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Re: Living in a van or off a small plot.

Posted: Mon May 28, 2018 9:42 am
by DustyDog
Ok, many, many thanks for all your replies and help. To go from the top, two and a half years ago i was falsely accused of a crime, hence started the complete destruction of my life and i mean complete, if any of you are EVER accused of something then believe this; you are guilty until proven innocent, the Ministry of justice does not care about the truth, only convictions to make it look that their are doing their job.
I know you only have my word that i am innocent of course but to say so is all i can do here.
So, having lost my job, wife, home, dog (see my profile pic) and my pride and joy car (no point having it sat around while in jail) i got released five days ago, having spent a year in her Maj's pleasure, being released to be homeless as i do not qualify for emergency housing, i do not have kids in tow, not disabled or require assistance and so on, being a prepper i thought ahead to save a small amount of money whilst still working on bail.
When i say living off a plot, i didn't mean surviving, sorry i should have been a bit clearer, i want to find employment, the land was to put some kind of home on, i.e static, container or even somewhere to park a motor-home (have seen some great 23 seater minibuses on E bay, for conversion), i really hate the city having lived in such a remote location before, i used to sell wood-fuel as a extra income so wanted to do that from the land.
From being young i have always wanted to live off grid too, (i think watching the 'good life' had something to do with it) being in a city home that is almost impossible and of course would a conviction affect a mortgage???

The plot was just somewhere away from crowded towns i could own and call home, have some chickens, a nice big pile of wood to chop up, a veg patch, nothing more. Maybe house share in winter and live in converted bus during the summer, that would be a cheaper option as only having the state pension (need another 4 years contributions for maximum) i really wanted to save up a nest egg to help my retirement (i don't want much do i?)

Need to find work first of all and then see, on licence for a few months now anyway so cannot do a lot, will go and see a planning officer just for his advice, will let you all know.

Has been a year since i was last on this forum and i am very glad to say that it is still as friendly and as helpful as i remember, everyone searches in their own time to help other members. Thanks to all that have posted .

Re: Living in a van or off a small plot.

Posted: Mon May 28, 2018 10:47 am
by Arzosah
Oh Dusty, what a nightmare. Would NACRO help you? I had to contact them recently to help someone with house insurance (he wasn't innocent, but you've still had to spend time inside :( ) and they couldn't have been nicer. But the finances of the insurance were horrendous - so, given that experience, yes, any mortgage you took out would probably be at a higher rate. I'm sorry. NACRO gave me a list of brokers who can help, I'm sure they'd give you the same information.
https://www.nacro.org.uk/

What about your PO? Do they give any housing advice? And are you sure you don't qualify for emergency housing? You've said you're on licence, so presumably that means you can't go far anyway at the moment.

I think it was Brambles mentioned Citizens Advice? Definitely go to them.

The info on here about living on the land is still correct though, unfortunately. You could park on it - and if your van is hidden away, you might well get away with it for a while***, but its still not strictly legal. But what you said in your last post might work - living on it in a van in summer, a house share in winter.
*** I wrote this first. It probably wouldn't be workable if the police popped by for regular chats. Which they do.

Have you heard of boondocking? If you search boondocking uk, that might help, after your licence finishes. I saw a couple of links, all run by individuals not a huge site like moneysaving expert, so I'm a bit reluctant to recommend. But especially at this time of year, there are places where people boondock - Hove Baths, in Sussex, for instance. Since you're Cumbria, I bet there are places near you. Somewhere closer to you that might be a source of local knowledge (though still a long way, I'm afraid) is Hebden Bridge in Yorkshire (I know, other side of the Pennines etc, sorry!)

HTH

Re: Living in a van or off a small plot.

