Micro housing ?

Herzlos

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

The family of 3 not wanting a 2 bed on the face of it seems odd; I'd have assumed demand for social housing was high enough that people would be snapping it up.

Though it'll depend if family of 3 is 2 adults + 1 kid or 1 adult + 2 kids, and if there's any special needs.

There's definitely a push towards luxury and en suites by builders because it's more profitable, but I'd have thought there was pretty strong demand for simpler, more cost and space effective accommodation.

Don't get me wrong; I like having a 2nd bathroom in our house, but I managed 40 years with a single family bathroom. I wouldn't want to pay more for a 3rd or 4th, though.

Robert7578

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82033384#Comment_82033384

You didn't have the right stove , a 4 kw coal stove will keep in all night and with decent insulation will keep you toasty in winter.

PeterE17

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82040313#Comment_82040313

With bituminous coal now mostly banned, will manufactured smokeless fuels be as efficient?

Section62

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82040379#Comment_82040379

There are some manufactured coal/coke products - e.g. Homefire Ovals - which give a good heat output whilst also being good at slumbering.

However, they aren't subject to the energy price cap, and from an inland supplier a 25kg bag is now over £20, though you might get a discount if you buy in larger quantities, e.g. a tonne. But keeping a tonne of coal/coke on a boat isn't realistic (unless a trading vessel), so if you are buying a bag or two at a time from a garage or canal seller then expect to pay more to allow for their markup.

Also…

You didn't have the right stove , a 4 kw coal stove will keep in all night and with decent insulation will keep you toasty in winter.

…doesn't reflect that unlike electric/gas/oil, heating by coal/coke isn't something you can just switch on. There is 'admin' involved in lighting and keeping a coal/coke stove burning. There's ash to clear out and dispose of, and you can't just tip it over the side like they did in the old days. You also can't just turn a coal/coke stove off when it gets too warm.

This goes back to the point EssexHebridean made about financial privilege and lifestyle flexibility. It isn't impossible to keep warm on a boat in winter… but you need the money and time to do so.

QrizB

For the canalboat-curious, here's a blog from a guy I follow on social media.

https://philsturgeon.com/living-on-a-canal-boat/

Note that prior to this he'd been living in a Nissan e-NV200 for half a decade (and a cycle tourist before that) so he had prior experience of living with nothing.

As for the OP, back in October they were retired and thinking of buying a bit of woodland to put a shepherds hut on. I suspect this means they've no actual experience of living in an off-grid micro-home, and this entire thread is a result of persuasive social media posts and rose-tikted spectacles.

Unless the OP wants to enlighten us? Have they indeed been living a bucolic life from a sustainably-sourced yurt, collecting their own water whole knitting wholemeal muesli for the past few years?

Murphybear

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82005216#Comment_82005216

I don’t suppose the rats could get a mortgage anyway 🐀🐀🐀

Murphybear

Who’s old enough to remember prefabs?

prefabricated homes (prefabs) were specifically built quickly and cheaply to tackle the severe housing shortages caused by wartime bombing during and after the Second World War.  Millions of homes were destroyed during the war, and upon returning home, servicemen and their families were in desperate need of shelter. To solve this, governments rolled out massive factory-made housing programs. 

Here is how these post-war prefabs were rolled out:

• Speed of Construction: Components were manufactured in factories and assembled on-site with incredible speed. For example, in 1945, some demonstration models in the UK were erected and fitted out in as little as 4 hours. 
• High-Tech Amenities: Despite being quick to build, they offered state-of-the-art living for the working class, featuring indoor bathrooms, running hot water, fitted kitchens, refrigerators, and built-in storage.[1, 2]
• Resourcefulness: Some prefabs (like the AIROH model in the UK) were constructed using salvaged scrap metal from decommissioned military aircraft. 

They were designed to last 10 years but they were so popular the tenants didn’t want to move.

My parents town was badly bombed and there was a massive housing program. They moved into a prefab and waited for a “proper” house. They got a house in the early 50s, 3 bedroomed as I came along in 1952. The standard was very high, the house we lived in is still there, hasn’t changed much 😺. It had a large garden and you couldn’t hear your neighbour.

The prefabs were great. I wonder if that model would work today?

SarahB16

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82049869#Comment_82049869

If you're interested look up modern methods of construction and judge for yourself if you think that model is working today (answer: no it's not).

RelievedSheff

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82049869#Comment_82049869

Some of those prefabs still survive!!

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.4449261,-1.4657584,3a,75y,176.84h,91.89t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1smAi5U7nNleTX-4JNTzofkA!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fcb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26pitch%3D-1.8936604952119183%26panoid%3DmAi5U7nNleTX-4JNTzofkA%26yaw%3D176.842213503695!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI2MDYyNC4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

BungalowBel

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82049869#Comment_82049869

My husband inherited one froim his mum. She'd bought it under RTB.

He kept it for two years, then sold it in 2003 and we bought our house in Spain with the money (you could buy a house in our part of Spain with that sort of money, then).

Many of those, including my husband's are still standing and lived in to this day, although they are concrete ones, not like the one shown above.