[Natalie95]

Hello all,

I'm quite new to this so Im sorry if it's a silly question.

Background:

I'm 25 and seems impossible to get on a property ladder. I work through a work agency with not a high wage (19k a year). Getting a mortgage will not work, as it would be for a small amount and on a high percentage.

Issue I have is that I have 2 big dogs I'm unwilling to part with. And it's very hard to rent a house. Currently I'm quite lucky to have found a house that accepts them, however it's costing me £750 a month just for rent (thank God for all the overtime at work).

The Question:

Im sure it's been asked before and my research suggests it's extremely hard to do this. However, is it possible to buy a piece of land and live on it ? I'm not talking about buying a house and getting a planning permission as this seems near impossible. I'm wondering if there's a loop hole anywhere, such us living in a caravan/log cabin/rv and have my post go to my mum's house?
I work from home so would be there pretty much 24/7 and would be looking to have the dogs inside with me.

I have found 3 different lands which would be within my limits of buying.

- 1.6 grazing land right at the main road
 
- 3 acres of land adjacent to a housing estate and a school ( the land has some trees on it, but I wouldn't want to remove them ).

- Grazing land, amenity woodland, redundant brick built water tower ( no roof on it currently and out of use, it looks like a little house and not a tower.)

Would love to build my own little house, my dad has done this before in a different country and it is a cute little place my aim eventually would be to do the same.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

[Anke]

If you are single, can work from anywhere, can you possibly live in a van/motorhome? Then you copuld sign up with one of the volunteering organisations and in exchange for working a set number of hours per day could have free accommodation? Especially if you can work in the evenings?


It would also allow you to save up some more money and scout out places you may find cheaper accommodation/land to buy etc in the future.


However if you buy land to live on it will be extremely difficult/expensive/time-consuming to find a -legal- way of living on it....

[Backinwellies]

I suggest it would be easier to move to whatever country you dad is in.   

If it was cheap and easy the British countryside would be no more.

If you can live anywhere ... why not move to a cheaper area where your rental would have a very large garden?  Wales, Scotland ??

[chrismahon]

The canals in England have more traffic on them now than they had when they were built. The reason is a boat is cheap accommodation. Find a marina near you and check out the annual mooring charges. Beware, buying a boat is full of pitfalls, so a survey and valuation is absolutely essential. You can get a loan on a boat and I doubt it will amount to £750 a month. It can be pretty miserable in Winter, but so is everywhere. Thought about this ourselves as we know plenty of people doing it, but it's important to establish all your costs first as you won't be on cheap natural gas for heating and cooking and will pay extra for a mains connection with very limited capacity. No problem with dogs though.

[Fleecewife]

Have you thought of joining a commune? They used to be all the rage back in the '60s and '70s but there are still some about.  I have also seen a scheme where a large piece of land has been bought then smaller areas of a few acres each sold on to others, with permission already in place to build a wooden house.  You would know that your neighbours were on the same wavelength as you are. Someone on TAS was asking if others were interested in joining something which sounded a bit similar.  It could be worth thinking outside the box.  Any 'loophole' will either already have been filled or closed and nothing is cheap.


Check out the islands such as The Western Isles, which have a crofting system and have much better broadband than we do in the south Scotland countryside, so working from home is a doddle, as long as you don't have to spend part of the time actually at work somewhere in England. .  There are also areas in Scotland which are now owned by the local community, and it could be possible to buy into one of those, I'm not sure but worth investigating.   I have no personal experience of any of these schemes as I'm a bit of a hermit, but there are plenty of TAS folk who do.

[juliem]

Unfortunately  besides the rent/morgage the next highest bill is council tax and that is set to rise over the next few years...so look at the exemptions for council tax....religious community? Parts of the country have schemes where you can share with elderly home owner(dogs might be a problem) and theres that one where you act as a security guard  in empty building...(London  based) Dogs might help.Good luck

[Steph Hen]

Would you try lodging with someone? When I had a dog and my tenancy was up I went door knocking on farms and about the third/forth one had spare rooms and kennel for my dog. Think we agreed £230 a month including all bills, though this twelve years ago and I helped out with baby sitting and gardening as well. I saved thousands compared to if I’d have rented a house on my own for years and we are still firm friends.