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Living in a van (Dublin)

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  • Options
    #62
    10pennymixup
    Registered Users Posts: 516 ✭✭✭10pennymixup


    kceire wrote: »
    Yes, even if he lied through his teeth, third parties are still covered. The insurance company can choose to take a civil case against the insured then to recover their losses.

    Thanks for that. Strange practise though, no wonder insurance premiums are so high.


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    #63
    Arcade_Tryer
    Registered Users Posts: 2,021 ✭✭✭Arcade_Tryer


    Harry Palmr wrote: »
    Sounds pretty isolating to be honest, at some point you'll want to drop anchor.
    Indeed, but at least they will presumably be in a decent position to do so at that point due to the rent they have avoided.


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    #64
    Alkers
    Registered Users Posts: 6,811 ✭✭✭Alkers


    RickDeckard wrote:
    Yes, I will be in the camper van full time under the camper v an insurance, you are not supposed to daily drive a campervan.

    Try Richardson's, not all policies have that limitation


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    #65
    CollyFlower
    Registered Users Posts: 5,996 ✭✭✭CollyFlower


    If you have parking in your work place and they allow you to have your vehicle parked there permanently would you still need to have it taxed and insured?.. If you rented a 24 hour access storage unit / area.... If it's off road would it still need to be taxed and insured?


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    #66
    blindside88
    Registered Users Posts: 1,968 ✭✭✭blindside88


    Op would you not consider renting outside of Dublin and commuting in or renting a room in a shared property?


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    #67
    Tipsy McSwagger
    Registered Users Posts: 9,065 ✭✭✭Tipsy McSwagger


    RickDeckard wrote: »
    Yes, its possible.


    I work in Cork, a full time professional in a good status job and live in a van.



    Been living in my van for a year. Nobody at work knows.



    Fuc*ked if I am giving all my money to rent gangsters and I am to old to share with randomers. I also have my dogs which stay with me often.


    Best move Ive ever made.



    For full time - You need a long wheel base, high roof van, gas cooker, insulation and most overlooked - ventilation, damp in a bitch in the Winter.



    I choose a Sprinter.



    You need a 100Ah 12v battery to run your laptop, lights and USB stuff, all charged by a Voltage Sensitive Regulator hooked to the engine. Solar is a possibility.





    If you can shower at work - that is a huge bonus, I am putting in a shower /toilet soon in mine.


    Build yourself a decent fixed bed with a real mattress.





    You need to be willing to learn how to do the basic conversion and stuff, I had NO experience in any of this and have learnt everything along the way.


    Everything is on google. Be brave and tear into it. It can be done quite cheaply, my sprinter was E3500 once I had it serviced and on the road, and maybe another E1000 for basic conversion so I can start to live in it.


    Once your in it, you can keep tipping away at the conversion , by the time Im done, my van will be nicer than 90% of small apartments out there, I a have a lot of plans still.



    Tax etc - Insured as a commercial and taxed as private van, this is a huge dark area , I am re-registering the van as a camper for tax and insurance before Winter. Paperwork and official Ireland is the tricky part of the whole set up.



    Mentally, you need to be open minded, not judge yourself for doing it - I think I am ahead of the game here and surviving well in a tough environment.


    IN NO WAY DOES MY LIFE CHOICE MAKE ME FEEL A FAILURE / LESSER THAN OTHERS. I get a kick from beating the system a bit.



    Maintain your social life in the evenings - so you are not in van all the time. Embrace it and pat yourself on the back for being gung ho and thinking outside the box. So many Irish are total judgemental conformists.



    URBAN VANNING:


    Keep the van low key, mine looks like a commercial goods van outside, windows in the roof, none in the side. Plenty of light and no on knows I'm in here.


    Parking - You will find a few spots around the place if you look, open your eyes and get on google maps.


    Night Parking Golden Rule - Get to your spot late and leave early. Do not get out of van once parked for night, be invisible.



    Ive had ZERO hassle from Guards, drunks , anyone, and I am parking in the center of Cork.



