Buses converted to campervans

More from the set.

Roderick.

Another five.

Roderick.

The final three in this series.
Roderick

Wont wash with the shires in SE Qld.......no rego=,no caravan=big fine

Yes John

These are a nice rustic sort of donga but why would you go to the trouble of building an accommodation box on a non going truck (that was fast rusting into oblivion) instead of on a normal base - to get around council building regulations.

Lang

Roderick.

Demand grows for refurbished buses as Sydneysiders choose the van-life over houses Feb 11, 2018.
It’s the new Australian dream – buy a bus or a van, strip it out, fit it with all mod cons and then live in it rent-free until you’ve saved enough to buy a house.
There are no issues with location, location, location, either. When you’re sick of a particular view, you just drive on to the next.
“There are so many of us doing that these days with Sydney property prices so crazy,” Donovan Bassett says. “We aren’t hippy bums singing Kumbaya or people doing it for a holiday and getting out the deckchairs and an awning and lighting a campfire.
Mark Atkins converts buses and vans to permanent homes for people. Photo: Peter Rae
“We’re regular people who work hard and want to get ahead and eventually buy a house and have a family. But prices have gone up so much, and renting is like modern slavery – having to work so many hours to rent a place you’ll never own – so this is a good solution.
“There are now a lot of us living in vans and buses all around Australia, but we’re so discreet, you’d never know it.”
Bassett, 30, a glazier by trade, and his wife Athalia, 25, an early childhood teacher, have already spent one year living in a small van around Sydney’s Northern Beaches. They’re now waiting for the fit-out to be completed of a 13-metre-long Queensland school bus they’ve bought as their next home-on-wheels.
Couple Donovan and Athalia Bassett are about to move into their bus when it’s finished next week. Photo: Peter Rae
The tradesman doing that is carpenter Mark Atkins, who set up his company, Van Go Fit Out, originally to refurb old vans for surfies wanting to travel up the coast. But in response to spiralling demand from people who want to live in them full-time, he’s now increasingly undertaking full fit-outs of big buses, usually bought for between $20,000 and $50,000.
“I’m now fitting them out every hour of every day,” says Atkins, 28, who, from his workshop in Brookvale, customises vehicles for anything from $3500 to $200,000. “I’m not getting much sleep at all! There are so many people who now want to save money by living in vans, I can’t keep up.
“Last week alone, I had five people come to me who wanted to convert bigger vans into homes with kitchens and bathrooms and workspaces. Many young people see it as a win-win. They’re saving money on rent and can live in a much more flexible home while they’re saving up for a deposit.”
Mark Atkins’ company Van Go Fit Out converts buses and vans to permanent homes.
As long as people don’t stay on one patch of land for more than two days in a van, and it’s kept in good, healthy condition, there are no NSW laws that forbid such living arrangements either.
Northern Beaches Council general manager planning, place and community David Kerr says: “Signage relating to the parking of vans for the purpose of camping exists within the local government area and rangers regularly patrol these areas to ensure compliance with this signage.”
And the trend is taking off fast says Jared Campbell, who helps run the VanLife website for people living in vans, with a documentary on the phenomenon to be released in June and a book early next year.
“The massive housing affordability crisis is definitely causing numbers to increase in Australia, and around the world,” says Campbell, 38, speaking from Torquay in Victoria where he’s parked after three years living in his van. “I’ve come across whole families living in vans, accountants, all sorts of people.”
With Atkins’ bigger vans being fitted with 2000-litre water tanks, 14 kilowatts of power, supplemented with solar panels, and proper toilets, bathrooms, kitchens and a bedroom, they’re fully self-contained so don’t need to be parked in any one spot.
In addition to being “off the grid”, van dwellers like the Bassetts are careful to live “off the radar”.
“People would look at our bus and have no idea from the outside that it’s not just a regular bus,” Donovan Bassett says.
“So you’ve got to be smart about it and we park in the kind of places, like on industrial sites, where people would expect buses to park, rather than on more glamour spots. We’re respectful of other people’s homes and we would only stay a couple of days in one place before moving to another.”
While there’s undoubtedly a downside, in terms of living in a confined space and having no fixed address – a condition of a driving licence, although most use family members’ addresses – the flexibility, freedom and cost-savings make it all worthwhile, he believes. Someone he knows even lived in his van to save money to eventually set-up a business in Brisbane.
“It makes good financial sense,” Bassett says. “You might normally pay rent of $500 a week so, in a year, you’ve saved $26,000. In addition, you still have an asset you can sell for around the same price you paid for it when you finally move into a house.
“So many people are now coming to the same conclusion; it’s a very practical solution to Sydney’s mad prices.”
•Related: Meet the van-dwelling millenials
•Related: A guide to a rent-free life
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Do mobile homes need a yearly inspection in NSW?......this might put a bit of a damper on the whole thing......if you want to keep it registered.

JOHN.K. wrote: Do mobile homes need a yearly inspection in NSW?......this might put a bit of a damper on the whole thing......if you want to keep it registered.

Yes they do and "the on the road" brake test can get ugly. I've built 3 now.

We do a yearly mechanical in Queensland, have one next Wednesday on VP, includes brake test. Don't have a problem with safety check, have a problem with the $175 I have to pay for it though !! Lot of money for a 10 min inspection. Always sailed through, but I have seen vehicles there that you would defect with one look, owners aren't even smart enough to wash them or throw a bit of degreaser around.
Never been stopped in NSW, a couple we were travelling with even drove into an inspection station, without being directed to ! Just waved on.
Farm settles on 1st March so not long now, then I expect the odometer on VP will start building quickly.

Does anyone know what these old bugggers were like to drive? What sort of gearbox they run? Old mate is interested in it...



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