Can We Legally Live In A Bus In My Friends Rural Garden Temporarily....* Near Their House

[Kerrywerrywoo]

My friends own a house with huge garden in rural Somerset. No neighbours. We are staying with them temporarily as 3 house purchases have fallen through leaving us in a pickle as now the estate agents are not taking viewings so we are stuck here ! Our friends have invited us to just stay indefinitely until corona / problems relax and we can buy a place. We are in a very small caravan- we had a ‘bright’ idea - buy a double decker...convert it and live in it. When we move on they will keep it as ‘rent’ and use for friends and maybe air B&B. The garden and house are rural - no neighbours. The bus would be moveable so not a permanent structure. Are we right in thinking it would not need any planning permission. We have no intention of staying longer than needed - Thankyou

[Old_Geezer]

No expert, but I'd have my doubts. Councils like to control new dwelling creation. This may have been better placed in the law forum.

[douglas9401]

I've had another bright idea, buy a bigger caravan instead.

[jackthehat]

Firstly, the Planners would kick any application for such a circumstance out as soon as it was suggested to them.

Secondly, the wheels at the Planning Office turn exceedingly slowly and chances are you would have moved on/away long before any 'enforcement action' ordering you to move could be set in motion.

In your situation I would chance it, although the double-decker bus idea may be a little extreme...

[snags]

[jno]

douglas's suggestion would be rather less conspicuous, if you can find one that suits your needs.

[bhg481]

You just can't go around opening up a campsite in your back garden which, in effect, is what your friends would be doing. There are strict rules for living in a caravan and you would be wise to contact the local council.

[Zacs-Master]

Are you sure you will be able to get all the materials you need to convert it? As someone else has said, why not get a larger caravan?
https://www.gumtree.com/caravans/uk/static+caravans+off+site

[bhg481]

Not a good idea to spend £n,000 on bus/caravan only for someone to spot it in the garden and report it to the council, who might give you just a few days to get it shifted.

[-SharonA-]

Plus all the money you're spending on converting the bus, not cheap.

[fiction-factory]

Kerrywerrywoo
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Kerry may still be looking in but can't respond

[fiction-factory]

Ah- I see you are still active here under a slightly different name
https://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/members/kerrywerrywoo1/

Assuming the courts and councils return to normality at some point there is no prospect of your friends being allowed to use the bus as an air b&b or renting it to friends on a longer term basis

[New Judge]

Below is not my own work:

"A caravan, be it a touring or static caravan or a large twin-size mobile home, is regarded as an article of movable personal property known as a ‘chattel’ and there is no public law preventing one being kept in someone’s garden, but there are Laws that regulate the ‘Use’ of land.

The siting of a caravan within the garden of a property does not require express consent provided a ‘material change of use’ has not occurred. Gardens are used for the enjoyment of the main dwelling house. If a caravan is parked in a drive or sited in a garden and used by members of the household in connection to the enjoyment of the house or as extra accommodation for visiting guests, provided the occupants continue to use the facilities of the house, then the siting of the caravan has not changed the ‘use’ of the land. However, if for example a caravan is sited in a garden and used as business premises, separately rented or used as a primary independent dwelling, with no relation to the main house, the local planning Authority could decide that an unauthorized ‘material change of use’ has occurred, for which planning permission will be required.
Mobile Homes and Caravans can be sited and used in a garden without the need for express planning consent. If the use is not considered part of, or incidental to, the house, then a ‘material change of use’ may have occurred. If the caravan is not considered to conform to the definition of a caravan then ‘building operations’ may have been carried out. In either case, planning permission will be required."

So the important points are:

- It must be transportable (and this would apply equally to a caravan and a bus)

- The persons using it must be connected to the household as either family or guests

- They must continue to enjoy the "facilities of the house"

- Renting to strangers as a business would need planning permission (which, IMHO, would be unlikely to be granted).