Van Life

[Medusa]

Go for it.

Plenty of full timers on Youtube, from car campers up to Luton Box vans.

And a lot of them are starting to post of damage to their vans, attempted and actual break ins, bricks through windows etc. People living on residential streets are getting fed up of people parking their vans/campers etc outside their houses farmers are getting fed up of people trespassing on their land and even some people using the app "park4night" are experiencing issues. If you have access to private land or are willing to park out of sight in a remote spot which is not on private land you will likely be ok. The idea of living full time in a van conversion or camper is not for me personally, I could cope perfectly well without the luxuries but I do need some space of my own and living in such a tiny space with another person just would not work for me.

[Vitamin c]

Good places to park
Industrial estates comes with good cctv.

Laybys .. safety in numbers

Avoid lorry parks/ motorway services.. lady's of the night..smell.

[jansman]

Good places to park
Industrial estates comes with good cctv.

Laybys .. safety in numbers

Avoid lorry parks/ motorway services.. lady's of the night..smell.

Our son in law is an HGV driver ( as well as Farrier) and when he does long distances and has to stop overnight,it’s on a lorry park or motorways service,as police drift in and out ,which is good. He avoids lay-bys at all costs. Very often he will time pickups and stay in customer compounds. He avoids hassle and scumbags as far as possible,although a scumbag criminal wouldn’t want to upset him,he’s a big strong lad!

As stated before,my brother lives in a van situation in a remote and private woodland,and still gets wannabe bushcrafter scum trespassing. A similar worry to son in law when in his lorry. Security and peaceful living is important.

[Frnc]

One idea might be to talk to farmers. Some might offer somewhere to park, maybe even drinking water. I've read that many are quite amenable to the rural homeless. The problem they have is more with the councils....

"Farmers are often cited as heroes, allowing people to pitch tents on their land and providing clean water and hot tea. But some are frustrated by regulations that prevent them from helping people sleeping rough, fearing criminalisation by local authorities."
https://englishrural.org.uk/rural-homelessness-counts/

Also people in some villages might offer or recommend a spot.

Another thing you could do occasionally maybe is stay on a camp site. Camping and Caravanning Club sites are cheap, good, and you don't have to be a member. You can get a shower and a bit of space to sort gear out, wash and dry clothes etc.

[Ahastyatom]

It may also be worth looking into live in guardians. I had a cousin who did it years ago. She lived in a office building and watched over the building for cheap rent. But she motioned that there was more demand for people in camper vans to park up in the grounds as the owners did not have to create a place for someone to live.

[Vitamin c]

If you are aiming for laybys and industrial estate many get full by about 6_7pm as most truckers have early starts and popular spots near shops ,takeaways and loos always go quick.

[jansman]

One idea might be to talk to farmers. Some might offer somewhere to park, maybe even drinking water. I've read that many are quite amenable to the rural homeless. The problem they have is more with the councils....

"Farmers are often cited as heroes, allowing people to pitch tents on their land and providing clean water and hot tea. But some are frustrated by regulations that prevent them from helping people sleeping rough, fearing criminalisation by local authorities."
https://englishrural.org.uk/rural-homelessness-counts/

Also people in some villages might offer or recommend a spot.

Another thing you could do occasionally maybe is stay on a camp site. Camping and Caravanning Club sites are cheap, good, and you don't have to be a member. You can get a shower and a bit of space to sort gear out, wash and dry clothes etc.

Our sisters woodland where our brother has his Romany van has a farm each side. Sorry,but those farmers don’t want strangers anywhere near! Our brother is good friends with them,and they look out for each other .There is always someone hanging around there,up to no good. Indeed the final farmer at the North end of our village doesn’t like strangers either. Tom has enough crime occurrences without turning it into a campsite,that’s for sure!
Unfortunately many people - townies in particular- seem to think that because a farmer has open space,then they can camp there! It’s business land ,and no different to a factory. I wouldn’t let a stranger camp in my garden,so why would a farmer?

[Trig.Point]

Join a gym £20 a month 24/7access , shower ,shave ,plugs all over the place ...and you can look like Arnold.

Great minds thinking alike!.

Some problems I'm having though are registering the vehicle to a mailing address, the DVLA are being difficult insisting on a residential address. Likewise for my drivers licence. Also problems at work as they seem to think they need to provide a residential address and not a mailing address.

[Frnc]

Join a gym £20 a month 24/7access , shower ,shave ,plugs all over the place ...and you can look like Arnold.

Great minds thinking alike!.

Some problems I'm having though are registering the vehicle to a mailing address, the DVLA are being difficult insisting on a residential address. Likewise for my drivers licence. Also problems at work as they seem to think they need to provide a residential address and not a mailing address.

DVLA say "You do not need to tell us if you move temporarily (for example you’re living away at university) if we can still contact you at your permanent address."

So, sounds like you need a residential address, but you don't need to actually live there as long as you can be contacted via that address. Do you have a friend or relative you could technically "live with"? Of course if you do that, they'd have to tell their building and contents insurer you were living there. It might affect their policy slightly. Probably just a clause that says if contents are stolen there must be sign of forced entry. Would probably be best if they had a spare room, but people do sleep on sofas in their real residence, eg student in summer holidays because their old room got turned into an office.

Apparently DVLA stated somewhere
“We do recognise that there will be occasions where individuals cannot provide a postal address at which they reside and, in certain circumstances, we do allow an alternative address to be used. However, because of the potential risks, we will only agree such arrangements on a case by case basis and we expect a robust reason and evidence that compels a driver to use such an address”

This was from a site
"boatmail.co.uk customers can use the free correspondence address for registering their Licence, providing the holder can demonstrate they are permanently travelling or have a valid reason why the address provided by boatmail.co.uk is their best means of contact and is a correspondence/contact address only."
http://www.boatmail.co.uk/dvla.html
"The address can be used for correspondence with the DVLA. As far as using the address for driving licences is concerned, the DVLA will treat each request on a case by case basis. Only under certain circumstances can the free correspondence street address be used for a driving licence. Please refer to the guidance at the link below. More details are available via this link"
http://www.boatmail.co.uk/driving-licence.html

[Vitamin c]

If you go down the friends or relatives route you have to be sure that you trust them 100% as they get access to all your private mail.

Would you trust them to open mail ..? Remember a speeding fine is less if payed within so many days and if not responded to your in court and a court no show ect ect.

Parents are most folks best option.