‘It can flip quickly from being idyllic’: the reality of life for young van dwellers priced out of Cornwall’s housing market

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Skye, a 25-year-old special educational needs teaching assistant in Cornwall, has spent five years living year-round in an old van, paying off a £2,000 repair bill after breakdowns, as an estimated 24,000 Airbnbs and holiday lets and 13,000 second homes crowd out long-term rentals for young locals. The charity Traveller Space runs a weekly drop-in in St Day providing hot meals, showers and laundry, after the council asked it in 2024 to survey the growing number of van dwellers in car parks and laybys, finding many lack insulation, cooking facilities and the skills Traveller communities possess, leaving them cold, isolated and reliant on sandwich diets.