A family-of-five are moving into a £6,000 double-decker bus they bought from eBay after they were faced with homelessness. Simon Lewis and partner Sophie Underwood plan to convert the green school bus into a four-bed home.
The couple, who have three kids, were served a shock eviction notice to leave their rented house by August 9 as their landlord wanted to sell the property. And they said they have no other option but to live on a bus as there are "literally no homes available" in their seaside town of Felixstowe, Suffolk.
Simon, who owns a vaping shop, said: “Rather than leaving us homeless or burdening the council with the responsibility to find us somewhere to live, we decided to take matters into our own hands."
Simon said he will spend £20,000 on renovating the bus to create four bedrooms, a bathroom and a toilet on the top deck. Downstairs there will be a kitchen, dining room and seating area.
Simon said the Covid-19 pandemic had made it harder for the family to get "back on their feet" financially, meaning they can’t afford to buy a house. But he believes they will save thousands of pounds a year by living on the bus, which was previously owned by a Cambridge bus company.
Simon said: "There are literally no homes with estate agents so basically, we decided we could either move out of town or end up homeless. It has always been a dream of ours to travel the country around the UK and visit the four parts of the country. This gives us the opportunity to visit the Lake District and see the rest of the UK."
He added that the government should increase taxes on second properties to help people find homes. “There should be extra tax on second homes. I would impose four times the current level of council tax on second homes and use the money to fund house building. It’s an oven-ready solution isn’t it?”
