# Laws on living in a caravan?



## homeinthesun

Hello every1 I am new here I found this site on a search engine.

I hope i have come to the right place for advice, I don't speak Portugese yet so its hard getting this info because most laws online in Portugal are in Portugese. 

I'm British I want to move to Portugal in the near future. I have alot of questions but first of all I need to know what are the laws on someone living in a caravan with their kids?

The reason is I have little savings and wont be able to afford to rent anywhere in the beginning and I also want to own my own home so my plan is to live in a caravan temporarily and find work then save money on the rent and then put down a deposit on a home.

I have 2young children both school age. I want to leave the uk for personal reasons, there is nothing here for us anymore and I want to start a new life in the sun with my kids. I have thought it over a million times and i'm sure, I have wanted to do this for a while now.

The problem is there is no right time so I don't want to waste years waiting to have enough saved up all my earnings quickly get eaten up with rent bills, and it will be harder for my children to adjust the older they get. 

My cousin has a caravan which he's offered me if I need it when I make the move. It is big and sleeps up to 5 people. There are 3 of us.

If it is allowed what are the laws and where are you allowed to park and is there any ground rent and how much and are there any other costs involved?

And what attitudes should I expect? Because we arent a family of travellers this isnt how I want to live permanently(not that there is anything wrong with that and I mean no offence to travellers) but I feel it would be a good solution for short term. I have asked my children and they understand the change will be difficult at first but to live near a beach in the sun they are happy to give up their priviliges for a while until we can afford a real home.


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## MrBife

homeinthesun said:


> find work then save money on the rent and then put down a deposit on a home.
> 
> I have 2young children both school age. I want to leave the uk for personal reasons, there is nothing here for us anymore .


You need to spend some time in the area of Portugal you think is going to suit you and take a look at the job opportunities that suit your skills before you ship the family over.

Jobs are hard to find and wages are a fraction of UK rates, there is no welfare or support structure and you will have lots of barriers. I wouldn't reckon on being able to save much money if you have a faimily to support.

I have no wish to dampen your dream but do feel you need a quick reality check before you commit.


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## stephanie

MrBife said:


> You need to spend some time in the area of Portugal you think is going to suit you and take a look at the job opportunities that suit your skills before you ship the family over.
> 
> Jobs are hard to find and wages are a fraction of UK rates, there is no welfare or support structure and you will have lots of barriers. I wouldn't reckon on being able to save much money if you have a faimily to support.
> 
> I have no wish to dampen your dream but do feel you need a quick reality check before you commit.


Hello,

I would just like to say that I agree with Mr Bife on this. Portugal is a fabulous place to live and a great environment for bringing up children, but it would be extremely difficult to find a job and save anything from your salary - the wages here are very much lower than the UK. You should also bare in mind that you won't have your family around to help you if necessary, as you might in the UK.

The other problem might be that the authorities may not like the idea of your children living full time in a caravan. My little boy goes to school here (and loves it - the schools are great) and every year we have to complete a form that gives all sorts of information about where we live - ie number of rooms, do we have a bathroom in the house, do we own the house etc. I'm not sure what the consequences might be if we gave the 'wrong' answer.

You could always come over and try it out for a set period of time, but don't burn any bridges in case you need to go back to your old life.

Good luck!


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## omostra06

Your not really allowed to live fulltime in a caravan, i know a few people that do it and have had no problems, probably because they are out of sight.

One problem you may have, although you have access to caravan, where would you park it, caravan sites would cost a lot long term, you would be much cheaper renting a house. you cant just park up on beach or a carpark, would you need electricity and water connecting to the caravan, what about waste connection.

I think if you really want to make the move and bring your family with you to portugal, you would be better off just renting a place, maybe for a couple of months with the option to stay longer if it works out and you get work, at leat this way its easy to move on if you have to look for work somewhere else.

You will get a basic 2 or 3 bed house for around 350 euros per month, for something much more basic maybe a bit less than that.

as has been said above think about the location you go to, as it will affect the chances of finding work,(depending on what you do)


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## MarcoCarrico

you can either park your caravan in a camping or simply buy a plot and place your caravan there. Mind that to be ok the caravan must be a caravan and not a fixed house on the land


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## Benny Dorm

homeinthesun said:


> but to live near a beach in the sun they are happy to give up their priviliges for a while until we can afford a real home.


Winters in Portugal can be cold and very wet (-3c last week) and even with heating, living in a caravan in winter with condensation, damp clothing etc, would be most unpleasant.


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## Margot

yes, beach and sun only between April and October. Between November and March cold, wind and rain. Like today....


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## -mia-

I hate to be the wet blanket, but this is such a bad idea I can't even count the ways. I completely understand dreams. But with two children in two you have to be at least some what realistic. 

