Why is there a ‘caravan city’ in one of the richest parts of the UK

A ‘caravan city’ in an affluent part of Bristol hit headlines this week after van-dwellers accused locals of carrying out an arson attack.

Members of the caravan community said homeowners sparked a fire that destroyed a caravan parked in Saville Road next the Downs, a popular parkland.

Homeowners, meanwhile, blame a faulty gas cylinder for the blaze, which happened last Thursday.

It comes after a history of bad blood between the van dwellers, in what has become known as ‘caravan city’, and residents in nearby houses.

One van owner, who is convinced the fire was arson, told the MailOnline, it was lucky no one was killed and that they had an ‘axe and a baseball bat’ at the ready in case they spot anyone lurking late at night.

A homeowning digital executive in his mid-30s, meanwhile, told the Mail he had been threatened by a van dweller who believed he had broken her wind chime.

‘You can no longer let your children walk around in the street, even in daylight,’ he added.

‘They have made people’s lives here an absolute misery and the sooner the council has moved every last one of them along, the better.’

Locals accuse the van dwellers of drug dealing and using the vans as a cover for illegal activity, which the caravan residents have strongly denied.

There have also been complaints of litter and fly-tipping. The caravan users also refute this, saying they actually pick up other people’s litter to keep the area clean.

City has highest number of van-dwellers in the UK

Bristol has the largest caravan population of any city in the UK, a Bristol City Council report revealed last year.

The numbers have skyrocketed in recent years, with official figures showing the number of people living in vehicles in the city has risen by 400% in the last five years.

According to the report, an estimated 800 people were living inside 600 to 650 vehicles. Before the pandemic, there were about 100 and 150 van-dwellers.

Cost of living behind the rise say caravan residents

Many of those living in caravans say they turned to mobile living due to rising rents and the cost-of-living crisis.

One van dweller by the Downs said he lost his £100,000 a year business due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

He said: ‘The system is set up to fail me, so what choice do I have other than to live like this?’

Another added that their way of life has been misunderstood.

Speaking about his fellow van-dwellers, he said: ‘They are all out at work, this isn’t about people scrounging on benefits.

‘If you are on the minimum wage or a zero hours contract this is a better alternative to living in a shared house at £1,000 a month.’

Earlier this month a chef and market stall trader living in a caravan at another site in Bristol, Stadium Road, told The Sun he moved there five years ago after his previous flatmates moved in with their partners.

‘My budget for a new place was about £700, and I wanted to get a place by myself, but as soon as I started looking, I realised that just wasn’t going to happen.’

He said he would go to flat viewings where there would be up to 35 people looking around at the same time, with bidding wars not uncommon.

Despite raising his budget from the £550 plus bills he’d previously been paying, he couldn’t afford any of the options available.

He added: ‘From that moment I knew I wouldn’t be able to find a place in Bristol. That night I went and bought a caravan. I would have been homeless if I didn’t buy a caravan because I only had three days left.

‘Locals moan but it’s too expensive to rent. I stay here just because we haven’t been moved on. Other places you just get moved on every three or four weeks by the council.’

Bristol has one of the highest costs of living in the UK.

The average full-time salary in Bristol is around £36,000, while a search on Spareroom.com shows small flats starts at around £1,000 a month.

The average price of a home to buy, meanwhile, was £364,000 last year, slightly higher than the national average of £352,000.

Residents call for crack down

Home dwellers – especially in the Downs area – have frequently called for the council to do more to stop caravan owners from parking and living on the streets.

The council, however, has admitted it’s difficult to keep on top of the situation, reports Bristol Live.

Although it’s illegal to live in a caravan on a public street, it’s not illegal to park the vehicle and the local authority says traffic wardens often can’t prove someone’s living in the vehicle, and some will move the vans if there’s a time restriction, then return.

A number of residents say a ban on overnight parking would be the best solution.

Not all Bristol residents are critical of the van-dwellers and understand their predicament.

One, Dot Wilcox told The Sun she didn’t see any problem with most of the caravan sites – especially if their occupants were working.

She added, however,it ‘probably isn’t very nice’ for those whose homes are close to the caravans, as in the Downs area.

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