Close to the iconic Clifton Suspension Bridge and on the doorstep of some of Bristol’s most expensive properties – including a house that recently sold for more than £4m – lives Britain’s biggest van-dwelling community. Nicknamed “caravan city”, there are 800 people living in mobile homes and vans, including many parked alongside the Downs, the 210 acres of greenery fringed by such sought-after residential areas as Clifton, Sneyd Park and Redland. A minority choose van-living for the lifestyle, but most do it out of necessity. They are unable to afford to live in a city where rents are the second highest in the country after London and house prices have risen by 25pc since 2019 to an average of nearly £350,000, according to Hamptons estate agency. Rupert Oliver – the estate agent behind the £4m-plus sale, which was one of three off-market sales he handled last year with a combined value of £10m – routinely deals with the other extreme. Buyers with multi-million pound budgets who want a classic townhouse in upmarket Clifton within walking distance of “the College”. That’s Clifton College, the turreted public school that charges up to £16,300 a term. In recent years, many of Bristol’s high-end...