    I am proud of the life I have carved out, I am saving for a deposit for a house, and actually getting somewhere.


    My running costs are food, fuel and I do service teh van twice a year as I rely on her so much.


    You will develop a bond with the vehicle, beyond a mere van.


    I think its very, very ,much like being on a boat. You MUST be clean and tidy, this will not work if you are a slob, small spaces get destroyed quickly from day to day living.


    I'm glad someone else is thinking this, Just do it, if it dont work out for you, at least you tried.


    Think outside the box, have faith in yourself and do it, and FU%K what society thinks.


    No it won’t. If you had a choice you would be in an apartment and not a cramped little van.


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    #68
    Graces7
    Registered Users Posts: 32,634 ✭✭✭✭Graces7


    Tipsy McSwagger wrote: »
    No it won’t. If you had a choice you would be in an apartment and not a cramped little van.

    He is perfectly correct actually and has made a brilliant choice. Choice means within possibilities.


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    #69
    Idbatterim
    Registered Users Posts: 17,840 ✭✭✭✭Idbatterim


    We would have the advantage of not paying rent as a result but we are paying some utility bills. However one disadvantage is that I now have an 80km round trip commute to work vs a 20km one before so my fuel cost has gone up but the savings make the commute well worthwhile.

    would it be worth getting a leaf?

    RickDeckard fair bloody play! There is actually no point in Dublin, renting any more, unless you absolutely have too. Anything sub E1500 for a one bed apartment, will be a kip. The amount of money you have to land out for the crap it gets you, is insane! from one bed apartment to several bed house...

    honestly, there are log cabins, 5x5m going for a five grand. A detached property with a garden, done to your own taste. You can get broadband and all utilities from the house. No landlord, no rent hikes, no ****!


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    #70
    Idbatterim
    Registered Users Posts: 17,840 ✭✭✭✭Idbatterim


    Tipsy McSwagger wrote: »
    No it won’t. If you had a choice you would be in an apartment and not a cramped little van.

    people do have a choice, most just dont have the balls! They pay a fortune, for **** apartments! Is that their long term plan? or your simply live dirt cheap for a few years and take control of your own situation. No point in waiting for the politicians to sort anything in this Banana republic...


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    #71
    Idbatterim
    Registered Users Posts: 17,840 ✭✭✭✭Idbatterim


    blindside88 wrote: »
    Op would you not consider renting outside of Dublin and commuting in or renting a room in a shared property?

    I dont see a point, youd be commuting, still paying a good chunk on bills and rent if you want to live alone. If there purpose is to save money, what kind of a kip would you be living in, if you just want to rent based on cheapest cost alone? Its half assing it...


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    #72
    con___manx1
    Registered Users Posts: 1,464 ✭✭✭con___manx1


    Rent somewhere roughly an hour from dublin and commute like thousands of others. You will save a few hundred a month anyway.


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    #73
    Idbatterim
    Registered Users Posts: 17,840 ✭✭✭✭Idbatterim


    con___manx1 wrote: »
    Rent somewhere roughly an hour from dublin and commute like thousands of others. You will save a few hundred a month anyway.
    An absolutely crap option compared to what rick is doing in my opinion and I’m sure he has weighed up that option ...


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    #74
    Graces7
    Registered Users Posts: 32,634 ✭✭✭✭Graces7


    Reminds me of the Australian Grey Nomads,,,

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tSARHRkA1o

    Wondrously equipped vans..


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    #75
    Graces7
    Registered Users Posts: 32,634 ✭✭✭✭Graces7


    con___manx1 wrote: »
    Rent somewhere roughly an hour from dublin and commute like thousands of others. You will save a few hundred a month anyway.

    :eek:


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    #76
    oceanman
    Registered Users Posts: 1,743 ✭✭✭oceanman


    con___manx1 wrote: »
    Rent somewhere roughly an hour from dublin and commute like thousands of others. You will save a few hundred a month anyway.
    the whole idea is to not do "what thousands of others" are doing.


