Caravan - permenant accomodation?!

mum2one

As your parents have permission for 2 caravans, is it still in date, dont know how long planning permission stays in p,ace for.
On the plus side as there is already a caravan in site, you could argue that a prescendant been set if the planning was refused. Also if you want it a distance away, you have to account for all the utilities.

Sorry to put a damperner on the value aspect, but if you buy the van now its 3 yrs old, 13k, keep it for 4 years, it wont gain in value, they do lose a lot of money. Also if its a 12ft or wider then you need a van as well for support saying wide load.

Sorry, if it appears Im being negative, just rather look at both sides of the coin.

My Aunty and Uncle live in a mobile home, there on a resenditial site on a old farm, they brought up 2 children, in a small 3 bed caravan, as well as an array of dogs and cats over the years. At one point, when my cousins were young, they had 5 cats, an alasatian dog and a great dane. So if they can do it..... you and hubby, walk in the park. xx

PasturesNew

I've lived in one, that was on a site.

There are a few issues here that I see:
- For a personal loan you'd still need a deposit. It used to be 20% for a mobile home. Have you checked you can actually get a loan, or have you just read adverts?
- It will need FULL residential planning permission. Any caravans currently in place might have planning permission for holiday/occasional use only and the planning might have lapsed/be close to lapsing.
- If you aren't going to site the caravan in the same spot as an existing one, then you'd probably need to check if you'd need a new planning permission for a new position.
- If the new caravan isn't in the same spot as the existing one/s then you would need to find out the cost of getting services to it: electricity, water in, sewage out.
- If the existing caravans had full residential planning permission, then they'd be liable for council tax, so if they're just sat there I doubt they have residential planning permission or council tax would have been due on both, which would have prompted them to be let out or removed by now probably.

For living in, a mobile home is no different to a house. It's all about the space you get. Issues I found were:
- water pipes freezing in winter
- having to change gas bottles when it was wet/cold/windy/dark in the winter
- you have to ensure the caravan you get is a residential one. Holiday caravans have much less insulation in them, so they're cold in the winter months; residential ones have a much higher set of regulations for build/insulation than holiday caravans.
- you might need a low loader, and possibly a police escort, to get the van onto the site. So you'd need to check this - and the cost. I remember the cost being up to £5k nearly 20 years ago. It will depend on the size.

seven-day-weekend

I was brought up in one and also lived in one for the first year of my married life and I personally would think it is a very good start and much better than private renting.

Two important things, which both have already been mentioned: make sure you get a proper residential unit and you almost certainly would have to re-apply for the Planning Permission.

dopester

Whilst it isn't a major cost, considering the other costs you would be saving, I suspect councils might try and hit you with council tax.

If you own caravans or mobile homes – if you live permanently in a caravan or mobile home you will pay the council tax. People who have a fixed caravan as a holiday home will pay business rate. Towing caravans kept at your home will not be subject to either council tax or business rate

I can see this way of life catching on, as people look to reduce costs, people lose homes, or people find they have to move around the country for work, and having the freedom to fully move when areas decline in the recession. The cost savings of basic but comfortable shelter could be IMMENSE compared to renting or buying. We might give up bricks and mortar altogether.

Interesting info from others, and PasturesNew above though about actually living in one permanently.

Some of them really do look homely, and I particularly like the Airstream Europe models. (The Caravan Club - Caravan Design Awards 2008 - CLASS WINNER)



Additional Info: Although topline models are probably more prone to getting stolen, and Airstreams are at least x2 price of equivalent "white box" near equivalent premium model.

Debt_Free_Chick

Check the planning permission very, very carefully.

Has permission been given for occupation of the caravan 365 days of the year?

And has permission been given for permanent siting of the caravans? Or just temporary. Permanent would be very unusual - temporary is more likely, especially if the application related to siting caravans on land whilst development was to be carried out e.g. whilst a house is being built/renovated.

You need to see the letter that the planning authority issued and read each word carefully. Post here if you're not sure about what it means.

Staciep88

guppy: yes i do understand that but it is in a large field where no1 can see so I'm hoping they wont object.

angelatgraceland: I have a 20k deposit that my parents have kindly agreed to give me and they don't want me to spend that on a caravan as some2 else has said they do go down alot in value. No, I want to wait for abit before I go comitting to a house and mortgage - Im only 19.

mum2one: yes i understand that the value will go down alot but thats the same with everything really - It's still cheap living for 5 years, very cheap. Also with my dads business it wont be problem transporting the thing.

pasturesnew: I have a deposit that I can use for a caravan (different deposit than other mentioned before) and yes I can get the loan, paying a lot less each month than we would be on rent. The other caravan that is there now does have full residential planning permission. OH father has already plumbed in the other caravan with electric water etc etc so he would be the one to do this again at no cost. And they other caravan is liable for council tax. The caravan that we have picked is a double glazed central heated one so it should be nice and cosy in the winter months. As mentioned above due to my fathers business transporting the unit would be no problem.

seven-day-weekend: thank you, its lovely to hear that it can work out

dopester: yes, thats how Im trying to think of it. and that one does look lovely but i had my eye on a static caravan really.

debt_free_chick: thanks, yes the current caravan does have permentant planning permission and qualifies for council tax etc etc. Thank you, I will look into doing that letter later today.

Thank you everyone for your comments so far

teeni

caravans are often purchased by rental purchase agreement which is a bit like higher purchase in that it is not yours until the final payment is made. Benefit of this is that if you were to become unemployed the payments are covered by housing benefit where loan repayments would would not be.

The council tax banding for a mobile home is always tax band a

My friend lived in amobile home for two years with twins who were born just after they moved in and they coped very well quite cosy really,

Teeni.

guppy

teeni wrote: »

The council tax banding for a mobile home is always tax band a

Sorry but that's a bit of a myth, some of the ones on nice parks in the South East go up to Band C! :eek: If you could get planning for a mobile, how about for a nice log cabin instead?

teeni

guppy wrote: »

Sorry but that's a bit of a myth, some of the ones on nice parks in the South East go up to Band C! :eek: If you could get planning for a mobile, how about for a nice log cabin instead?

in my area they are always band a I didn't mean to misinform should have realised that different authorities have different rules. sorry

guppy

teeni wrote: »

in my area they are always band a I didn't mean to misinform should have realised that different authorities have different rules. sorry

Just didn't want the OP getting a nasty shock Some of the new double width mobiles are rather luxurious...en-suites, "dressing rooms" and studies...surely its only a matter of time before a two storey model is released?