Couple Buys A London Double Decker Bus, Turns It Into A Dream Home Complete With A Fireplace And A Bathtub, Lives Mortgage Free
Your home is all about you feeling good. But when Charlie MacVicar, 26, and her partner Luke Walker, 27, decided to move in together, they knew they couldn’t relax in a place which forced huge financial obligations on them. So the couple started looking for alternatives.
Since Charlie’s dad owned land in Essex, United Kingdom, where she and Luke could’ve lived on, they considered multiple ideas on how to make use of it, but eventually got themselves a double-decker bus to have more space.
“We love to travel and wanted a hub that we could return home to and then leave again and have a lot of flexibility,” Charlie told Bored Panda. “We loved the TV show George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces and [our project] was inspired by some of the builds on the show. We went back and forth over a shipping container to a caravan and finally settled for a double-decker bus.”
Over the next year, Charlie and Luke worked hard on making their dream a reality, and with some help from their closest people, it turned out just the way they wanted.
More info: Instagram
Image credits: doubledeckerhome
Image credits: doubledeckerhome
“Me and my partner wanted to live together but we didn’t want to be tied down to a huge mortgage or pay huge amounts in rent,” Charlie said. They checked out a lot of double-deckers, some requiring a lot of work, and some not tall enough for 6-foot-tall Luke. But luck was on their side and the couple found the perfect one: an authentic red Go-Ahead London Volvo Plaxton bus. Interestingly, it was transporting passengers only a few months before they bought it.
Image credits: doubledeckerhome
Naturally, renovating the bus (which still had all the seats inside) for someone with no previous construction experience can be tricky. And Charlie acknowledged that the process was challenging at times—after all, it was her first time picking up a screwdriver! But the couple were lucky to receive some help.
Image credits: doubledeckerhome
“Myself and my boyfriend are not your typical creative type. We have mostly worked office jobs and there were some parts of the bus we simply couldn’t do ourselves. The electric, plumbing, and carpentry were done by either family or professionals. As much as we would like to take credit for the hard work, we certainly couldn’t have done it without others,” she explained. Nonetheless, this doesn’t take away from the amazing results.
The first floor has a spacious kitchen, WC, work desk, and a guest room/ living room with a woodburning oven
Image credits: doubledeckerhome
Image credits: doubledeckerhome
“[But overall], there weren’t many challenges with the bus, we got very lucky with the condition we bought the bus in,” Charlie said. “So the conversion went quite smoothly. Building upstairs was more of a challenge as on the top deck, the floor is slightly curved so we had to custom build the bed, level the bath, and other furniture.”
Image credits: doubledeckerhome
Image credits: doubledeckerhome
Keeping the heat in the bus can also be challenging with all of the windows but the couple has recently installed a new heater which is helping massively with that! Plus, they have a log burner downstairs.
Image credits: doubledeckerhome
Image credits: doubledeckerhome
Image credits: doubledeckerhome
Image credits: doubledeckerhome
Image credits: doubledeckerhome
Image credits: doubledeckerhome
Image credits: doubledeckerhome
Image credits: doubledeckerhome
Second floor has a bedroom, bathtub, and a walk-in-closet
Image credits: doubledeckerhome
Image credits: doubledeckerhome
Image credits: doubledeckerhome
Image credits: doubledeckerhome
Image credits: doubledeckerhome
Image credits: doubledeckerhome
Image credits: doubledeckerhome
Image credits: doubledeckerhome
They also did some amazing things with the outside space:
Image credits: doubledeckerhome
Image credits: doubledeckerhome
Image credits: doubledeckerhome
Image credits: doubledeckerhome
Now, even though MacVicar and her partner pay her father a small amount of rent to park on his land, they keep their expenses minimal.
Their home is parked right next to a lovely pond, and the couple keeps two goats, Monty and Darwin.
