Backyard camper saves on rent

It’s no secret young people on low wages are struggling to live close to major cities, with unaffordable house prices and rising rents.

But one enterprising young woman across the ditch has come up with a workable alternative to over-priced accomodation, by parking her cheap camper trailer in some-one’s garden.

Feeling the pinch, Lily Kemp downsized from her Auckland, New Zealand rental unit to a used pop-top she bought off the internet for around $1000. She then paid another $500 to fix the rotted floor.

But more impressively, she now spends less than $40 per month in rent by parking it in the backyard of a shared flat – that's around a quarter of what her housemates in the adjoining property pay.

And like every caravan owner, when she wants to go some-where she simply hitches it up to her car and heads off...

“I saw it as a way of moving my house with me,” she explains. “Not having to miss out on going to different places, coming up north to visit family and going back south for work.”

Inside, there’s just about everything a young person needs including storage areas, a gas powered fridge and cooker and double-bed that converts to a dinette.

Personal touches including a “make-up station”, pot plants, wallpaper and bunting make it feel homey, while she can always pop next door to use the bathroom.

“I wanted to make it feel like a place that some-one lives rather than a place where someone’s in between or on holidays,” she says.

She also saves money on electricity by using a $60 solar panel to run the lights, fan and radio.

Reactions from people have ranged from envy to pity, but the freedom and cost benefits seem to outweigh any disadvantages.

“I think for a young single person it’s absolutely perfect,” she says.

Watch the video below, and tell us what you think...