[Housing Crisis] Looking for a place to park (and live in) my camper van in/near Dublin

JakSum

Hello hello,

My name is Jakob, and I am a German PhD researcher at TCD. I am currently looking for accommodation in Dublin, which is, you have guessed it, an absolute nightmare. I have a modest but secure income thanks to a scholarship, but it's simply not enough to compete with other applicants, and the affordable accommodations are always gone in the blink of an eye.

My current plan is to use my savings to buy a massive camper van and live in that. The only problem with that plan is that I would need a safe place where I could park it long-term, and ideally even had access to electricity.

Does anyone have an idea where I could find such a place, or where I could advertise, or who I could talk to about this? Or, do you think this plan is absolutely bonkers?

Would love to hear what you think about this, and maybe you have some other ideas on how to navigate this housing crisis...

Jakob

spaceHopper

Take a trip out the the west pier in Dun Laoghaire and see if anybody is parking there, you get a few. Mostly you'd have to move around. Most important thing to check out is if you can get insurance, you have to have a driving record and be 25 for most camper insurance

Del2005

You're not going to be able to park a massive camper anywhere around Dublin unless you're willing to pay money to a site and even then you could have trouble with living on site.

You'll need to go stealth and have the van as small and non camper looking as possible. The only places to park are in housing or industrial estates. Housing estates you'll have nosy neighbours and possible damage to you vehicle, people are very protective of the road outside their homes!, and you'll have to move locations regularly. Industrial estates will be empty after business hours so loads of places to park, but they won't be secure and we've an anti social issue so it could be dangerous.

The biggest issue is going to be insurance as to get the ~€400 policies you need full time access to another vehicle and a permanent address, you could be into the thousands for insurance.

zg3409

Firstly camper vans are very expensive. Most insurance is based on having a second car as main vehicle.

Other issues are sewage disposal, water tap, electricity supply.

Then you have fuel costs, maintenance and quality of life, it can be a lonely cold winter. There are some people with stealth campers that move about. If you were paying rent for a location it might cancel out that option.

Have a look at house shares and consider asking air b n b hosts for cheap longer term winter rates. Also see if camp sites will allow longer stay.

boardsiebob

I really like your idea Jakob. Nothing ventured nothing gained sort of thing!

I would take spaceHopper's idea into consideration, probably hard to find a private site in dublin. Parking at Dun Laoghaire harbour is €4 per day. Night is free. Bins provided free. Stayed there in April/May and was really quite. You take the Dart into Dublin city.

Consider that you don't have to live like this the whole term. Think of it as temporarily and something else might open up. Bring Van in from Germany and avoid difficult insurance problems. You can always sell it in Ireland. TCD/Professor might provide postal address. Good luck!

zg3409

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119670861#Comment_119670861

Beware in the past some of the Dun laoghaire harbour area was 24 hour pay and display with clamping 24/7 from harbour police. They regularly clamped camera vans waiting for the car ferry while they slept. It's also a busy & dodgy area.

I think the harbour was taken over by council in past years as ferry is gone and harbour police may be gone.

It might be fine for a few overnights if the larger car parks allow it, but I think you would have trouble from car park owners and local trouble makers