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    #77
    Eric Cartman
    Registered Users Posts: 26,283 ✭✭✭✭Eric Cartman


    http://www.sprinter-rv.com/the-great-canadian-diy-sprinter-conversion/
    http://www.sutterfinewoodwork.ca/picture-gallery.php

    check this conversion, its very possible to do an excellent van conversion to live in. Id probably sacrifice some leisure space to fit a shower / sink / toilet combination, they come as a module you install with their own supplies.

    do it with a lab sprinter as they seem to be the best for this.

    https://www.donedeal.ie/commercials-for-sale/mercedes-benz-sprinter-313-cdi-lwb-1-year-warra/16167656 25k and you'd be away with a semi-stealth camper.


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    #78
    z0oT
    Registered Users Posts: 740 ✭✭✭z0oT


    Idbatterim wrote: »
    would it be worth getting a leaf?
    A Leaf would be perfect for my commute. There are employee charging points I could use at work free of charge too. It would mean the running cost could be zero if I did all the charging at work which I could do. Having worked it out, it would be a saving of 1500-2000EUR a year.

    But... I don't fancy having to deal with the inconvience of the ~100-150km range if I was to do a trip up to the North of 300km+ all on the motorway (which I do relatively often).

    I'll change my car after we have a house bought. Been considering an Ioniq, but I'm leaning towards a Hybrid because of range anxiety for longer journies plus it'll be all Urban driving after we move. I'd like a PHEV, but they're just too expensive as I like to buy new usually.

    Anyway... getting it back to being more on-topic with a question for RickDeckard - Is it worth buying an actual campervan instead? Does it work out cheaper than converting it yourself? I guess the main disadvantage would be the lack of discretion. A campervan is obviously a campervan when you even glance at it.


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    #79
    riclad
    Registered Users Posts: 8,184 ✭✭✭riclad


    She is trying to save money,
    i presume she does not want to spend 2 hours every day commuting to
    a rural area.
    The log cabin idea is good if you know someone who will let you
    put a cabin on the back garden.
    it seems a good idea if it means you can save for a deposit,
    You will need to be good at carpentry or know a carpenter.
    for internet you can use the tether function
    on a phone to set up a wifi connection to give web acess on a laptop or tablet.
    Most librarys have free wifi,and are open 10am til 8pm.
    The government needs to plan 5-10 years ahead.
    In terms of providing funding for council housing and set up
    tax incentives for landlords to provide rental propertys in
    dublin and other area,s .
    The system we have now seems to encourage investors to
    build student housing or office space.
    Rather than low cost rental units.


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    #80
    Eric Cartman
    Registered Users Posts: 26,283 ✭✭✭✭Eric Cartman


    riclad wrote: »
    She is trying to save money,
    i presume she does not want to spend 2 hours every day commuting to
    a rural area.
    The log cabin idea is good if you know someone who will let you
    put a cabin on the back garden.
    it seems a good idea if it means you can save for a deposit,
    You will need to be good at carpentry or know a carpenter.
    for internet you can use the tether function
    on a phone to set up a wifi connection to give web acess on a laptop or tablet.
    Most librarys have free wifi,and are open 10am til 8pm.
    The government needs to plan 5-10 years ahead.
    In terms of providing funding for council housing and set up
    tax incentives for landlords to provide rental propertys in
    dublin and other area,s .
    The system we have now seems to encourage investors to
    build student housing or office space.
    Rather than low cost rental units.

    Those will not get the required planning permission here, it is not possible.


  • Options
    #81
    John Hutton
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,301 ✭✭✭John Hutton


    This thread is scary.

    I understand WHY people are doing this, but that you basically HAVE TO is an absolute joke.

    I think I would get depressed living in a van or even a campervan for an extended period of time. I could do it as a starving artist moving around the place and living a bohemian lifestyle but not when holding down a 9 to 5... this country is a joke.


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    #82
    Muahahaha
    Registered Users Posts: 19,610 ✭✭✭✭Muahahaha


    Yeah it is pretty sad that things have got so bad that people who work full time feel the only way they can survive is to live in vans. Fair play to them and everything but it really is a sorry indictment on our governments housing policy. Plus it wont be getting better anytime soon, NAMA are still selling to vulture funds in bulk who then rent the apartments at extortionate rents. Irish people are not even given a chance to buy these properties while vulture funds get tax breaks to do so.


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    #83
    Eric Cartman
    Registered Users Posts: 26,283 ✭✭✭✭Eric Cartman


    Muahahaha wrote: »
    Yeah it is pretty sad that things have got so bad that people who work full time feel the only way they can survive is to live in vans. Fair play to them and everything but it really is a sorry indictment on our governments housing policy. Plus it wont be getting better anytime soon, NAMA are still selling to vulture funds in bulk who then rent the apartments at extortionate rents. Irish people are not even given a chance to buy these properties while vulture funds get tax breaks to do so.

    The administration costs of individuals buying these properties at retail would wipe out the difference in what NAMA is selling them for.

    The 'vulture' funds are buying non performing loans to get them off the Irish banks books so they can borrow more and at a cheaper rate to lend to Irish people who can afford their mortgage.

    The rents are all pretty much capped and at market rate, these 'funds' are no more greedy than any other landlord and in many cases will break up the loan fund and sell the properties back, to Irish people.


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    #84
    Muahahaha
    Registered Users Posts: 19,610 ✭✭✭✭Muahahaha


    Defend Fine Gael housing policy all you like Eric but this thread makes it clear how much of a failure it has been. A generation of Irish people who hold down full time jobs are pinned to the wall with high rents and cannot save a bean towards owning their own property. That is a government policy failure and it hasnt come about by accident, its happened by design.


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    #85
    Idbatterim
    Registered Users Posts: 17,840 ✭✭✭✭Idbatterim


    Eric Cartman wrote: »
    Those will not get the required planning permission here, it is not possible.

    If neighbors don’t object, the council turn a blind eye ... spare me anyway. They create this ****ed situation and you think I care what those scum deem legal?


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    #86
    Graham
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 17,642 Mod ✭✭✭✭Graham


    Idbatterim wrote: »
    If neighbors don’t object, the council turn a blind eye ... spare me anyway. They create this ****ed situation and you think I care what those scum deem legal?

    Mod Note

    Forum charter cares.

    Tone it down please Idbatterim.


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    #87
    Caranica
    Registered Users Posts: 10,001 ✭✭✭✭Caranica


    Idbatterim wrote: »
    If neighbors don’t object, the council turn a blind eye ... spare me anyway. They create this ****ed situation and you think I care what those scum deem legal?

    The law is the law. Whether you like it or not. Councils have been cracking down on illegal dwellings over the past two years. Money down the drain for anyone who invests in such a structure and then isn't allowed to live in it.


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    #88
    oceanman
    Registered Users Posts: 1,743 ✭✭✭oceanman


    Eric Cartman wrote: »
    The administration costs of individuals buying these properties at retail would wipe out the difference in what NAMA is selling them for.

    The 'vulture' funds are buying non performing loans to get them off the Irish banks books so they can borrow more and at a cheaper rate to lend to Irish people who can afford their mortgage.

    The rents are all pretty much capped and at market rate, these 'funds' are no more greedy than any other landlord and in many cases will break up the loan fund and sell the properties back, to Irish people.
    are you having a laugh there...


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    #89
    listermint
    Registered Users Posts: 33,613 ✭✭✭✭listermint


    Muahahaha wrote: »
    Defend Fine Gael housing policy all you like Eric but this thread makes it clear how much of a failure it has been. A generation of Irish people who hold down full time jobs are pinned to the wall with high rents and cannot save a bean towards owning their own property. That is a government policy failure and it hasnt come about by accident, its happened by design.

    I'd half agree

    However the van living is a big push by folks to live mortgage free in entirety. You only have to look at the volume of YouTube channels with people with tiny houses. Trying to live a lower cost sustainable life with far more expendable cash than you will have.

    It's not all this dire vision of homelessness for many it's an ideal of YouTube style living with ability to travel easily.

