News / Van Dwellers
Bristol van dweller numbers quadrupled since pre-pandemic
The number of vehicle dwellers in Bristol has quadrupled since before the pandemic, and is only set to increase, a new report has found.
The Bristol City Council report estimates that vehicle numbers had increased from around 600 to 650 residential vehicles, with around 800 people living in these vehicles.
More people are being forced into living in vehicles due to the spiralling cost of rent, and the report recommended creating more semi-permanent sites in Bristol to support those living in vehicles.
is needed now More than ever
Bristol has the highest number of vehicle dwellers of any authority in the UK, although not the highest proportionately, with most vehicle dwellers concentrated in east central around Eastgate, and on the roadside at the Downs.
The largest site the city has seen, in 2023, claimed to have 100 occupants at Dovercourt Road depot, with several longer-term kerbside encampments including Greenbank Road, Parry’s Lane and New Stadium Road.
The numbers are based on a physical street count, and known numbers on squatted encampments and ‘meanwhile sites’ – unused pieces of land owned by the council which have been set aside for future redevelopment and used during the pandemic to ensure vehicle dwellers were able to isolate and receive support.
Greenbank Road is one of several longer-term kerbside encampments in Bristol – photo: Betty Woolerton
The report found that the increase in vehicle dwellers was due to the more unaffordable housing, homelessness, and rising house prices.
“Fewer people are now choosing this way of life but are instead increasingly forced into it by the UK’s housing crisis,” the report noted.
The Gypsy, Roma, Traveller (GRT) group, a coalition of representatives from the community, the council, the police, and local charities, was set up in 2020 to support and manage vehicle dwellers from the Gypsy, Roma Traveller community.
The team made over 35 referrals to the Trussell Trust food bank for vehicle dwellers over the past 12 months.
The report also outlined complaints received by the council about vehicle dwellers, which included concerns about litter, the disposal of human waste, anti-social behaviour and blocked payments.
But it also noted that complaints “regularly contain hate speech and “othering”, which it said “contributes to prejudice against vehicle dwelling communities”.
It recommended providing increased access to meanwhile sites in Bristol, a city-wide approach to working with vehicle dwellers, and the creation of a forum for agencies and representatives to include vehicle dweller groups in policy changes.
Responding to the report, mayor Marvin Rees said: “This is a starting point to inform the conversations needed to grow from it.
“If we are to see progress in this area, we must include the voices of the vehicle dweller community in those conversations.
“We have a community which can be more vulnerable to ill health, imprisonment, and suicide than any other in our city.
“There are also negative impacts arising from encampments in parts of our city, including anti-social behaviour, littering and the visual impact of vehicles and caravans.
“Petitions and correspondence from residents and Councillors have highlighted the tensions between communities and how ‘high impact’ encampments harm neighbourhoods.
“It is crucial that we continue to support those across Bristol, meeting the varied housing needs of citizens who cannot afford to pay market prices.
“Bristol is a City of Sanctuary, and we must live up to that declaration, so that no one is left behind.”
Conservative councillor Steve Smith criticised the report however, arguing the it “proposes to do nothing”.
“The council report on van-dwelling essentially proposes to do nothing and just kick the can down the road for the next council to deal with,” he said on X.
“This is one of the biggest issues that residents contact us about – this weak response is just not good enough.”
The councillor, some of whose constituents live around the Downs, has been critical of van dwellers in the area, and has supported bringing in overnight parking bans and restrictions to deter long-term van dwellers.
Main photo: Mia Vines Booth
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