Posted: Mon May 28, 2018 11:26 am
by yorkshirewolf
DustyDog wrote: Mon May 28, 2018 9:42 am Ok, many, many thanks for all your replies and help. To go from the top, two and a half years ago i was falsely accused of a crime, hence started the complete destruction of my life and i mean complete, if any of you are EVER accused of something then believe this; you are guilty until proven innocent, the Ministry of justice does not care about the truth, only convictions to make it look that their are doing their job.
I know you only have my word that i am innocent of course but to say so is all i can do here.
So, having lost my job, wife, home, dog (see my profile pic) and my pride and joy car (no point having it sat around while in jail) i got released five days ago, having spent a year in her Maj's pleasure, being released to be homeless as i do not qualify for emergency housing, i do not have kids in tow, not disabled or require assistance and so on, being a prepper i thought ahead to save a small amount of money whilst still working on bail.
When i say living off a plot, i didn't mean surviving, sorry i should have been a bit clearer, i want to find employment, the land was to put some kind of home on, i.e static, container or even somewhere to park a motor-home (have seen some great 23 seater minibuses on E bay, for conversion), i really hate the city having lived in such a remote location before, i used to sell wood-fuel as a extra income so wanted to do that from the land.
From being young i have always wanted to live off grid too, (i think watching the 'good life' had something to do with it) being in a city home that is almost impossible and of course would a conviction affect a mortgage???

The plot was just somewhere away from crowded towns i could own and call home, have some chickens, a nice big pile of wood to chop up, a veg patch, nothing more. Maybe house share in winter and live in converted bus during the summer, that would be a cheaper option as only having the state pension (need another 4 years contributions for maximum) i really wanted to save up a nest egg to help my retirement (i don't want much do i?)

Need to find work first of all and then see, on licence for a few months now anyway so cannot do a lot, will go and see a planning officer just for his advice, will let you all know.

Has been a year since i was last on this forum and i am very glad to say that it is still as friendly and as helpful as i remember, everyone searches in their own time to help other members. Thanks to all that have posted .
Don't let the criminal record or what other people think of your jail time affect your life, people who judge you by it aren't worth your time. There's a lot less of a stigma with criminal records now anyway due to the rehabilitation of offenders act, but sadly it does still happen, so accept that it might be harder for you than a 'clean record' person, but don't give up or let it drag you down, there are always ways to make it work, I've known some people with records go on to be very successful and achieve a lot in their lives.

I absolutely understand the 'wanting to get away from most of society' train of thought, we did it for a good few years, but in that time, the savings we had got hammered, there was always the worry of something going wrong we couldn't pay for/fix, and there are always people who'll try to take advantage of your situation, certainly if you're desperate, I've seen and had personal experience of people being very exploited with pay because they had no other choice than to take it or leave it, or hadn't worked hard enough so were given cuts in money, it's not a nice situation but it's the harsh reality of the cash-in-hand-off-the-books economy.
The reality is that there are lots of young people from Eastern European countries (I have no negativity about that - everyone has to make a living) who work on farms year round, for not much pay and living in pretty grim accommodation, there are plenty of landowners and farming companies who will take full advantage for their bottom line.

I'd also take a serious look at finances of running a 'live-in' vehicle, yearly bills with insurance/mot/tax, and factor in something going wrong, it's not cheap, then you have to look at the paperwork side of living in a vehicle year round, which no company will insure you for, and thats without thinking about having the proper documentation and certificates for a legal camper conversion (more on that in other topics)
It's certainly not an easy way to do things when you compare it to getting a flat, having a normal job and just spending the free time you have in the outdoors, camping, walking etc.
Even owning your own land doesn't mean the council will leave you to it, there have been multiple cases of people buying land and using it to live on, having a very nice, sustainable living only to be turfed off by the council for planing violations.

By the end of our few years we'd got to a point where we were working and earning enough to keep us in the black year round and were slowly starting to put bits of money away, but it was seriously hard work, we were constantly on call for jobs and it just wasn't an enjoyable way to live -and that's living in a pretty affluent farming area, not somewhere out of the way.
In the end we got to a stage where we had the option to keep going the way we were living - off grid as much as possible and supporting ourselves, with a vehicle & caravan, or going back to renting a property and working 'normal' jobs.
Judging it by how the economy was headed, how hard we wanted to keep working into our 50's, 60's and on, and how much of a price the 'freedom' of it cost, it just wasn't worth it, hence now being in bricks and mortar.
Don't get me wrong, we enjoyed it thoroughly, had great times, met great people and i have no regrets, but in the end, we are where we are.

