UK or England thread?

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I am not even a little thick skinned over this sort of thing. My primary interest in caravan/barge is to have somewhere to live that I own and can do what I like with and not have the letting agents come round every six months stressing me out, and the gas inspection every year. I like the idea of small too because I think it's easier to keep on top of.

I think the barges probs are a lot more work than the camper. I like their speed though, and I don't like to drive. Maybe I should get one of the old caravans with the horse

Now you are talking, the gypsy traveller's life.

And a fine horse to keep you company and to look after.

I live in a Caravan, it can be magic if you find the right spot

I'm confused over the law. Can you only stay in paid for sights or can you do some free staying safely? How long can you stay in one place if it's not a proper sight?

It's something similar to squatter's rights, if you don't have permission to be there you may face eviction. It gets complicated in that each local council is supposed to provide two traveler sites with basic facilities and none of them do so. This means that eviction can be usually be delayed or reviewed depending on circumstances, for example, if a community is established and kids are receiving an education locally you can make a better argument for staying.

The people who do best at this are the ones who see a good spot and take it, not those that worry about it, I fall into the latter group and drive past good spots trying to be innocuous so I choose to pay and I'm happier going that route. I know people that moved caravans onto verges and small pieces of land owned by the highways agency that are still there after ten years without paying a penny of council tax.

I've lived in the woods, on private land and on traveler sites, in my experience, all are wild in different ways!
At the moment I pay £50 a week and have enough space around me to feel pretty relaxed, that ends in October and I'll have to have a plan in place.

additional edit: The safest place to be is probably right in the heart of the traveler community with lots of friends and being involved in lots of community projects, in a horse box or something similarly imposing or being horse-drawn. I've had mixed luck parking up by the side of the road, it's better to find the corner of a field somewhere IME.
I think I'd be more worried about my safety being on the wrong site than being parked up on a verge, having said that I'm in Devon and it's easy going.

Last edited by Sahn on 30 Jul 2018, 4:08 am, edited 2 times in total.

I have a traveller family moved in next door to me. There are a couple of big sites near me and one has agreed to be emptied for a few months while the council does it up so the families there have been put into council houses temporarily.

It's not been great I must say.

I would love to sell up and buy a piece of land and put a lovely caravan on it.

But the laws here are so tight and ridiculous.

We have a housing crisis but this government does nothing the help the situation.

I would also be happy to share with a few others if we got on well enough.

I know of some magical little communities full of lovely creative people, you have to plot your own course and find those pl.aces

Thanks for the info.

I've wondered if a person owned two small but separate pieces of land and went back and forward between them would that be legal as neither could be classed as permanent dwelling? I'm not trying to avoid the council tax. I just want to own my own home and I could never afford to buy a house.

Land set aside for people to build there own small houses on or finance the building of together would be good. Whenever I see anything about this sort of thing though, the houses are much fancier (therefore expensive) than I consider a basic house needs to be. The government keeps promoting house building and talking about affordable homes but if any houses have been built in the last ten years with less than three toilets I've seen no sign of them. Possibly in London but then they're all unaffordable because there in London.

That wouldn't work. You are allowed to spend 30 nights on your land. If you run a business from your land you might be wangle something along the lines of protecting your business. I seem to remember something about building off the ground ie temporary structures that are raised or built on supports. I have friends who have constructed dwellings like this and got planning permission 10 years on and other friends who just build and live on their land and keep it all low key. It's easier to get away with stuff like this where they already have hippies and where the price of land is not to steep. The more of a self sustainable ethos and, the more likely you are to be left alone to get on with it.

I meant they're in London, not there in London, only now it won't let me edit, how embarrassing.

It is cool Fluffy.

I actually like to see these things as it lets me know I am not the only one.

On another note, I got some good news.

I got my PIP award and I am over the moon I did not have to fight in court.

At least until the next assessment I feel a bit safer and secure.

Hurrah! That's fantastic, you must be relieved; have a bouquet of flowers.

It's so nice to have some good news, have some chocs too, you deserve them.