Living in a Van in Brighton

katiewil

well done to you for making the decision to live in a van. and shame on everyone who is so negative about it. council tax???? why should you need to pay it? you take rubbish to a bin. you take care of your own waste. and have chemical toilet facilities? im guessing you do. where does the council enter into it? i lived in a van with my husband for 3 years. we travelled europe. we parked nicely and in france the facilities were excellent. they have aires where campers can park overnight, or for several nights. there are often showers and toilet facilities. free. you wont get that in this miserable country. when we got back to uk we found it very hard to find a place to park. but managed to find a quiet slip road where we could park un hassled. a local yacht marina allowed us to empty and clean our chemical toilet. we had no reason to pay council tax. i now have a vw camper. im thinking of driving it to greece and living a simple life in it. i dont need this milstone of a house round my neck and i admire anyone who thinks the same. go for it. im off now to read your blog.

allio

Hello, Friends Good that you have shared the information which is helpful and fit everyone expertise.Here I have something which is also helpful to you is Brighton to hove ven service..

LittleMissAspie

katiewil wrote: »

we had no reason to pay council tax.

Street lighting
Maintenance of roads and pavements
Waste disposal (who do you think empties the public bins?)
Police and fire services in case you had an emergency
Coroner and registration of your death if you had died

And somebody has to pay towards education, social workers, care workers etc as the people who use these services can't afford it themselves and that's the whole point of paying tax.

woodyman

LittleMissAspie wrote: »

Street lighting
Maintenance of roads and pavements
Waste disposal (who do you think empties the public bins?)
Police and fire services in case you had an emergency
Coroner and registration of your death if you had died

And somebody has to pay towards education, social workers, care workers etc as the people who use these services can't afford it themselves and that's the whole point of paying tax.

The basis for the assessment of council tax liability is residential property - if you dont own or live in a residential property then then you are not liable for council tax, the poster was quite correct to state there was no reason to pay council tax.

In addition council tax only pays for a small portion of the services you quoted, the vast majority of the money comes from other taxation such as business rates and income tax etc via central government. The OP has stated they are working, which means they are also spending money, therefore paying income tax, purchasing items in shops/garages etc which contribute to business rates/corporation tax/vat etc, which means they ARE contributing towards education, social workers, care workers and all the other services you mentioned.

Its funny when anyone tries to do something different some people have to make up reasons why its wrong, some even make up entire scenarios to defend their views (like they are unemployed and on benefits for example so are just scroungers contributing nothing - even though the OP clearly stated "I work for a living. I pay my taxes and I am a responsible citizen") to make their case - "thats different to the way I do things so it must be wrong/illegal/immoral/.......blah blah blah"

wouldbeqaulitymoneysaver

I do feel we are being squeezed in all possible ways by the Corporates so if one could logistically do this this is an idea.
One would also join the vagrants, nomadic alcoholics, drug addicts etc on their life on the street, unless there was a way to somehow have a residential life in situ.

[Deleted User]

Good on ya!

Takes courage to move on from the shackles of society.

Would nice to get off this roundabout some call life..

Get up...
Go to work...
Eat...
Pay bills...
Suffer endless marketing/politics...
Sleep

Get up...
Go to work...
Eat...
Pay bills...
Suffer endless marketing/politics...
Sleep

Get up...
Go to work...
Eat...
Pay bills...
Suffer endless marketing/politics...
Sleep

Get up...
Go to work...
Eat...
Pay bills...
Suffer endless marketing/politics...
Sleep

Get up...
Go to work...
Eat...
Pay bills...
Suffer endless marketing/politics...
Sleep

Get up...
Go to work...
Eat...
Pay bills...
Suffer endless marketing/politics...
Sleep

Get up...
Go to work...
Eat...
Pay bills...
Suffer endless marketing/politics...
Sleep

Get up...
Go to work...
Eat...
Pay bills...
Suffer endless marketing/politics...
Sleep

Get up...
Go to work...
Eat...
Pay bills...
Suffer endless marketing/politics...
Sleep

Get up...
Go to work...
Eat...
Pay bills...
Suffer endless marketing/politics...
Sleep

...

Death

I'm far from skint but I don't see it as money thing... All going well my plan is to sod off to somewhere more chilled when retired

lemontart

great just started reading it and this is the sort of thing I have been looking for, cheaper more sustainable way of living whilst still earning a crust in the big wide world

wouldbeqaulitymoneysaver

If I had the money for a Van let alone car I would do it at least in part?
I do wonder if some sort of constructive vagrancy is called for in this day and age when we are being so relentlessly and continously financially screwed every which way, every minute of the day.
The pervasiveness and forced on ads, the neuroscientifically based Marketing strategies, the exploitative rents that deny home ownership to renters, the extortionate supermarket prices, the decreasing wage/salary rates employment conditions,the punitive controlling benefits regime ie better to spend than save.

wouldbeqaulitymoneysaver

Poor people living outdoors out in the Garden a step towards this so you reduce leccy costs during the day.

[Deleted User]

Having never lived in a van - or any form of vehicle (I guess I did once sleep overnight on a table in a portacabin once) I do wonder about the following things:
* Where do you go to the bathroom
* How do you wash/shower/bath/brush your teeth
* Where do you cook (or is it just 'like in a tent' with a little stove?)
* What happens when it's really cold? (Doesn't a hob bring with it the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning?)
* Do you define yourself as 'living in a van'? I can't say I define myself as 'I live in a house - that's who I am'

Anyhoo, it sounds quite an adventure