Go for it by all means, but don't go for it expecting to be able to easily 'live off the land, off grid' and it not be possibly more difficult than a normal lifestyle.

:)

Re: Living in a van or off a small plot.

Posted: Mon May 28, 2018 1:21 pm
by Deeps
Sounds like you've been through it mate, I can understand the rush to take back control of your life. Whatever way you go, make sure you get as much info as you can, if that means a delay then so be it, you need to make sure its the right thing for you. Good luck mate.

Re: Living in a van or off a small plot.

Posted: Mon May 28, 2018 3:30 pm
by DustyDog
Again thanks for all the support. Well being told just prior to release that "you are not released without somewhere to live", rubbish, turning up at probation to be told go to the council, this being mid afternoon, i paid for three nights in a travel lodge, (as said before, i had prepped some savings), went and saw the local Eden valley housing association, told i qualify for help but not emergency housing as i am not disabled, pregnant, kids in tow etc, oh yeah probation said that because i was low risk of re offending i did not qualify for probation bail hostels, so to some up; age fifty, worked all my life and now homeless, luckily visiting my mum at mo, so have access to wi-fi.

I'm on license for the next year so cannot do anything until then, i intend (trying like hell) to get a job, i have 18 years experience working in a kitchen, so no matter what i do, i would be working in a "normal" job and not off the land.

As for house share in winter and van in summer, i have told by probation that living in a house share is fine and i do have a boat mail account for insurance and driving licence and while mummy is still alive (she is 84) i could use her address.
YorkshireWolf i hear everything you say and i would only work for "proper companies" and not cash in hand, i'm hoping my long experience will counteract the conviction. I would ask, when you say about the finances of running a live in vehicle, you would have insurance, mot and maintenance bills of any vehicle, i used to drive over 400 miles a week before my "break" and put plenty in the tank and two services a year, (average 24000 miles a year), but have to say i have not looked at the horrors of full time insurance especially with a wood burner.

Will see how a year of house share goes, but will keep all up to speed.



One last note, we all prepare and we tell everyone about how we prepare but we don't always tell when our preps help us, well my food preps allowed me to save more money in the bank for when i got out and i can tell you all, at this moment i need them all, keep prepping everyone and don't forget if possible, prep money, you never know when you might need it.

As always thanks for all the valuable tips and help.

Re: Living in a van or off a small plot.

Posted: Sat Jun 02, 2018 9:20 pm
by Bijela
Just throwing it in the mix. But, could you possibly try having a "burger van". See about renting/buying a bit of land next to a layby and any permissions needed. The burger van could be a coach converted. Would give the possibility of work and tweeking the inside at the end of the day so you could have a bed.

Re: Living in a van or off a small plot.

Posted: Sun Jun 03, 2018 7:19 am
by DustyDog
Have had a look around and by the looks of it buying land is way out of my reach. Saw one for I think it was £7000, and it came to 0.14 of an acre about the size of an average garden. So it looks like a big wood fired camper, but I do start a job on wed and up to now, have not asked about any convictions. Monday night I am going to sleep in my car though as my funds are severely dwindling, oh and got a tenancy application form and yup they ask for any criminal convictions, more hassle. Oh well.

Re: Living in a van or off a small plot.

Posted: Sun Jun 03, 2018 7:37 am
by Arzosah
Congratulations on the job!

You were staying with your mum, weren't you, Dusty? Is it too far from the job, or is it too testing to be at your mum's for that length of time?

Re: Living in a van or off a small plot.

Posted: Sun Jun 03, 2018 8:12 am
by jansman
Well done with the job.It's a real step in the right direction...up! Good luck.

Re: Living in a van or off a small plot.

Posted: Sun Jun 03, 2018 11:48 am
by DustyDog
Thanks for replies as always, no cannot stay at mums, to far to commute, so for the immediate future I’ll stay in car, far from ideal but although they haven’t asked about convictions yet, they could when I give them my national insurance number etc, if they don’t ask I could stay on a camp site for a bit, would give me breathing space. Will see what Wednesday brings. K :roll: