Aussies are embracing van living as an alternative to renting as cost of living soars

Australia’s population continues to expand at a record rate, despite very little new and affordable housing being built.

And with house prices surging at a record pace, and rents rising six times faster than wages, many young people have given up on the Australian dream of ever owning a home.

Now, some young Aussies are opting to skip rent and mortgages altogether by opting for unique housing solutions.

Among those is 20-year-old Jordan Dann, who moved into a campervan 18 months ago after rent at his Sydney sharehouse became too expensive.

‘It just seemed to me like there were better and greener pastures than renting a tiny bedroom in an old building for between $300 and $400 a week,’ he told Daily Mail Australia.

That was the light-bulb moment that he decided to move into a van.

He brought a Toyota Hilux van for $30,000 but soon realised it was too small. He upgraded to a larger truck six months later for $48,000 after selling his previous vehicle for a $10,000 profit.

The second truck had more facilities but was older and would leak water through the roof every time it rained – and Jordan could only stand upright if he was not wearing his shoes.

But at the start of 2023, Jordan saw an advertisement for a campervan he had always wanted: a Winnebago Alpine, which cost him $70,000.

‘It’s what I always wanted. I saw one of these in a caravan park when I was very little, and I remembered the rocking armchairs, and I was like, ‘I have to get it,” he said.

Jordan saved $50,000 and entered a loan agreement with his mum for the remaining $20,000 to buy the campervan.

He clarified it was not a ‘privileged’ situation of a ‘parent bailing me out’ because his mother charges him interest on the loan like a bank.

The full-time post office worker bought his Winnebago Alpine for $70,000 at the start of 2023, after trading up from two other vans 

Jordan said van living costs him less than $50 a week because his work gives him free water for his truck; solar panels power the lights, microwave, split-system air conditioning and TV for free; and he pays a caravan site just $15 to empty his toilet every fortnight

The young Aussie is in a two-year loan agreement with his mum and pays her $480 a fortnight – which still works out cheaper than the average weekly rent in Sydney.

During the week, Jordan parks his Winnebago close to his work in Merrylands, where he works full-time as a postie delivering mail on a motorbike.

On the weekends, he takes his mobile home to the inner-west so he can ‘boogie-down on dance floors’ in Newtown or, on a sunny day, take it down to some waterfront suburbs.

Jordan said van living costs him less than $50 a week because his work gives him free water for his truck.

Solar panels power his lights, microwave, split-system air conditioning and TV for free, and he pays a caravan site just $15 to empty his toilet every fortnight.

‘I have a truck and a home for less than the price of a house deposit, and I even have waterfront views whenever I want,’ Jordan said.

‘It’s yours, and you can go wherever you want. Like, people pay millions for a waterfront view.

‘If there’s an untimed spot, and as long as you’re not blocking a person’s million-dollar view, you get to have one as well.’

Jordan said he especially loves the ‘old-style’ décor of his ‘studio apartment on wheels’ because it reminds him of his grandmother’s house, and does not see himself giving up his new style of living anytime soon.

The 20-year-old recommends van living to any Australian willing to give it a go, arguing it is much more cost-effective than rent

He especially loves the ‘old-style’ décor of his ‘studio apartment on wheels’ because it reminds him of his grandmother’s house

‘I’ll only give up van living if I was I was demanded to do so by a long-term partner who I’ve been with long enough, and that wants to buy a house,’ Jordan said.

‘But for the moment, I will not rent because renting is just throwing money away. You never get that money back.

‘Van living is effectively free because when I sell it, I can potentially get all my money back as long as you keep it well maintained.’

Jordan said his mum, who lived in Sydney her whole life, saw his van and the lifestyle it provided him and sold her rental property to buy a van of own, which she now lives in around parts of the Gold Coast.

He recommends van living to anyone who wants to escape the rental crisis, and says people are friendly as long as you remain respectful.

‘Be respectful of the area, keep everything inside your van, and it’s fine. Observe the parking restrictions. Don’t play loud music. You know, just be a nice person and it’s totally fine,’ Jordan said.

Self-confessed ‘van lifer’ Coral Lee told Daily Mail Australia she had saved a significant amount of money by living rent-free in her high roof, long-wheelbase Mercedes-Benz Sprinter.

Self-confessed ‘van lifer’ Coral Lee told Daily Mail Australia she had saved a significant amount of money by living rent-free in her van (pictured)

The 30-year-old, who is based on the Gold Coast, has been living in her van for over a year.

‘I can confidently say that this lifestyle has brought me immense joy and freedom,’ Coral said. 

‘It has allowed me to break free from the traditional housing model and embrace a more unconventional way of living.’

Coral said she was able to redirect the money she would have paid on rent into starting a business, which sells special products that makes van living easier.

‘One of the greatest advantages of van life is the significant cost savings on rent, which has provided me with the financial flexibility to invest in supporting myself and pursuing my dream of starting my own business,’ Coral said.

‘It’s enabled me to redirect funds that would have otherwise gone towards exorbitant rent payments into building a solid foundation for my entrepreneurial aspirations.’

Coral said she found ‘immense joy and freedom’ in the unconventional way of living, and has saved a significant amount of money which would otherwise be spent on rent

Founder of Facebook group Van Life Australia Jon Robinson told Daily Mail Australia he had seen a huge uptick in renters turning to van living. 

Mr Robinson said soaring rent and low vacancy rates were pushing more Aussies away from renting. 

‘It’s a perfect storm basically for their life,’ he said.  ‘You have had Covid and then massive increases in rents.

‘It’s really sink-or-swim for a lot of people, and they see no other alternative than to buy a van. 

‘There are people that do it for choice and others that do it out of necessity. I think the latter is the large portion of members.’

Mr Robinson, who is based in North Queensland and has previously travelled and worked out of a van, wants to destigmatise van living. 

He added regional towns as well as city suburbs would benefit immensely from opening their doors to the van living community. 

‘Sleeping in cars or vans is generally looked down upon in society, and I certainly don’t think that’s the case,’ Mr Robinson said. 

‘It is a growing part of the community, whether it’s by choice or force, and I think it should be embraced.

‘People who live in vans spend a lot of money when they are in towns, and if communities opened up places where they could go, they would really benefit from them.

Meanwhile, some young Aussies are building granny flats on their parents’ property as they struggle to save for a house deposit.

Data from Australian digital marketplace Oneflare shows more than 500 granny flat jobs booked were booked on the platform since July 2022 – a whopping 67 per cent increase compared to last year.

Among those include Sydney newlyweds Vera, 32, and Anthony Ippolito, 36, who built a granny flat at the back of Anthony’s parents’ property in Ashbury.

Vera told Daily Mail Australia their two-bedroom flat was still much more affordable than buying a home in Sydney’s inner-west, despite it costing $200,000 to build. 

‘Both my husband and I were born and grew up in the inner-west area and obviously that’s where we would love to stay, but at the moment everything is booming and it’s really out of our budget and pretty impossible,’ Mrs Ippolito said. 

‘The idea of building a granny flat started off just as a joke, but before we got married in May last year, we did a bit of research, did our homework and we decided it was practical and within our budget to build a granny flat.’ 

Newlyweds Vera, 32, and Anthony Ippolito, 36, (pictured) built a granny flat at the back of Anthony’s parents’ property in Ashbury after realising buying a home in Sydney’s inner-west was ‘impossible’ 

The couple contracted Master Granny Flats to build the building on their parent’s property

Mrs Ippolito said the pair built the granny flat to live in and designed it in a way that would allow them space to raise a young family.

‘We’re still saving towards hopefully another place, but the granny flat was the best option for us at the moment.

‘It was the quickest and most affordable option and is our first place and we’ll go from there. We’re planning on starting a family so we can live in there with a small family.

‘It’s not a forever home, but who’s to say it could be [for] five or six years. We don’t really know where the future is really going to take us.’