A COUPLE are converting a double decker bus into a home in a bid to escape their £1,200 a month rent.

Alice Keeler and Xavier Gstrein have been renting a one-bedroom flat in Brighton for two years.

Put off buying a house by "extortionate" prices, the pair have bought a £9,000 bus which they plan to renovate into a home.

“Brighton is great - we have a lovely little garden and small kitchen - but it’s just expensive,” Alice said.

“We are currently paying £1,200 a month, which is pretty reasonable if you think about it. But we were looking at buying a place – bearing in mind we are not on the worst wages in the world – and we swiftly realised purchasing somewhere in the Brighton and Hove area is just extortionate.”

The Argus: Alice Keeler and Xavier Gstrein have bought a bus to escape paying £1.2K a month rent Alice Keeler and Xavier Gstrein have bought a bus to escape paying £1.2K a month rent

Alice, 30, and Xavier, 29, believe the complete conversion of the bus will cost around £20,000, including solar panels, an eco-friendly log burner and a compost toilet.

They say they will save money by living off grid in the bus, which they have named Baloo.

“The idea is to get off the grid, be rent free and have more freedom,” Alice, a speech and language therapist, said.

"Our bus will be powered by solar, and we hope to grow our own veg patch, hopefully with the knock-on effect of being more conscious of how much food we waste and also eating more seasonally.

"We will get quicker access to nature in order to live a slower paced life and appreciate the things that are free for us and on our doorstep.

"Also, more freedom to continue our love of travel by either basing ourselves somewhere else with the bus or renting it out while we are away on adventures.

"It's brilliant to repurpose a used bus that may have otherwise been scrapped and Xavier and I are learning new skills together and learning things about ourselves along the way".

The Argus: The couple purchased the bus online from Northern Island earlier this year The couple purchased the bus online from Northern Island earlier this year

Alice and Xavier, a nuclear medicine technologist and radiographer, bought the 2003 model bus online from Northern Ireland earlier this year.

Using their savings and monthly salaries, they plan to convert the top deck into a space for two bedrooms, as well as a lounge area.

The bottom deck will be a kitchen, bathroom and sitting area.

Alice says they plan to buy second-hand furnishings, as they are not only "cheaper" but give a "quirky" feel.

She said the advantages of buying a bus compared to investing in the conventional housing market are "endless".

"It's far more economical than taking out a loan for a mortgage to buy and being in debt for many years,” she said.