Has anyone any experience of living in a Yurt long term?
  I will be relocating and one option I am considering is buying a bush or coastal block of land, with a view to building.  Apart from cost and ease of erection, I find the Yurt an intriguing concept.  I have owner-built conventional housing previously so am not put off by the actual building process.
Any comments will be eagerly received.
Karen.

Did 3 weeks in a normal sized Plains' Indian tipi here, but we're not really a yurt kind of people

I'll admit to always wanting one, but never had experience in one.  There's something about a nicely heated yurt (mine would be!) that makes me all giddy.

Your prospect sounds quite exciting!

I have lived in a "two room" tent for a couple of months.  And I think a yurt would be a little more sturdy.  I Googled "yurt" and found a site here in Oregon who makes them.  They look interesting.

LOL! I thought you were using slang here!

I like the way they look, I would totally live in a cozy yurt.

Sticking my nose in here ^.^:

Yurts are a great alt./green housing. There are tons of resources on google/youtube about living and what not in them. I think I've even found a few different places where it has instructions on how to construct them yourself.

I'm very into the tiny house/green movement, and a yurt is an awesome way to go. I will say that I don't personally have any experience in them, but, depending on where you're located at, they can be quite cozy. Best way to think of it is like a studio apartment.

What I did was I went out and got an older travel trailer, and stayed in that for a while. Thats also a great option, especially if you already have the land to put it on.

I have a couple of different sites that I'd be glad to share with you, if you're interested. Feel free to pm me, and I can message them to you

xo
Ali

We looked at living in a yert but the land is expensive in the UK also planning and such on thing I worried about was security. In the end we bought a narrowboat and have never looked back its Fab lived on it nearly 3 years and I'm building a new one for us

yurts are indeed awesome for living year around however there are some caveats

1) if in high wind/snow areas buy appropriate kits... they will make a huge difference in safety etc
2) if you have one on property where there are alot of neighbors and you go away for awhile, store it.. Where my aunt lives there was a family who had one left it unattended for a month while they went on vacation and returned to see the yurt had been stolen they had neighbors so to speak but many were weekend style and the setup was somewhat isolated. so keep in mind that ease of setup can also be a detriment as well.
3) definitely build a deck for it to sit upon rather than the bare ground, it will add significantly to the lifespan of your structure...
4) pacific yurts are the best in  many peoples opinions but also the pricest... look around and compare.. if you have a local one that is awesome as shipping alone can add several hundred to the cost. some yurts are designed to hook together thus making expansion easier.. most however you have to improvise.

hope that helps

Thanks everyone for the input. 
Blue Mountain Yurts here sell the Pacific Yurts product. They look good and seem to be a comprehensive kit of components, with lots of options.  I will have to see what the council where I will probably be  building have to say.  They have a policy of favouring caravans over sheds for living on site while building, so don't know how they will view a yurt.
Here, the locals can live in a properly fitted out shed temporarily, because the Council think caravans make the place look trashy. Go figure!
I will post when I finally catch me a yurt, and see what they are like personally.
Karen.

Solar Electricity?

I am looking at relocating to Tasmania. All their electricity comes from hydo, so solar panels would be a bad choice environmentally. They would have to be imported.
Kaz.

well, pacific yurts look very nice so one way you may get approval is show the council pictures of the yurts set up.  that may make them go ok that works.. I do understand where they may be coming from as I work with the homeless here in the us and have seen some really grungy looking campsites and also camps on properties the person use that just look disgusting... as they say a picture says a 1000 words.  and if the pacific yurt catalog is anything like it used to be when i had one.. omg they have some setups that are sweeeet.

im attempting to create a yurt of my own from.... whatever i can get away with.

thusfar, i am trying to rig up a more decent roof ring from little wooden sign posts, like from political runner signs and such, or garage sale this way signs. The last rig-up was a ring of some sort of perforated metal strip, bolted into a hoop with copper wire. obviously, it didn't really stay round for very long.

i also rigged up most of a doorframe, which in design principle is pretty cool, but im unsatisfied with the 3rd hand warped and misshapen trashwood that ive used it for.

i refuse to believe that an even halfway decent yurt costs as much as a car, but as a poor person, i can tell you that any element of a yurt, done at all properly, still costs quite a pretty penny in tools and workshop space, if not also in starting materials.