Living in a van (Dublin)

z0oT

Idbatterim wrote: »

There wouldn’t be a comparison between Dublin and the other “cities” id say the rents are half of what they are here

Just having a quick glance at Daft, the going rate in Limerick City (which is what I'm familiar with) is about 1000-1400EUR for a Two Bed Apartment in the city centre.

Although I've no idea what demand would be like since I've been removed from the rental market for over a year now.

Idbatterim

I read the other day, that Belfast is the cheapest uk city, not sure if they meant housing or overall. But could be an option for some, at least it’s on the same island...

If you set up in a cube van, they would be fairly spacious! Could easily set up a nice wall mounted tv, with couch , bed , small kitchen and w.c ...

A suitable site located close to the city, should be opened up to allow people camp and stay there for dirt cheap, while they are looking for accommodation in Dublin ; Which can be very time consuming and very expensive when paying for a hotel or B and B every night, or even for those looking to save towards a house or just for those not wanting to pay rip off rents, but live in Dublin... if your renting in Dublin, the property price increases(for the time being ) will wipe out any mickey mouse savings you are making

awec

What address will you gives banks, insurers, revenue etc etc?

Graces7

El Tarangu wrote: »

I nominate RickDeckard to do an AMA...


Op - I appreciate what you are saying with extorionate rents, etc. but like another poster said, a houseshare would not be too expensive. Between the drawbacks of having housemates versus the drawbacks of living in a van, I think I would choose a houseshare.

Living in a van might sound like an attractive proposition with the nice weather we have been having, but I am having visions of you lying in the back of your van on a miserable Sunday in November, with the rain hammering on the roof; you've already been to the gym and all phone calls & whatsapps to your friends are drawing a blank, so nothing to do but just stay in your dark van until you have to get up for Monday (and hope that you don't need a Barry White in the meantime).

Oh dear! Many of us have quiet weekends indoors too.. with rain hammering down..

Graces7

AlmightyCushion wrote: »

I'm sure most would consider sharing to be a lot better than living in the back of a Transit van. If you can't afford to rent on your own and save for a mortgage, then it is a decent compromise that works for lots of people.

Not for me or for many; sharing I mean.

seamus

Idbatterim wrote: »

A suitable site located close to the city, should be opened up to allow people camp and stay there for dirt cheap, while they are looking for accommodation in Dublin

Security is always going to be your issue. If it's dirt cheap and close to the city, then how do you stop people with issues from using it? And if you need security, then prices go up.

Though maybe there is an idea there; set it up into fenced-off 16 sq.m. lots and rent them out for a week at a time for €100. That's enough space to set up a decent tent and stretch your legs, but the fencing gives you some privacy, and the €100 cost discourages single-nighters.

z0oT

awec wrote: »

What address will you gives banks, insurers, revenue etc etc?

If you have an alternative address with friends or family you can just use that. It's a gray area, but you could say you're residing there a number of nights per week. That is probably not much of an issue for the Banks or Revenue.

Insurance is the really big gray area though. You'll be giving an address that the vehicle isn't going to be parked on almost 100% of the time.

steamsey

Big van living scene in Bristol FWIW.

https://thebristolcable.org/2017/07/a-view-on-van-living/

iguana

El Tarangu wrote: »

(and hope that you don't need a Barry White in the meantime).

Just on this. Camper toilets are surprisingly good. I have a converted transit camper (for camping holidays) with a little toilet/shower-room. I would have implemented a no poo rule but it doesn't work like that with a 5 year old who just christened the toilet straightaway on our first trip. I thought the place would be stunk out of it but there was absolutely no smell. Open the base before you poop, a quick swish of blue and seal it up again. It works much better than a regular toilet for smell elimination. Though obviously you'd need somewhere to empty the cassette every few days.

Muahahaha

OP- regarding buying a houseboat to save money I would say forget it. Even if you were lucky enough to find a mooring in Dublin houseboats often turn into money sinks and when selling it the value will have gone down. Also Waterways Ireland have been increasing mooring costs lately as their strategy is to build the tourist market and people living full time in houseboats takes up moorings they want for tourists.

Parking your van overnight is the tricky part but I wouldnt say impossible either, provided you move around nightly. You said you work in Grand Canal Dock though so where would you park it during the day when at work? That sounds like the more tricky part to me. I think the ideal situation is to pay for somewhere secure to park it 24/7 and then commute by public transport to GCD. You should approach the camping sites around Dublin- Carmac in Clondalkin, theres one in Rush, Donabate and Im sure others around too. While they are not free they do remove the headache of moving around every single night and the headache of where to park while you are at work.

Another potential might be doing a deal with landowners who need night time security. This would need a lot of leg work to find someone but Im sure there are people out there who would let a van stay for free if it meant someone was on site to raise the alarm of a break-in. The same might go for small and medium sized builders- if you found the right builder they might allow you to park on site on the basis that it makes it less attractive to thieves out to steal valuable equipment.

