Logistics of living in a tiny house/ static caravan

MovingForwards

Depending on what you do for a living and whether it's something that can be done from anywhere / nearly anywhere eg self-employed online business or nurse / Dr within the NHS, look to open up your location a lot and potentially make some compromises due to budget.

When you say nature, what is it specifically?
Hill and mountain views or walks then use Alloa as your starting point and expand out. Consider the Highlands.
Nature or costal walks look at Fife as a starting point.

Borders has some good prices as does Highlands, even some of the islands are worth a look.

Unfortunately, when on a tight budget it's hard to get everything you want and compromises do have to come into it.  It's easier to compromise on building type than give up being close to nature walks or having views.

Alternatively, keep renting and wait for things to calm this year or next, then look again.

ProDave

You can buy a bulding plot with planning permission for about £50, even less if you don't mind being very remote.

You can site a static caravan on that and live in it, there is one guy near me who has been living on such a building plot in a yurt for 2 years now.

Sometimes what is sold as a building plot has a derelict house or house in poor repair, nothing to stop you patching p the existing house enough to make it habitable.

user1977

ProDave said:

You can buy a bulding plot with planning permission for about £50

Er, where?

GDB2222

user1977 said:

ProDave said:

You can buy a bulding plot with planning permission for about £50

Er, where?

Perhaps he means £50k?

Grumpelstiltskin

Building plot here for less than 50K
1 bed detached house for sale in Building Plot, Kirkcolm DG9 - Zoopla

GeordieGeorge

Grumpelstiltskin said:

Building plot here for less than 50K
1 bed detached house for sale in Building Plot, Kirkcolm DG9 - Zoopla

That’s nearly 1,000 times more than the claim made above though.

[Deleted User]

GeordieGeorge said:

Grumpelstiltskin said:

Building plot here for less than 50K
1 bed detached house for sale in Building Plot, Kirkcolm DG9 - Zoopla

That’s nearly 1,000 times more than the claim made above though.

Okay here's somewhere for just 40x £50.  And there'd be no need for a compost toilet, either!:

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/commercial-property-for-sale/property-105709454.html

[Deleted User]

Lover_of_Lycra said:

Deleted_User said:

Lover_of_Lycra said:

Deleted_User said:

Hi all,
I am a FTB in Scotland and, like many in my situation, buying a house just now seems less and less probable. I have been considering my options and looking into buying a less traditional house, such as a tiny house/ log cabin/ static caravan. I wondered if anyone has done this before? I am fairly minimalist and don't need a lot of space. I imagine I would have to purchase a small patch of land with planning permission for a dwelling/ electricity and water supply but do you have any other considerations? Any advice would be much appreciated to determine whether this is a viable alternative! Thank you.

If you have £50k in cash how can buying a home in Scotland be less and less probable? Unless you’re trying to buy in the New Town, which I don’t think you are based on a previous thread, surely you must be able to buy something other than a caravan. 

Less probable due to the competition and lack of availability of the kind of house I am looking for (ideally small, detached, close to nature. Most of the houses I've seen are huge and very expensive). I also don't want a large mortgage. £50k in cash is an overestimate as I'd rather keep some in savings if possible. Given all of this, it seems a tiny house or log cabin is more what I'm looking for than what is currently available.

So instead of a mortgage that would help you buy what you want you want to spend the cash you do have on a depreciating asset. What happens when you eventually need to replace the caravan or log cabin? A mortgage to buy a property will almost definitely be the less expensive option. 

I do know a couple of people who have lived in static caravans in Scotland. Only on a temporary basis though whilst renovating old buildings to live in. If you buy land factor in the cost, or find out if it’s even possible, to hook the caravan or log cabin up to water and electricity. Also winters are cold. 

Rather than a caravan or log cabin have you thought about buying land and doing a self build to get what you want? Something like this:

https://theweehousecompany.co.uk/modular-homes/two-bedroom-cottage-style/

You're right, it's not an ideal situation. The cold winters do concern me. I think I'm just frustrated at renting and there being no end in sight to the current seller's market. Thank you for the link, definitely food for thought! Will need to look into whether mortgages on such properties are possible but really like the idea of this!

[Deleted User]

MovingForwards said:

Depending on what you do for a living and whether it's something that can be done from anywhere / nearly anywhere eg self-employed online business or nurse / Dr within the NHS, look to open up your location a lot and potentially make some compromises due to budget.

When you say nature, what is it specifically?
Hill and mountain views or walks then use Alloa as your starting point and expand out. Consider the Highlands.
Nature or costal walks look at Fife as a starting point.

Borders has some good prices as does Highlands, even some of the islands are worth a look.

Unfortunately, when on a tight budget it's hard to get everything you want and compromises do have to come into it.  It's easier to compromise on building type than give up being close to nature walks or having views.

Alternatively, keep renting and wait for things to calm this year or next, then look again.

Thank you. I am a writer, so can work from anywhere but would like to be within a decent distance to Glasgow and Edinburgh for visiting family and friends. As for nature, I just mean a more rural area as opposed to a built-up city. You're right about compromises having to be made - this is why the rural location is more important to me than the structure of the building. Fife and the borders are definitely on my 'possible' list. I guess it's just a waiting game to see what comes up...

[Deleted User]

ProDave said:

You can buy a bulding plot with planning permission for about £50, even less if you don't mind being very remote.

You can site a static caravan on that and live in it, there is one guy near me who has been living on such a building plot in a yurt for 2 years now.

Sometimes what is sold as a building plot has a derelict house or house in poor repair, nothing to stop you patching p the existing house enough to make it habitable.

Thank you, this is the kind of thing I was thinking of doing. I wasn't sure if it was a simple as buying a patch of land and plonking a static caravan on it or if the process was a lot more involved!