Sharon Cocks lives in her home on wheels called Purple Reign with her husband Peter in Napier. Photo / Warren Buckland
Sharon Cocks lives in her home on wheels called Purple Reign with her husband Peter in Napier. Photo / Warren Buckland
Sharon and Peter Cocks' home in Hawke's Bay is unlike the norm - it's movable - and a trend that seems to be growing, according to Sharon.
The couple bought their house on wheels, called Purple Reign, on Trademe more than two years ago.
They ditched their house and mortgagein south Otago four years ago, buying a converted bus and then realising it had next to no character before finding Purple Reign.
Cocks said she and her husband wanted a forever home but without a mortgage.
"We just didn't want to have the debt, it was like a noose," she said.
"We took a mortgage on later in life and we were facing still having mortgage payments even after retirement - which we're five years away from now."
Sharon Cocks said her home Purple Reign has everything needed to survive comfortably. Photo / Warren Buckland
Cocks said she loves her Purple Reign and would never part with her and has everything people need to survive comfortably – cooking appliances, a fully equipped bathroom, a fireplace, TV, solar panels, lots of storage, a spare single bed and their double bed.
"Generalising, people have equated success with possessions and people have houses and properties that they have to have two jobs to maintain or pay off," she said.
"This is a way of affordably being able to have your own home."
Peter and Sharon's house was stationed on Waimarama Rd through lockdown until the end of October last year – they spent most of their time during lockdown updating the motor home.
"The house on the truck is around about 22 years old, the truck is 42 years old - truck was always in good mechanical condition but the house was beginning deteriorate," she said.
Purple Reign is now parked in Meeanee for the foreseeable future, Cocks said, while she is looking for work and her husband is driving trucks.
"The plan is to make her our retirement home on a bit of land one day," Cocks added.
Sharon Cocks bought her home on wheels with husband Peter to live mortgage and debt-free life. Photo / Warren Buckland
Chelsea Richards and her family from Hastings also live in a tiny home on wheels they built themselves.
"After New Zealand went into lockdown due to Covid and our lives and business were put on hold, we used that time to reflect on what we want for our family and our business," Richards said.
"We gave up the property we were renting and moved in with family while we built."
Richards said just as they were finishing the build their business picked up and they found a place to set up their tiny lifestyle.
"The thing I love about our tiny home other than we built it our way, ourselves, together is the extra time it has given us as a family," she said, "Being small we have to keep it tidy - less stuff means we appreciate what we have."
Richards added: "We spend more time outside kicking the ball with our son and dog than on the couch watching TV."
