Neil Wright – March 21, 2020

Living off the grid — a life independent of any economic structure or system — is pretty much synonymous with freedom. No one has any doubts that it wouldn’t be an easy life, but the labour would be honest hard work, and the self-sufficiency it enabled would be immensely rewarding.

But does this type of freedom really exist in the UK? In theory, under extraordinary circumstances, the answer is maybe. Or maybe just temporarily. The first obstacle would be finding a place to live.

Living in an off-grid abode

It is not illegal, technically, to live off the grid in the UK. But it is strongly discouraged. For starters it is not possible to march into the Highlands and claim a spot with good soil as a new home. The local authorities will demand planning permission after 28-days.

The best thing to do is find what is called ancillary accommodation, where you essentially can live on your own land if you own it, or a friend’s. In most cases, this will limit a person to a garden, or even the front-drive to a house.

So, let us imagine a perfect scenario: you either own a large plot of land, or you are perched on a friend’s. Would off-grid living still be feasible?

Off-grid power

Thanks to modern technological advancement, energy sufficiency actually isn’t too difficult to achieve. Solar panels work well in the UK, even on cloudy days. Better still, they can last for over a decade before they need replacing. Some of them are free-standing and flexible, and can be positioned to follow the sun. With a 100-watt panel, two people can expect to have their energy needs reasonably met — with some sacrifices (getting rid of the TV and watching television on a laptop, using a wood gas stove instead of a microwave oven and kettle).

A good generator can back up the solar panels if it’s exceptionally cloudy, or on long winter nights. Generators are noisy and smelly, but they are also known to last a long time.

Gas is crucial, as it keeps us warm in winter and (in refrigerators) keeps food cool in summer. Installing a gas system is relatively inexpensive — around £500 — and should last a while, but it is easy to burn through a single gas cylinder in just over a week. Generators and gas, though make living “off grid” technically possible, still require interacting with the structures of society (i.e. by purchasing fuel). So, whether this is true off-grid living or semi-living is a matter of debate.

Off-grid water

Water is probably the most difficult resource to gather in the attempt to truly live off-grid. Most of the UK’s lakes and streams are polluted or inhabited by germs that can make us ill. The water can be collected and treated with either over-the-counter tablets or by placing the contaminated water in a plastic bottle in direct sunlight (the UV light will kill all the pathogens in a few hours). But this is incredibly impractical, and depends on either societal structures of brilliant weather.

A big risk with a great payoff would be to dig a viable well. Some places are more suitable than others, though. For example, there is a band of Jurassic limestone that meanders right through the middle of England that holds a high-water table. But digging one will require a lot of money and will almost definitely wrinkle the noses of the authorities. A water pump with a great pressure capacity will also need to be installed to deliver the water to the surface if a well was successfully crafted.

Rain barrels seem to make the most sense, to collect rainwater, but they need to be buried so that they don’t fall over. They also freeze over in winter.

Building a self-sustaining water system would require expertise knowledge; be a huge

gamble, and might not work. As a result, most off-grid enthusiasts still get their water from public water sources.

Off-grid food

A completely sustainable off-grid diet means a de facto vegan one, which isn’t a bad thing. You can hunt for food with air rifles and pistols, but a lot of animals are protected for ecological reasons. For example, you cannot shoot even pigeons or deer without a license. And deer are so plentiful in Scotland that the authorities are even toying with the idea of reintroducing wolves to thin the numbers.

Raised beds, containers, and small gardens certainly can be self-sufficient — but it is far from ideal. You are vulnerable to pests, disease, a turn of weather, wildlife and so on, and what you can grow is tempered by the seasons. A lot of people who grow their own food are vulnerable to digestive problems and bad breath. Getting the right compost is hard to do without extensive travelling for the right components, or waiting for the seasons to change (leaves in Autumn make great compost). Of course, one can always ask for excess cardboard or food waste from a supermarket — but that can attract rodents and is, in a sense, still a reliance “on the grid”.

Foraging is another way to put food on the table, but it is more like a seasonal hobby than a serious way to make ends meet. Foraging is not illegal in the UK, anywhere. And the Scots are more relaxed about it — but it is strongly discouraged. The authorities want you to think that it is illegal. You are within your rights to wander on to someone else’s private property to pick fungi, or plants that have grown naturally. That person can ask you to leave, but they cannot take your foraged goods off of you — that would be stealing. There are some protected funguses and plants that cannot be foraged, however.

Realistically, being completely off-grid when it comes to food production is not entirely, wholly possible. Although you can reduce your reliance on the supermarkets by a massive amount, and be self-sufficient for large parts of the year.

Off-grid health

The off-grid lifestyle implies certain remoteness — maybe even loneliness — to it. The labour-intensity to be self-sufficient probably requires at least one other person who is capable of doing all the chores that you can do. This becomes more important in the event of an illness.

In the UK we have the National Health Service which is definitely an “on-grid” structure. But I imagine even the most extreme off-grid enthusiast wouldn’t turn down its services in a time of need. In this case it is really important to have a fixed address — and if you are practising ancillary accommodation you will do.

This is because the NHS runs everything through the local health clinics and hospitals that are relevant to you. The NHS would not turn you away if you do not have a fixed address, but it would make it very difficult for them to work towards resolving any health problem, and as a result they would probably just do the bare minimum to keep you going.

Some thoughts and conclusions

With all this in mind, then, it seems that it isn’t really possible — under current circumstances — to live a life free and independent of the UK’s structures. The country is too small and the laws are too restrictive.

It is possible under golden conditions (already owning a large part of meadowland and farmland yourself) to be somewhat off-grid, intermediate most of the time, completely off-grid some of the time.

Living off-grid may even be more expensive than living on the grid. As Stephen L. Wood said, remarking on nearly 50 years of independent lifestyle: “you will not have a monthly bill for water… but you will still get a propane billing”. At the end of the day, a cabin in the woods will only depreciate in value, not appreciate. But then again, surely part of the charm of off-grid living is to be completely rid of all of the intricacies and problems of modern-life.

—

This Author

Neil Wright is a copywriter and researcher. He has an interest in travel, science and the natural world, and has written extensively about off-grid living in the UK on his website.