Council writes to deputy PM for van dweller help

A council is urging the deputy prime minister to help it cope with a rise in van-dwelling.

Bristol City Council wrote to Angela Rayner, who is also secretary of state for housing and communities, requesting funding to provide welfare support to those living in vans.

While people have lived in vehicles for many years around the city, tensions have grown in recent months due to a rising number of motorhomes and caravans being parked on Clifton Down.

In a statement published online, Councillor Barry Parsons said the council wrote the letter because it had become “very clear that we cannot tackle this issue alone”.

In the letter, the authority also asked to be granted powers to make it easier to remove vehicles from council land.

It said it wanted extra funding to build more social housing so that van dwellers had more options.

Some van dwellers say they have been forced to live in vehicles due to the cost-of-living crisis and high rent prices across the city.

There are around 650 vehicles being used as homes in Bristol.

The council has said it is working towards establishing temporary “meanwhile sites” where people would be offered low-cost pitches with access to amenities such as toilets and running water.

In his statement, Mr Parsons said: “Nationally we are taking a leadership role around vehicle dwelling and liaising closely with many other local authorities, which is why we are in a position to be able to make these asks and recommendations to government.”

Describing Bristol’s housing crisis, Mr Parsons said that, between 2020 and 2023, average private rents had risen by more than 23%, while house prices were at nearly nine times average annual earnings.

“While we are developing new homes at pace and working with partners to reduce our use of temporary accommodation, with the right support from central government, we could do more,” he said.

He said the council’s letter included a request to introduce a new legal requirement for caravans to have a registration of ownership.

This, he said, would make it easier to carry out traffic enforcement actions on parked caravans that are not attached to a towing vehicle.

Finally, he called on the government to devolve powers to councils that would allow them to influence the affordability of private rents.