Thinking about buying a bus, for conversion

As above,to convert to a mobile travelling home, some are quite cheap about 6,000 quid, do i need a psv licence, if im not carrying farepaying passengers, can i use bus lanes,and where can i park it will it be allowed on camping sites.

Anyone got any experiences.

A friend runs a bus company. The ongoing maintenance costs make my eyes water – and that is with a relatively new fleet.

once converted get V5 ammended by DVLA as motorcaravan dont need PSV then.
cant use bus lanes as it will no longer be a bus.
campsites, Camping & caravanning club are fine, private sites and caravan club sites may turn you away.
until its converted and re-registered as motorcaravan your driving licence will have to cover you to drive it as its registered currently, be this on weight or passenger capacity.
it will cost a fortune,
buy one already done and save a fortune and loads of hassle if you must have one.
look at loads and expect rubbish fuel economy and expensive service bills and bits you cant get from your local car parts place.

You will not need a psv license but you will need a HGV licence unless its 7.5 tones or under and you passed your driving test before 1997.

The big one will be if you need an operators licence. You may not as you are not operating for profit, but the requirements for this are very expensive.

You got a pre 1997 silence? Otherwise you are limited to 3.5 tonne.

I think you would have to get the classification changed after taking the seats out to drive it without a psv license

You won’t need a PSV, but you will need to check the gross weight and your licence entitlement.

If you don’t have any additional qualifications and passed your test after 1997 you can only drive up to 3.5tonnes gross weight – this equates to a standard Transit or similar.

If you passed before 1997 you can drive up to 7.5t gross weight. Some buses may be below 7.5, a lot are significantly more.

I think you can have the vehicle reclassified by the DVLA to below 7.5t, so long as the unladen weight + everything you want to carry will be below this threshold…

Some of my friends have done the same thing. Drop me an email and I’ll see if they can give you a few pointers.

alaricdarmon@gmail.com

I think you would have to get the classification changed after taking the seats out to drive it without a psv license

I’m 90% sure you don’t need a psv if you’re not operating carrying passengers, a HGV will be fine.