16 hours ago
‘I rent out my house and live in a van at weekends. It's paying off my mortgage'
Lottie Gross owns a four-bedroom house in south Oxfordshire, but spends most of her time living in a caravan.
The 34-year-old inherited the property from her mother in 2022, and decided to cover her bills and mortgage in an unusual side hustle.
'Last year, I trialled handing over the keys to lodgers while I spent two months living on the Continent. It was really successful and helped me pay my living costs, so I decided to do it again,' says Gross.
This year, the travel writer, who has written for The Telegraph, has agreed another short-term let and has packed up for a summer on the road that will take her to Scotland, the Cotswolds and Portugal. She'll sleep in her 30-year-old Eriba caravan.
Gross has a mortgage of £32,000 on the property after buying her brother's half share. But it was the increase in her other bills that led her to explore a different lifestyle.
'My water bill tripled this April from £20 a month to £60, add that to electricity, gas bills and my other costs, and it all starts to stack up,' she says.
She's not alone. Uswitch, the comparison site, reports that household bills take up more than 54pc of single people's monthly income. Council tax costs have risen, and single people pay above-average mortgage costs in the UK.
Financially, the gamble of swapping walls for wheels has paid off – the overhead of household bills and mortgage adds up to £900 per month, which is now covered by her lodgers. This, she admits, is a relief. By her own admission, travel guides are not enormously lucrative.
The caravan cost £5,000 and she doesn't pay road tax on it. There's also the petrol and the costs of parking and camping. Overall, she makes a small profit of £200 a month by doing the swap.
But for Gross, the real benefit is the change in her quality of life. 'I spend more time outside due to the limited space in the caravan, and my screen time has dropped,' she says.
'I've travelled to places I've always dreamed of, including the Outer Hebrides, and seen incredible things like deer swimming in the sea and otters mooching on the coastline.
'There are times it feels trying or exhausting – particularly in bad weather – but the reward of being outdoors so much, walking my dog in spectacular locations, is enough to tip the balance.'
Currently motoring through Scotland with her Manchester Terrier, Arty, Gross says she hasn't been lonely, explaining that companionship can be found if you make an effort. 'You just have to do the washing up to strike up a conversation with someone.'
There are, of course, downsides: 'My caravan is very small, which is fine when it's dry and beautiful outside, but when it rains it can feel a little limiting.'
'I make £300 a time. I didn't expect it to be so popular'
Gross isn't the only one who has been drawn by the chance to give up a home for time on the road.
Suzy Greenwood, 39, runs a guest house called Seaflowers, located near the Salt Path in Devon, and also has a job in PR.
Greenwood lives in a one-bedroom annexe attached to the guest house, which she rents out when it is full to make extra cash. During these times, she lives in her van, driving around the Devon countryside and parking up on the beach where she can and enjoying a simple life outdoors.
Keys are regularly handed over at just 45 minutes' notice, making her £300 a time. 'It's annoying, especially as bookings are often last-minute. But at the start I had no other option because I poured every last penny into the guest house renovation,' she explains.
'I didn't expect it to be as popular as it was, and when I realised what a money maker it could be, I continued.'
She moves out of her home to a VW van most weekends from April through to September and on public holidays. All this is helped by her preference for minimalism.
'I hate clutter, which helps. I use magnetic child locks on my wardrobe and cupboards and have a labelled kitchen cupboard for guests to use. I can be out and living in the van in three quarters of an hour,' she explains.
'To rent out the annexe and have somewhere to go, I bought a van for £16,370 last March. I took a £15,000 loan to buy it and had it paid off by August through guest bookings. It was a risk, but I calculated I could make enough money to pay it back from the revenue generated by renting the annexe and from guests at Seaflowers. Thankfully it worked,' she says.
'I can live on £15 per weekend in Devon'
Life wasn't always so flexible. In her mid-30s, she was stuck in a corporate job in London, working long hours and escaping to the coast at the weekends to sail. She realised that while friends were settling down or leaving the city altogether, her life in London was draining her, both financially and mentally.
In early 2020, she made a last-minute decision to pack a bag and head for Devon, where her parents had converted her grandparents' bungalow into a guest house.
She sold her flat in the capital and took out a large mortgage, along with a loan from her parents, who were retiring and happy to hand the business over. She then spent every last penny on renovations.
Bookings today are up – a full house with 14 people starts at £600 per night or £130 for room-only options – but costs are a challenge.
'My cleaning bill alone last month was £2,125. There's also a breakage from every guest stay, so I've learnt to be very careful in my financial planning,' she says.
Yet while those overheads have risen, her personal expenditure has gone down. 'I can live on £15 per weekend in Devon with a full weekend of activities – I eat eggs from my chickens and catch fish in the sea, a skill I've learnt since living down here. When I am out in the van, I hunt down free parking spots,' she says.
The ups overall outweigh the downs, she says. 'I love the freedom van life brings. It might seem like a crazy way to live to some, but I'm building a life of financial independence and adventure completely on my own terms.'
The transition hasn't always been easy – it has taken time to grow her confidence when living in the van. 'On my first trip in the van I opened the door to see a large axe lying outside. It scared the life out of me! It turned out the man parked next to me was just chopping wood for his wood burner and was perfectly friendly.'
Since moving to Devon, Greenwood has found a better lifestyle, like-minded friends and an improved work-life balance. Being single is the secret weapon – it has enabled her to be flexible at short notice and earn money by living between van and annexe.
Getting more adventurous with taking longer stints away in the van, she has accepted a full week's booking this summer for £850, meaning more time behind the wheel and parked up on the roadside.
