Woman saves £22,000 by living rent-free in tiny home

A woman from South London has saved a staggering £22,000 by ditching London’s rocketing rent prices to live in a van.

Mal Jones, 30, who regularly tours the country due to her job in stage management, said she quickly realised buying a van would work out much cheaper than staying in hotels.

After renting in the capital, Ms Jones moved into her van full-time when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020 and has been living off the grid ever since.

Ms Jones is currently dwelling in Bristol’s Clifton Down, rent-free – only footing the bill for parking and the city’s clean air zone charge.

Ms Jones said: “I very specifically live in a van for financial reasons. I live frugally, and I haven’t been on holiday for two years. Now I’ve saved £22,000 – working in the arts, that’s unheard of. I’m very, very lucky to be able to save that.

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“I’m 30 and single – so why not do it now when I have the freedom to move around and do what I like?”

But while Ms Jones said her costs are much lower than if she rented, she is not immune to rising cost pressures.

She said: “Sometimes I pay for parking every day which is still less than rent but my outgoings are going up.”

Clean air zone charges are making living costs more expensive for Ms Jones, as are the increased parking fees. 

She said: “At the moment I spend £80 to £100 per week on fuel and food but at rent alone, I’m looking at £1,300 per month in London.”

For Ms Jones, living in a van “makes a lot of sense” financially, however, she does have plans to move somewhere more permanent in the future when she saves enough for a deposit.

Ms Jones said: “Eventually I do want to buy somewhere and a big reason I did this was to save up some form of deposit. But I’m not paying council tax or utility bills so I have no real credit score.

“I would have to go back and rent just so I have some kind of record if I wanted to try and buy somewhere.”

In the meantime, Ms Jones is currently parked in a 400-acre park in Clifton Down, located just outside the city centre. Some of the country’s most affluent areas border the space, such as Clifton and Sneyd Park.