Image credits: doubledeckerhome
Image credits: doubledeckerhome
Image credits: doubledeckerhome
The bus itself was £2,500 ($3,470) and the couple spent around £15,000 ($20,830) on the conversion
Image credits: doubledeckerhome
“I believe it was completely worth it and honestly, it’s the best thing me and my boyfriend have done”
Image credits: doubledeckerhome
“We love living here and the freedom it gives us”
Image credits: doubledeckerhome
People are absolute loving the double-decker home
The renovation is awesome, but I somehow do not buy the story, which reads "they couldn’t relax in a place which forced huge financial obligations on them." That bus, all the interior and the effort that went into it undoubtely costs more than a rather simple wooden cabin would have. And the heating effort (despite the oven) must be extreme.
I live in London, what they spent on the bus and conversion (£17,500) is roughly what I spend on rent in a year. Also, the temperatures in South East UK rarely go below 0 degrees so heating is much less of an issue than in countries that have proper winters.
Hans above wasn't saying that £17,500 is expensive, they were saying that a simple wooden cabin would be cheaper... and I agree. You could buy a tiny house for £6,000 to £11,000, which not only would be cheaper, and it wouldn't require all the effort. BUT at the same time Hans (above) is missing the point. Just because they could have done is cheaper doesn't mean that this is a huge financial obligation. They likely looked at options and said "what's the most we can afford without a mortgage looming over us", and chose this as far more fun than a cabin. (note I got tiny home prices here http://mobilehouses.co.uk/)
Winter is still winter and no one is confortable living in temperatures below 15-20°C. That's why almost every house in the UK has heaters, log burners or chimneys
The cost of a small wooden cabin is one thing, but residential land is extremely difficult to find and so always comes at a premium which puts the simple cabin life out of reach for most (especially in the pricier parts of the UK)
I feel you but long term the cost is so much lower than having a real home, whether it’s rented or owned.
I also think that the gas, the electricity/generator and/or batteries must have cost something, nothing is entirely "free" when you are trying to live without taxes...
This comment has been deleted.
This is a really cool project, but there is no way this is a better financial investment than a mortgage. I'm a DIY renovator and materials costs alone for all of their interior work has to be in the tens of thousands, plus the very nice linens and furnishings and vehicle maintenance. I guess they mentioned they don't need to pay for the land, but where I live, land and property taxes aren't free. Plus, this bus would need septic and water, or would need to pay for a service to have those provided and tanks emptied.
His dad gave them the land, so all they spent was the money for renovations. You can definitely go mortgage free if you do that.
Spending money once on a renovation vs a 25 year mortgage commitment? I know which I'd rather do.
The upside of buying property with a mortgage is typically the land, not the structure. Most structures depreciate in value, but land tends to appreciate in value. In this case, they aren't getting land, but when you compare what they spent to a couple years of rent, they're still up. Renting, they would have nothing at the end of it. Here, they still have a bus. Its value will have depreciated, but it's very unlikely to depreciate to zero. Of course, they have a generous family, so they're not having to rent the land to park on (and they got some free or low cost work on the bus). The break-even point on all this would change if they had to pay for that.
Yeah, maybe water wouldn't be too hard if the land has been used for agriculture in the past, but septic? I think everyone fantasizing about these things forgets that your poop has to go somewhere.
This comment has been deleted.
Nice linens & furniture? I recognize a lot from Ikea
On whose land this bus parks? Do they pay rent for the land? Electricity? Internet? Do they have an address? If it's very cold outside how do they stay alive? Especially in the bedroom where there is no heating and the windows are so thin they don't protect them from anything. What do they do in the bedroom when they are superhot outside? Those metal buses tend to overheat especially on the top floor. They don't live here. They are just some rich kids who did this for some likes.
Agreed, this is a version of a treehouse for Instagram
It's the UK Kitty, the coldest it gets in the South East is 0 degrees Celsius (only for a few days) and the hottest it gets is 25/30 degrees. I think they live on the bloke's dad's land so they wouldn't pay rent for the land, presumably.
The article says they pay a small rent to live on her father's property.
Actually a lot of people live like that. There is a huge Van Life movement going on.