HippyAtHeart

z0oT wrote: »

Question for the OP:

Is moving out of Dublin to another part of the country a feasible option? Although from reading some posts here, the other cities aren't much better. Could you possibly manage moving to somewhere rural? Depends on your job.

I rented in Limerick City for 6 years up until last year. My rent was 450EUR for a one bed apartment on the outskirts of the city, but I initally signed the lease in 2011, it was no problem to find places back then.

EDIT: Regarding Edinburgh, I rented a one-bed there back in 2010. I had the lease signed within a week of landing there regardless of there being 4/5 other people checking out the apartments when I viewed them. 500GBP per month for a one-bed about a 15 minute walk from Princes St. in the City Centre. I don't suspect it's like that now.

Thanks. For my role/type of work, there’s nothing down the country, no. The opportunities are Dublin centric. If i was to pack in trying to live in/closer to Dublin I’d have to look to moving abroad. Not ruling that prospect out.

HippyAtHeart

Cyrus wrote: »

you can afford to rent, maybe not alone but definitely to share. This is common in main cities in developed countries in western europe. If you are on a std wage thats the reality, London or edinburgh for example wont be any different.

Try reading the reply.

HippyAtHeart

seamus wrote: »

Security is always going to be your issue. If it's dirt cheap and close to the city, then how do you stop people with issues from using it? And if you need security, then prices go up.

Though maybe there is an idea there; set it up into fenced-off 16 sq.m. lots and rent them out for a week at a time for €100. That's enough space to set up a decent tent and stretch your legs, but the fencing gives you some privacy, and the €100 cost discourages single-nighters.

This would be really great. My main hesitation with the idea of going through with this idea and starting to seek out a van to convert is the parking / overnight safety element of it. I’d have no problem paying a few quid to close off that concern / for the peace of mind.

HippyAtHeart

Thanks to all those commenting, postive and even the negatives too. Its healthy to challenge the mindset. Regarding comments that I could share as a compromise... yes indeed, and I’ve also looked into that... the point being missed is that it’s so so difficult to get a viewing, you really do have to sit by your phone all day hopping on every listing to be within the first few to reply, and even then its more difficult again to get an offer on the place. The competition is fierce. Viewings are like interviews now and its not a fair playing field. Corporate letting reps and higher earners are swooping in offering above the odds. Think the reality of the search is prob a little lost on those not out there experiencing it.... it’s ruthless mayhem.

4068ac1elhodqr

It's a wonder that no one has built a Japanese style Capsule hotel
- for the Mon-Thur 10hr day workers who head off elsewhere Friday evening.
Spending down time eating out, at gym, and just need 10hr recharge.

Operator would make an absolute fortune, even on low priced sardine packing.
Easyhotel might be acquiring something, but thats budget, not Jap' capsule.

On the plus side with a van, getting away from the city for the weekend isn't difficult.
The wrong time of the year however, the great summer might result in a 'great' winter.

awec

awec wrote: »

What address will you gives banks, insurers, revenue etc etc?

I'm sure he has a family or friends address he can use for all that.

Cyrus

HippyAtHeart wrote: »

Thanks. For my role/type of work, there’s nothing down the country, no. The opportunities are Dublin centric. If i was to pack in trying to live in/closer to Dublin I’d have to look to moving abroad. Not ruling that prospect out.

What kind of work is it? If it’s not that well paid I’m struggling to understand why it only exists in the most expensive part of the country

Cyrus

HippyAtHeart wrote: »

Try reading the reply.

I did, hence my post

z0oT

Lilianna Sour Triangle wrote: »

It's a wonder that no one has built a Japanese style Capsule hotel
- for the Mon-Thur 10hr day workers who head off elsewhere Friday evening.
Spending down time eating out, at gym, and just need 10hr recharge.

Knowing the way our bloated government can never keep its nose out of the property market, I'd bet on there being a slew of regulations that prohibit that here.

Happy to be proven wrong though.

El Tarangu

HippyAtHeart wrote: »

Thanks. For my role/type of work, there’s nothing down the country, no. The opportunities are Dublin centric. If i was to pack in trying to live in/closer to Dublin I’d have to look to moving abroad. Not ruling that prospect out.

Without giving too much away, is the industry you work in one where you could move off to Dubai or somwhere for a couple of years to get a deposit together? While this would come with its own drawbacks, I think you would be giving less up this way than the van option.

4068ac1elhodqr

z0oT wrote: »

Knowing the way our bloated government can never keep its nose out of the property market, I'd bet on there being a slew of regulations that prohibit that here.

Happy to be proven wrong though.

Highly likely, those with vested interest in a bloated market, are likely also the key decision makers. So obviously not going to risk their pension nest eggs, or passive income from the over-inflated property investment.

