Micro housing ?

Dustyevsky

monkey-fingers:

We could arguably allow things like this in remote parts of Scotland and maybe Wales and England. But those places are few and far between.

Living in a less-populated area, I'm not keen to 'allow' a spread of unregulated log cabins, mobile homes etc. beyond what already pops up naturally, monitored by the locals and local authority.

Mostly, these micro-homes are old caravans, though we did have a couple who lived in a mud hut, and I know someone who lives in a bus. Sometimes, these temporary residences are by roadsides, but usually they're on parcels of cheap land owned by the occupants. Either way, they're eventually served with a notice to quit. By then, paying no rent or council tax, the residents have saved a substantial amount towards their next acquisition, be it a bricks & mortar, or another piece of land.

Of course, if a plot is sold, and new people move in, the legal process to move them on begins again, and may take years.

Given the inconveniences of living off-grid, and the semi-temporary nature of that living, only a minority are doing it here, and they usually keep a low profile. To me, that seems a typical British compromise. I can't speak for other areas of course.

Robert7578

What i suggested is no different to the thousands of people who already live on boats in the UK.

You can even search YouTube and find some people living offgrid lives in non bricks and mortar homes,

It is not hard to comprehend .

Section62

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82032957#Comment_82032957

What i suggested is no different to the thousands of people who already live on boats in the UK.

What you asked at the start of the thread was "Why has our planning system in the UK focused on massively expensive bricks and mortar homes ?"

Answers have been given to this: because most people want to buy a bricks and mortar home on a piece of land they own, convenient to where they work, school their children, shop, and/or spend their leisure time.

Living on a boat is an answer to a different question.

If boat life appeals then living in a caravan or park home is a land-based near equivalent - and there are plenty of places you can do that.

You can even search YouTube and find some people living offgrid lives in non bricks and mortar homes,

You can search the internet and find lots of people doing different things. It doesn't mean the majority of the population want to do the same. The ease (or otherwise) for people living offgrid is a different issue to that of providing large numbers of affordable homes and dealing with homelessness.

It is not hard to comprehend .

I don't think anyone is denying that some people live offgrid. Nor that some people live on boats. What is difficult to comprehend is quite where this thread is going. What is the problem which boatlife/offgrid is going to solve?

Yorkie1

What i suggested is no different to the thousands of people who already live on boats in the UK.

A friend lived on a small boat. They eventually considered themself lucky enough to get a social housing property with their partner and small child. They love going back to the boat for days or quick overnight stays, but in the cold and wet of winter it's no fun.

user1977

the thousands of people who already live on boats in the UK.

How many thousands live permanently on boats? I know there are a few on the canal near me, but they must be the only handful in a sizeable city (and some of the permanently-moored ones are holiday accommodation).

Section62

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82033141#Comment_82033141

It is standing room only at a lot of the London moorings, and also other places where there is a convenient commuting station nearby. If you check google maps for Blomfield Road to the north of Warwick Avenue you can see them two deep on the northern side of the canal. Likewise around Stratford - the Hertford Union is like a linear marina. Further out there's Broxbourne and Ware, and also Rickmansworth, for example.

I don't think 'thousands' is wrong, but very much weighted towards places where property prices are high and the privations of living on the water have their compensations.

QrizB

> How many thousands live permanently on boats?

Per the 2022 census of boaters, there are 35000 licensed boats and 36% of those are liveaboards.

That's 12600 liveaboard boats, mostly couples, so probably 25-30000 people.

Or, put another way, 0.05% of the population & 0.05% of the homes.

TroubledTarts

https://www.trinitybuoywharf.com/workspaces/container-city-1

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder but I believe some of these were work/life apartments for £700 a month.

I have been on a house boat in winter and unless you have an electricity hook up the mornings when the stove has long gone out are as bad as sleeping in a tent in winter, you struggle to get warm for the rest of the day. Maybe that's just me being a softie.

EssexHebridean

Focusing on Ware and surrounding areas particularly, an awful lot of the boats you see there are not occupied as a full time thing - they're essentially holiday lets. Indeed, looking at the state of a lot of them, I'm not sure they would even be habitable as a full time residence!

I'm also going to disagree with the view that there is a huge market for "small family homes" - I think so many folk are now so focused on their entitlement to have an ensuite, a kitchen diner, and a separate playroom for the kids that there just isn't any more. I know social housing providers near us struggle to get a family of 3 to take a 2 bed property with a single bathroom, for example.

An off grid life sounds romantic, but in the middle of winter I suspect is far less appealing to the majority - and with the best will in the world, a reasonable degree of financial privilege and lifestyle flexibility is required to make it work - that means it simply doesn't suit everyone.

Section62

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82038033#Comment_82038033

An off grid life sounds romantic, but in the middle of winter I suspect is far less appealing to the majority - and with the best will in the world, a reasonable degree of financial privilege and lifestyle flexibility is required to make it work - that means it simply doesn't suit everyone.

That^

Which is primarily why it isn't a solution to a housing crisis.