If you need to live in a caravan right away because you don't have enough money to rent an apartment then I'm wondering (and worrying) if you have any money saved at all. *Find working is extremely difficult*. Never mind how difficult it will be to find work as an non Portuguese speaker. Do not under estimate this. That is why I have highlighted it. And when/if you find a job what kind of job will it be?


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## paulrees

You want to leave 'for personal resons'. I would say 'selfish reasons'. If you want to escape your ex, or whatever it is you are running from, why not move to the other end of the UK. You are clearly depressed with life in general but a move to Portugal with two kids and effectively nowhere to live, no language skills, no concept of wage rates and the current unemployment level, is inconceivable. If you can offer basic manual labour you will be competing with fluent, well embedded eastern europeans who will do a full day of fruit picking for around twent quid. If you have a trade then research it, contact people with businesses here in the same field. You first step has been a good one of course, asking for comments on this forum - you might be a bit disappointed at the frank replies but they are based on the often harsh reality of life in the sun.


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## Brian-Viv

*Brian-Viv*

Listen to them !!! it is not all milk and honey in Portugal , the language is the bigest hurdle about getting a job . 
We live in central Portugal and it dose get very damp here in the winter if you don`t
have any heat in you`r home .


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## diamantelady

Ihave been posting on here for nearly a year now, my kids are teenagers so not dragging babies with us but, the biggest thing that has put us off, is a reality check ,which every 1 has echo`d ,dont speak the lingo, no hope of a job ,unless you want to endear yourselfs to the expat community ,hoping you will get work there ,when your savings runs out what do you then ??? living the dream just becomes a nightmare.So unless you have a service to give thats needed or a profession ,your up the creek without a paddle ,this goes for any country not just Portugal, there is no saftey net, the buck stops with you!


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## cieloytierra

homeinthesun said:


> Hello every1 I am new here I found this site on a search engine.
> 
> I hope i have come to the right place for advice, I don't speak Portugese yet so its hard getting this info because most laws online in Portugal are in Portugese.
> 
> I'm British I want to move to Portugal in the near future. I have alot of questions but first of all I need to know what are the laws on someone living in a caravan with their kids?
> 
> The reason is I have little savings and wont be able to afford to rent anywhere in the beginning and I also want to own my own home so my plan is to live in a caravan temporarily and find work then save money on the rent and then put down a deposit on a home.
> 
> I have 2young children both school age. I want to leave the uk for personal reasons, there is nothing here for us anymore and I want to start a new life in the sun with my kids. I have thought it over a million times and i'm sure, I have wanted to do this for a while now.
> 
> The problem is there is no right time so I don't want to waste years waiting to have enough saved up all my earnings quickly get eaten up with rent bills, and it will be harder for my children to adjust the older they get.
> 
> My cousin has a caravan which he's offered me if I need it when I make the move. It is big and sleeps up to 5 people. There are 3 of us.
> 
> If it is allowed what are the laws and where are you allowed to park and is there any ground rent and how much and are there any other costs involved?
> 
> And what attitudes should I expect? Because we arent a family of travellers this isnt how I want to live permanently(not that there is anything wrong with that and I mean no offence to travellers) but I feel it would be a good solution for short term. I have asked my children and they understand the change will be difficult at first but to live near a beach in the sun they are happy to give up their priviliges for a while until we can afford a real home.




Hello, we are moving to Portugal (March) mainly because we know things are going to get really touch for everybody in the UK and globally...so moving out of big cities and growing your own food can be a wise thing. But it is also the sun, friendly people and better quality of life. 

I noticed you haven't comment to any of the posts here..don't get discouraged, there is always a solution. If you feel, please get in touch with me for some suggestions.

all the best

Cieloytierra


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## Jorunn

cieloytierra said:


> Hello, we are moving to Portugal (March) mainly because we know things are going to get really touch for everybody in the UK and globally...so moving out of big cities and growing your own food can be a wise thing. But it is also the sun, friendly people and better quality of life.
> 
> I noticed you haven't comment to any of the posts here..don't get discouraged, there is always a solution. If you feel, please get in touch with me for some suggestions.
> 
> all the best
> 
> Cieloytierra


Hi! My name is Jorunn and I live in Norway. I want to drive my caravan to Portugal and live there with my daughter for a couple of years doing homeschooling. I have money every month from the government in Norway so no need for a job. I wonder if you know any caravan-community where people live and grow the land? I would really want to find a group of people living like this so we can join. I think it is hard to find anything on the internet where we could rent a fixed place for the caravan to stay. Really do not wat to stay in any tourist caravan-parkinklot. You can send me a mail on [email protected] if you want to give me some information and tips to where it can be a good locationt to settle down. Thank you and much love. Jorunn


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