In Belfast the EasyHotel (rooms from £10, but avg is 59), was able to open and market their double rooms, despite 'not being of a recognised double room size' (NITB & regulations of '92) they prefer a min size 13msq.

A capsule hotel would likely have to classed as a tourism novelty hostel.

Many of these places would have roof bars, hot tubs, laundromats and other facilities onsite anyway

CollyFlower

Can you not play the 'Game'? Pesent yourself as homeless? Get yourself into a hostel or a 4star hotel..

riclad

A single person homeless will have to ring a phone no every night
after 10pm.
Women with children are given rooms in hotels to live in .
Single persons ring a phone no and are told to go to a hostel ,
you could be in a different hostel every night.
Other people in the hostels may be using drugs or drinking.
Its not an easy option.
Some homeless people live in tents ,rather than go to hostels .

Single people will not be sent to hotels .
The people living in hotels have at least one child.

CollyFlower

From what I've read the council gives their credit card details to anyone who rings in looking for accommodation and tells them to find a hotel using that card.. Anyone can ring up claiming they're homeless and have 1-19 childern and no where to go... That's the way it seems to work.

markpb

CollyFlower wrote: »

From what I've read the council gives their credit card details to anyone who rings in looking for accommodation and tells them to find a hotel using that card.. Anyone can ring up claiming they're homeless and have 1-19 childern and no where to go... That's the way it seems to work.

That seems terribly unlikely.

And even if it was true, living in a van still seems far preferable to sleeping in a different hostel every night.

RickDeckard

Frank Zappa once said about his music ' You either get it , or you don't'

Re: living in a van, I think the same sentiment can be applied.

I do not come from a typical background, I have moved around a lot , backpacked, hitched across continents on my own , had many different jobs, in totally different fields.

I've been lucky/unlucky enough to have lived a few different types of lives - from totally conventional to totally unconventional.

I think this gives me a more flexible approach to things and I am more open minded to 'radical' solutions.

Someone from a more 'settled' ( for lack of a better word) mindset would probably be more aghast to this type of thing and have a hard time processing this choice, and have an biased opinion on those who contemplate doing this.

No I am not a traveler, but have actually had some good chats with Travelers on the side of the road randomly about van life and the system, very positive interactions, which was not my experience with that group until that point.

One thing I will say - every single van life 'problem' raised in this thread has easy, cheap and sensible solutions.

At the end of the day, I am not hurting nobody with my choice , not causing any problem to society. I work hard, keep my head down and try to get on. If someone has a problem with this then the problem is with their view of the world.

Living in a van should not imply you are a dirty, dodgy, lazy, freeloading hippy who is just looking for an easy way out.

I think its bonkers that it looks like I am the only one in Ireland doing this at this current time, I joined a van life Facebook group looking to make contact with others doing this in Ireland , but everyone was English, thousands of them happily living in vans , not one single Irish person.

Homo Sapiens would not have got very far if we did not explore the possibilities around us in times of crisis.

Corb_lund

I see nothing wrong with this. If I could find something reliable I would consider it, but I think you'd constantly be under pressure from Garda and more especially busy bodies. I work long hours every day so if I had somewhere in town I could crash it would suit me perfectly. I don't need a lot of space myself. Trouble is the consistency, if you're having to drive around each night, disturbed sleep...

RickDeckard

Corb_lund wrote: »

I see nothing wrong with this. If I could find something reliable I would consider it, but I think you'd constantly be under pressure from Garda and more especially busy bodies. I work long hours every day so if I had somewhere in town I could crash it would suit me perfectly. I don't need a lot of space myself. Trouble is the consistency, if you're having to drive around each night, disturbed sleep...

Ive had no hassle, you gotta do some recon, find 3- 4 quite places to park and simply rotate so you dont get familiar.


Now, if you had a big old Camper van with windows , vents, chimneys , solar etc, its pretty obvious what your doing, esp if you park same place every night.
I'm one year at this, zero hassle , no one knows Im in here:)


Its not like every night I'm hunting for a layby, I have a routine nailed down, I know exactly where I'll be every evening.


Over night car parks in suburbs can be very good, I get to one of my spots at 10pm, pay 2.50 and Im out at 8 in the morning.


Gotta keep it low key, I dont get in and out of the van once Im parked up for the night.



Nobody seems bothered, nice quite spot, away from the road and no scallywags around.

Idbatterim

Present yourself to the local Garda station for the night op, if others are anything to go by, you can have a 3 bed apartment in Dublin in several days that way ...

eqwjewoiujqorj

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-4131598/Engineer-transforms-van-family-friendly-mobile-home.html

This is one of the nicest conversions I've seen.

It cost about €9k for the Mercedes Sprinter van and €20k for the conversion, so about €30k total.

No insulation or bathroom - intended for camping, so camp sites facilities.

Expensive but it does show what can be done.