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Difficult question due to the budget and requirements for reasonable economy. As has been said, Jap MPV could be a good choice but for the fact that at this budget, most are going to have an engine of 3.0 litres plus. And while 30mpg is certainly possible in something like an Elgrand, the actual average is going to be more like 20mpg. You can get into a smaller, 2.0 Jap MPV for £5k, but the choice is going to limited to the odd Toyota Voxy or Honda Stepwagon. Most in this sort of size range are more like £7k plus.
I like the van conversion option myself as i enjoy a bit of DIY, and with self contained 'units' (fridge, hob, sink, maybe a little worktop and some storage underneath) being available for conversions, as long as you don't need all the mod cons, needn't be too hard or expensive. But buying vans at this sort of price range is very much a hit or a miss. They are working vehicles after all and most are treated as such, so a the average £5k van is going to have lead a very hard life. You may get lucky and find something owned privately, or by a small firm that looks after them but you could spend plenty of time looking at tat beforehand!. On the plus side, you would likely get much better economy, even from a Transit sized van. When i first started cleaning windows i had a SWB high roof Iveco Daily which (despite being a SWB) was a big, heavy and chunky thing with a 2.3 turbo diesel and the aerodynamics of a barn. My average mpg, which consisted of driving to wherever i was working (30ishmiles at most each way) on single carriageway A and B roads, then stop start for the rest of the day going from house to house, was 29mpg. Given my useage, i have no doubt that spending more time at a cruising speed would result in more like 35mpg. Without the high roof and a lighter van to start with (the Iveco had a very heavy duty chassis compared to other vans of a similar size) should get to 40mpg without too much difficulty.
The other possibility i looked at was a camper van. These can be very expensive indeed though, even for old and not very desirable stuff. I did find an option which could work though, assuming you don't mind the looks and the general lack of performance, the Citroen C15 Romahome!. There are a surprising amount of these things still kicking about, probably by dint of the owners being much more fastidious on servicing and maintenence than most van or car drivers. Small enough to park in a normal sized space, not too bad on the open road with the 'pop top' in the retracted position (for less wind resistance(!)). But when you park up, get the top up, and you have plenty of standing room. Some do go for more than £5k, but most are under. As i said though, you won't be going anywhere in a hurrry, not with something like 60-65bhp on tap. But they do say patience is a virtue, and the engine is nigh on indestructable with the mechanical complexity of a knife and fork. Here is one i found on Ebay,
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1999-Citroen-C15-Romahome-Hydro...7
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