Making a house from 2 static caravans

[bishi]

I'm looking to build my own house (in Scotland) using 2 static caravans joined together, creating a 90 square meter house. Would using static caravans as the structure for my house pose any problems for planning permission?

[ProDave]

Planning permission only concerns itself with what the building looks like.

 

It is BUILDING regulations that would concern this.  In fact they would not concern it at all, as what you are proposing is a "twin unit static caravan" and under the Caravan act, construction of that is outwith building regulations control.  You will still need a building warrant for the drainage connection and any treatment system.

 

But now you have established the principles, don't just go sticking 2 ordinary static caravans together. the result will be a cold "house" with a high heating bill.

 

Instead, use the legislation to your advantage, and design a custom build well insulated structure, that still meets the portability definition of a caravan and you can get up to about 100 square metres and still be in the size limit for a "caravan"

 

It does not have to be on wheels, being capable of being lifted by a crane onto a low loader is enough to make it qualify.

 

Several on here have done or are building like this already.

 

Planning probably won't like it if it is obvious from the plans it is 2 standard statics stuck together.  but if you designed it so it actually looked externally like a half decent house, I don't see any need to actually mention on the planning application that it is in fact technically a "caravan"

[bishi]

Thanks, really helpful post. The plan is to do a lot of work to the caravans and make them into a proper house. For outside we were thinking of going for an earth shelter house, so earth on 3 sides and on the top. Should make it well insulated. Sounds like planning permission shouldn't be too hard. If I build it the way I'm planning to I don't think it will be movable at all so building regulations will be an issue.  

[ProDave]

I can't see what static caravans can do for an earth sheltered house. You are going to have to build a substantial stuucture for that, and I can't see the benefit of then slotting a couple of static caravans into the structure.

[PeterW]

Welcome

 

What is the cost driver to use earth sheltered and static caravans..? Earth sheltered will need planning, and will need some serious structural engineering along with a hefty steel and concrete structure - you  are basically building a hangar to slot the vans into. You are probably looking at 50-60 cubic metres of concrete for a structure that size - plus steel reinforcement. 

 

Ordinary static caravans are not made to be joined - the shape isn't supportive of it, and the structure is designed to a minimal standard with 50-70mm of rockwool in the walls and roof, and sometimes only 30mm of EPS in the floor. Just to make it comfortable, you will need to at least triple that, and how you would do that with the roof internally would be a real issue unless it was external so you need some way of protecting it. Earth can't do that without membranes and a solid structure so you are back to square one.

 

Probably worth outlining what you are trying to achieve and why, as its not clear from what you've proposed and there may be much better ways.

[Temp]

Planning rules are pretty complicated. Vehicles don't need planning permission so if the vans remain mobile or at least capable of being moved you might escape the need for planning permission. However you might need planning permission to change the use of the site.

 

Plots are generally hard to find and its recommended you find a plot first then see what size and style of house the planners will let you put on it rather than the other way around.

 

Structurally you certainly couldn't just pile earth up against the side of a static caravan. It couldn't take the load. As above, its recommended that retaining walls over 1m high be designed by a structural engineer.

[scottishjohn]

3 hours ago, ProDave said:

Planning permission only concerns itself with what the building looks like.

 

It is BUILDING regulations that would concern this.  In fact they would not concern it at all, as what you are proposing is a "twin unit static caravan" and under the Caravan act, construction of that is outwith building regulations control.  You will still need a building warrant for the drainage connection and any treatment system.

 

But now you have established the principles, don't just go sticking 2 ordinary static caravans together. the result will be a cold "house" with a high heating bill.

 

Instead, use the legislation to your advantage, and design a custom build well insulated structure, that still meets the portability definition of a caravan and you can get up to about 100 square metres and still be in the size limit for a "caravan"

 

It does not have to be on wheels, being capable of being lifted by a crane onto a low loader is enough to make it qualify.

 

Several on here have done or are building like this already.

 

Planning probably won't like it if it is obvious from the plans it is 2 standard statics stuck together.  but if you designed it so it actually looked externally like a half decent house, I don't see any need to actually mention on the planning application that it is in fact technically a "caravan"

interesting -- so does that mean i could build  a few like this and use them as holiday lets?

as long as sewage etc is bc approved

[SteamyTea]

I have no idea what things are like in Scotland, but down here in Cornwall, it is pretty hard to get permission for a static caravan site.

There was a move a while back to get rid of all the chalet type housing.  Much of this was driven because of a perception that 'travelers' would move in.

[ProDave]

32 minutes ago, scottishjohn said:

interesting -- so does that mean i could build  a few like this and use them as holiday lets?

as long as sewage etc is bc approved

Yes, as long as you can get planning permission.

 

@Crofter did just this, built a holiday let on his croft complying with the definition of a "caravan" (though it looks nothing like a caravan and sits on stilts)

[iSelfBuild]

I have a wealth of knowledge on portable buildings in Scotland as I have just secured planning permission and in the midst of LABSS approval for my twin unit round log cabin. If your ever near Dumfries and Galloway feel free to pop into my site and I can show you what can be achieved. We should start the build in 10 weeks max. It's a minefield when doing it fully by the book and achieving full compliance. So far my method statement is 50 pages long and I'm about 2 weeks away from my submission to LABSS which includes full structural calculations, lifting plan etc. There's a lot of cowboys out there offering supposedly 'compliant' log cabins.

[Crofter]

Static caravans are temptingly cheap but they do not take well to being altered.

A friend of mine tried to reconfigure the inside of his, and discovered that the bedside cabinets were actually vital structural stiffening elements! There's no way you could bank earth up against one, it would collapse.

 

Also, burying your house into the ground doesn't really make it insulated. It might work for a rabbit, it doesn't work so well for humans who want their houses at 21 degrees.

The cost of the retaining walls, tanking (a form of damp proofing) and the additional work required for an earth-covered roof, will make conventional insulation look so cheap that it's almost free. My 50m2 house is insulated to twice building regs requirements, and the total insulation cost was about £1k.

[Thedreamer]

9 hours ago, bishi said:

I'm looking to build my own house (in Scotland) using 2 static caravans joined together, creating a 90 square meter house. Would using static caravans as the structure for my house pose any problems for planning permission?

 

Sorry for being a bit nosey, but why would you want to do this? 

 

It's quite common up here to buy a static, clad in timber so it's looks a bit more like a log cabin and build a shed to provide storage.

[Cpd]

I think you need to do some  more research, I assume your after a very low cost housing solution, have you been offered some ground to use or is it a plot your going to buy ? Having done up a caravan, clad it in timber, built  a turf roof and about a million other jobs I can assure you it’s a very expensive and time consuming endeavour and in reality I would have been better of doing what @Crofter did. However in my defence it just evolved as a project,  grew arms and legs and like most of my projects took far to long.... I would NOT do it again. However I still think there is merit in looking at all options when it comes to housing and what you can personally afford. what’s your total budget, time frames, is there power on site, water, etc try and give us more information so someone might be able to point you in the right direction.