the man is employed under set conditions rather than self employed.

Isn't that kind of the point of camper vans - that you can sleep in them

I lived in Australia for a couple of years and there were rules about where you could park camper vans and sleep in them - you can't set up camp in the car park at Bondi beach for example. But then, Australia has rules for everything....

If they get £40 a night then that would easily cover the campsite 5 mins away. Surely that was also be nicer for them?

To be clear I haven't complained to anyone about this guy, I was just curious. The big RV a couple of years ago was much more of a concern - and there wasn't a building site then either so I had no idea why it was there.

OK until you want to sell your house perhaps? A surveyor might think this would attract ‘do as they likies’?

I think there are rules in the uk too op. Especially round tourist spots. Whether they’re legally enforceable, I don’t know, but they certainly put signs up in touristy areas.

Builders who are working on a site living in a camper van temporarily next to the site - I don’t see an issue with it.

A random person who lives in a camper van parking up on residential streets on a regular basis - I would have an issue with.

The main difference for me is that if the builder is working away from home they are probably doing it for better money (they are usually building work going on everywhere so I can only imagine someone working away for better pay).
If they are working away from home sleeping in a camper van to earn extra money and save on a hotel spending £XX on a pitch every night will wipe out any savings/extra money they make.

In an ideal world they would park up away from residential streets but that isn’t always an option as they probably need to be close to the site.

Random people who choose to live in a camper van can park anywhere and don't really have any reason I can think of to regularly park on residential streets.

Are they using it as a security unit to guard the entrance to the site? Thefts from building sites is common and expensive

If it was a security unit it would be at the gates, in an office/canteen style, not a sleeping arrangement.

It will be a site worker, saving as much of his out allowance as possible! He has to buy his 3 meals a day as well as overnight accommodation. When you can't cook anything that becomes really expensive!

Orchid - it's great, isn't it? Cooker, fridge, loo, bed - what more do you need?

My boss's boyfriend has a motorhome, and they do stealth camping in field entrances and car parks that are at the top of the downs. We have a standing joke that one day they'll overnight somewhere that's a dogging site.

DP won't try stealth camping, the old stick in the mud. He reckons we'd get moved on by the police, but the abovementioned van is a DIY conversion and painted in harlequin colours, so far from discreet.

Yep it is! And very handy for visiting people who haven't got room to put you up :)

I'm not brave enough for stealth camping though (although I hadn't thought about the possibility of coming across dogging )

There's a campsite five mins drive away - why not go there?

Some campsites are really quite expensive. They often insist that vans go on hardstanding pitches with electric hook-up and £25 a night isn't unknown.

I wouldn't spend £175 a week on a campsite if I didn't have to. We rarely do, we belong to something called Britstops where you can stay in places for free.

A surveyor might think this would attract ‘do as they likies’?

Using rhyming slang for a racist and offensive term doesn't make it any less offensive than the original imo.

You’d love our town there’s a bloke living in a camper parked permanently opposite the junior school playground. He’s often seen topless gazing out of the window.