You haven't read the introduction, go over it all again.
Why don’t people read the words as well as looking at pictures, before they ask questions?
Nonetheless the complete lack of window coverings to help with insulation
The renovation is awesome, but I somehow do not buy the story, which reads "they couldn’t relax in a place which forced huge financial obligations on them." That bus, all the interior and the effort that went into it undoubtely costs more than a rather simple wooden cabin would have. And the heating effort (despite the oven) must be extreme.
I live in London, what they spent on the bus and conversion (£17,500) is roughly what I spend on rent in a year. Also, the temperatures in South East UK rarely go below 0 degrees so heating is much less of an issue than in countries that have proper winters.
Hans above wasn't saying that £17,500 is expensive, they were saying that a simple wooden cabin would be cheaper... and I agree. You could buy a tiny house for £6,000 to £11,000, which not only would be cheaper, and it wouldn't require all the effort. BUT at the same time Hans (above) is missing the point. Just because they could have done is cheaper doesn't mean that this is a huge financial obligation. They likely looked at options and said "what's the most we can afford without a mortgage looming over us", and chose this as far more fun than a cabin. (note I got tiny home prices here http://mobilehouses.co.uk/)
Winter is still winter and no one is confortable living in temperatures below 15-20°C. That's why almost every house in the UK has heaters, log burners or chimneys
The cost of a small wooden cabin is one thing, but residential land is extremely difficult to find and so always comes at a premium which puts the simple cabin life out of reach for most (especially in the pricier parts of the UK)
I feel you but long term the cost is so much lower than having a real home, whether it’s rented or owned.
I also think that the gas, the electricity/generator and/or batteries must have cost something, nothing is entirely "free" when you are trying to live without taxes...
This comment has been deleted.
This is a really cool project, but there is no way this is a better financial investment than a mortgage. I'm a DIY renovator and materials costs alone for all of their interior work has to be in the tens of thousands, plus the very nice linens and furnishings and vehicle maintenance. I guess they mentioned they don't need to pay for the land, but where I live, land and property taxes aren't free. Plus, this bus would need septic and water, or would need to pay for a service to have those provided and tanks emptied.
His dad gave them the land, so all they spent was the money for renovations. You can definitely go mortgage free if you do that.
Spending money once on a renovation vs a 25 year mortgage commitment? I know which I'd rather do.
The upside of buying property with a mortgage is typically the land, not the structure. Most structures depreciate in value, but land tends to appreciate in value. In this case, they aren't getting land, but when you compare what they spent to a couple years of rent, they're still up. Renting, they would have nothing at the end of it. Here, they still have a bus. Its value will have depreciated, but it's very unlikely to depreciate to zero. Of course, they have a generous family, so they're not having to rent the land to park on (and they got some free or low cost work on the bus). The break-even point on all this would change if they had to pay for that.
Yeah, maybe water wouldn't be too hard if the land has been used for agriculture in the past, but septic? I think everyone fantasizing about these things forgets that your poop has to go somewhere.
This comment has been deleted.
Nice linens & furniture? I recognize a lot from Ikea
On whose land this bus parks? Do they pay rent for the land? Electricity? Internet? Do they have an address? If it's very cold outside how do they stay alive? Especially in the bedroom where there is no heating and the windows are so thin they don't protect them from anything. What do they do in the bedroom when they are superhot outside? Those metal buses tend to overheat especially on the top floor. They don't live here. They are just some rich kids who did this for some likes.
Agreed, this is a version of a treehouse for Instagram
It's the UK Kitty, the coldest it gets in the South East is 0 degrees Celsius (only for a few days) and the hottest it gets is 25/30 degrees. I think they live on the bloke's dad's land so they wouldn't pay rent for the land, presumably.
The article says they pay a small rent to live on her father's property.
Actually a lot of people live like that. There is a huge Van Life movement going on.
You haven't read the introduction, go over it all again.
Why don’t people read the words as well as looking at pictures, before they ask questions?
Nonetheless the complete lack of window coverings to help with insulation