Residential lodges - anyone done it?

hethmar

I was just toying with the idea - but grateful for any input.

Coming up to retirement, were thinking of down sizing and spending the money before its too late And I was wondering about these scandanavian type lodges that you can buy in lovely country/seaside locations. I know some of them in theory have only 11 months a year you can live there but well if you have a lot of dosh released from your house you can certainly live elsewhere or holiday for that month cant you.

I guess all maintenance would be down to the park owners so apart from your own plot you could enjoy the area without a lot of hard work. And how long are the leases on these lodges.

Would it feel like you have given up everything? I mean would it feel like a trailer park and that you had lost your status? I really dont know.

So clearly I have no idea about the pros and cons. Does anyone have any experience or input.

mynameisdave

Never done it, but looked at the cost. I am sure some of these would be suitable all year round and if you could get a nice plot of land you could self build and avoid the park home feel.

http://www.scrapbookscrapbook.com/DAC-ART/modular-kit-houses.html

puddy

but you are still at the mercy of the parkholders rules and regulations, and if they insist you change your lodge, or put up prices or are told you cant sell it to someone you're stuck

hethmar

Yes you would have to look into all the legal stuff. I dont think they could insist you changed lodge, you actually buy it. You mean put up maintenance charges?

Its a thought though , as the ones I was looking at in Devon are giving 6% income as holiday homes - you could always buy ahead and then move in when you retired?

hethmar

Ah, just found this on google

Any park offering you a lodge to live in for 11 months has a holiday license only and you will be required to produce evidence each year, that you are using your lodge as a second home and that your primary residence is elsewhere. Holiday Home owners must be registered and paying Council Tax at an alternative address

puddy

hethmar wrote: »

Yes you would have to look into all the legal stuff. I dont think they could insist you changed lodge, you actually buy it. You mean put up maintenance charges?

Its a thought though , as the ones I was looking at in Devon are giving 6% income as holiday homes - you could always buy ahead and then move in when you retired?

i only know that you also buy static homes, mobile homes and sometimes the park owners have a clause which states you cant have a mobile home on their site which is over 5 or 8 years old or something, so you have to upgrade to be able to keep it there

i suppose it might be different with alodge because they're not mobile

lincroft1710

Hethmar - if you are thinking of Devon, try Pathfinder Village, Tedburn St Mary, Exeter. It will probably be expensive as it is one of (if not the) best parks in the country and it is a proper mobile home park, licensed for permanent residential living and established for well over 50 years.

McKneff

I don't know where you are in the country but there is a residential one just outside York on the Hull Road,
Lodges only, no mobile homes etc at all

PasturesNew

Generally, the lodges cost a fortune. You are on a limited time lease (10 or 12 years). At the end of that time it's demolished and they put a new shiny one on and sell it to the next punter.

Site fees can be £1500-3000/year. You still have the lodge bills to pay, including maintenance.

Site rules vary from site to site. Some will insist on you providing evidence every year that you have a main home, some will not let you stay more than X nights/weeks in a row.

I specifically went to one local site to settle an argument with facts. I kept getting into the same discussion about some woman at the coop that lives in one and moves out to her mate's when it shuts down (hinting that I should go and buy one). So I went for the facts.

On this particular site, it worked out:
- pay £30k (smallest one)
- 10 year lease
- £3000/year site fees
- you could stay in that one 11 months of the year, but have to move out in the 12th as they turn the electricity/water off.
- you can rent them out to other people

So, it would cost £6k/year to live there for 10 years. Then you own nothing. Might as well rent from somebody else on a whim.

PasturesNew

Oh - also - the lodges tend to be a lot more expensive.... typically £100-200k round my way

PasturesNew

Here are the ones near me.
http://homes.trovit.co.uk/index.php/cod.search_homes/type.1/what_d.retallack%20resort%20cornwall/
£199-260k

Or this sort for £40k
http://www.homes24.co.uk/doc.html?_a=view&id=1244554
(Some problem with that site I think recently, went into administration ... or it might have been their neighbour... so many parks/sites, many similar names)