    Free living so to speak.


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    #90
    bladebrew
    Registered Users Posts: 1,673 ✭✭✭bladebrew


    I am currently travelling in Europe in a campervan but only because it a cheap way to see a lot of places, living in it full time would drive you mad! Ireland is way too cold, a diesel heater is a must but they make noise, chinese ones are cheap but a branded one is €1000ish, there are a few people living in a van with no shower or toilet posting on youtube but I have no idea how, I assume they are using public toilets which are not always the cleanest, and when you wake up at 5am in a thunderstorm it's nice to have a toilet onboard,
    One public toilet I went to use in France turned out to be a squat toilet absolutely destroyed in crap! I have a cassette toilet in the van, you could put one in a van, but you need somewhere to empty it every few days, and there needs to be a door to slide it out of,

    Vandog is one of those people who I like but says that you don't need a shower everyday and that's not what humans are meant to do etc, that is rubbish if you don't have a shower for a few days in any kind of heat you feel horrible and smell horrible,

    Insurance is a massive grey area, Dolmen is a popular insurance company that prohibits the van being your full time residence, so you need an address, I doubt they have anyway of knowing that you are living in it but it's still lying to them, you need a car policy aswell,

    Our van has over 100 litre fresh water tank but we need to fill it every few days, small vans have no where near this capacity in most cases, sink water goes into a grey tank which again needs to be emptied every few days, I don't know anywhere in Dublin or Cork that has this facility? Apart from campsites,

    It's a pity campsites don't allow people to live in vans on site, if you were parked hooked up to mains, with a shower and toilet block and a heater you could definitely live fairly comfortably in a purpose built campervan, but living in a panel van in a city centre sounds like a nightmare,

    Edit: Fulltime van lifers never mention rain for some reason, you have no idea how loud rain is until it's 3 foot above your head! From rainy rainy Sweden!


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    #91
    Eric Cartman
    Registered Users Posts: 26,283 ✭✭✭✭Eric Cartman


    bladebrew wrote: »
    I am currently travelling in Europe in a campervan but only because it a cheap way to see a lot of places, living in it full time would drive you mad! Ireland is way too cold, a diesel heater is a must but they make noise, chinese ones are cheap but a branded one is €1000ish, there are a few people living in a van with no shower or toilet posting on youtube but I have no idea how, I assume they are using public toilets which are not always the cleanest, and when you wake up at 5am in a thunderstorm it's nice to have a toilet onboard,
    One public toilet I went to use in France turned out to be a squat toilet absolutely destroyed in crap! I have a cassette toilet in the van, you could put one in a van, but you need somewhere to empty it every few days, and there needs to be a door to slide it out of,

    Vandog is one of those people who I like but says that you don't need a shower everyday and that's not what humans are meant to do etc, that is rubbish if you don't have a shower for a few days in any kind of heat you feel horrible and smell horrible,

    Insurance is a massive grey area, Dolmen is a popular insurance company that prohibits the van being your full time residence, so you need an address, I doubt they have anyway of knowing that you are living in it but it's still lying to them, you need a car policy aswell,

    Our van has over 100 litre fresh water tank but we need to fill it every few days, small vans have no where near this capacity in most cases, sink water goes into a grey tank which again needs to be emptied every few days, I don't know anywhere in Dublin or Cork that has this facility? Apart from campsites,

    It's a pity campsites don't allow people to live in vans on site, if you were parked hooked up to mains, with a shower and toilet block and a heater you could definitely live fairly comfortably in a purpose built campervan, but living in a panel van in a city centre sounds like a nightmare,

    Edit: Fulltime van lifers never mention rain for some reason, you have no idea how loud rain is until it's 3 foot above your head! From rainy rainy Sweden!

    what you're effectively describing is trailer park living , like in the US, which is a very viable option and considering the amount of land we have is quite viable for housing people, however negative connotations brought about by the travelling community and the overall disgusting state of haulting sites in Ireland mean there is a lot of stigma attached to it.


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