I was homeless so I carved myself a cave & now I live on £400 a YEAR – but major flaw means most people couldn’t hack it

A HOMELESS man carved himself a cave and now lives on just £400 a year – but he claims a major flaw means most people couldn’t hack it.

Known as “Little John”, the bloke found his rocky new home on the outskirts of Outram, New Zealand, over a decade ago.

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The 57-year-old revealed how he regularly hops on rides between Outram and Mosgiel, where he picks up food parcels to survive on.

“I’m not living off the land, I’m just living in the land because it is a beautiful place to be,” he told Stuff.

His cave is a small opening under a large rock which gives him the room to lay down his sleeping bag on a mattress of ferns.

On cooler nights, John uses another sleeping bag and wears thicker clothing.

Above his head, he hangs an old kerosene lamp, a cooking cup, and a drinking cup and keeps a small box of matches nestled away in a corner.

On one end of the cave, John has the space to light a fire and has a fresh pool of drinking water near where he lays his head to sleep.

The other end of the cave has a small rock wall that keeps the chilly air out of his home.

But John revealed one major flaw in his tiny-home living that would put most people off.

A public flush toilet is a “hike” away from his cave, meaning he often uses the bushes as makeshift loos.

For cooking hot meals, John built an earth oven made from clay near a picnic spot he made for the rare walker who used the track.

Human visitors are few and far between, but a local policeman checks on him occasionally, and he gets regular rides from locals into other towns.

He also admitted that the local streams are too cold to take a bath in, but he luckily has a few friends who let him use their shower when he wants one.

John only pays £400 a year to live his cave life and relies on charity, food donations, and the occasional odd job to help him get by.

But although he’s thriving while frugal living, he said he doesn’t recommend it to everyone.

“I don’t think other people could hack it,” he said.

This comes after a couple turned a cave into a family home – but say a “lot of hard work” went into banishing bad smells.

Bryant and Amy Gingerich built a luxury 1,500sq ft cave home for their family of five – but have to fend off dripping ceilings and an “earthy” atmosphere.

Another couple turned a cave into their dream home after purchasing it for only £1.

After being denied a loan from ten banks, Alexia Lamoreux and Lotte van Riel decided to work for three years to make the money needed to renovate the unique property.

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