Holiday home/ static caravan - does your family have one? Do you love it/ regret it?

marie-20

We have one and have done for about 18 months and we love it.

Both my Dad and Grandad have one (my in-laws did for about 3 years until they kept upgrading to the point that they could no longer afford one) so it's something that both me and OH grow up going to.

I work ridiculous hours during the week but come 3.15 on a Friday I am out of the door, in the car and on our way over here and then we set off back home at around 8pm on Sunday. If we didn't come then I would end up going down to work and working all weekend like I did before we got it.

It is our time to spend as a family and just to chill out - I do still work when we are here but it is as and when I want rather than continuously.

Our ground rent is around £2,700 pa and includes water rates but we are on a 12 month site - if we had stayed in the 11 month part of the site the ground rent was £2,500 but we have metered gas here and loads of room rather than bottled gas and close together as per the rest of the site.

Our site is on the East Coast we have a swimming pool (which me and the kids use at least once per weekend), gym, a park, restaurant, club & pub, amusements, etc - no it's not a Park Resorts/Haven site - we did look at them but their ground rent was anywhere from £3K + £300 water rates up to £5,500 + water rates which is just ridiculous.

We come pretty much every weekend and both of the elder kids have their own friends onsite and also make friends with the holidaymakers. During the hols I will have long weekends here and my OH, my bro (OH's carer as well as me IYKWIM) and kids all stay for at least a week out of 2 and 3 weeks during the summer.

A lot of people onsite do let their caravans out but it's not something that I would like to do as I like to come frequently and have all of our things be out and it all to be clean and tidy however I guess it does cut down the cost of owning one quite a bit.

A static caravan is never going to increase in value and is going to cost you money in the long run so it's down to personal choice of whether it works for you or not and how often you will be able to use it however if you know that it's going to be financially tight to own one then don't because it may be something that you will regret especially as most people seem to forget to factor in the fuel costs involved which are around £30 p/w for us.

beautybutterfly

We have a static caravan at filey, it's shared between the family and provides hours of fun for the kids and chill out time for adults. Would highly recommend one, what is suggest though is renting one on a campsite you'd like to buy one on to see if you like it.

seven-day-weekend

We have considered one since we retired but have decided against it as we like to go to different places (and the site fees cost a fortune!).

I think they can be good if you have small children. When our son was small we went camping, which was ideal as we could go to different places, it was cheap and there was the freedom for the children that you don't get in hotels or self-catering accommodation.

Now though, I think we'll just rent somewhere. We have a cottage near Bath for a week with some cousins in September. Looking forward to it!

Spendless

My grandparents owned a static caravan when I was a child. It was on a site, but one more liked Jody describes, where it was just a field, with nothing on it, but really close to all amenities. 2 roads away from the beach, near pubs that had family rooms, and amusement arcades etc.

As a child, I loved it and my parents must have been grateful for being able to fill school holidays up with things for us to do so cheaply.

By the time I was in my last years of school, I was fed up of going. My mates were all home during the hols and I was missing out on being with them. A Sat job, a boyfriend and later f-time work meant I went for the last time when I was 16.

My grandparents funded the costs by renting out but only to people she knew. Grandmother is one of 11 children, so had plenty of family wanting to use it.

As my sister got to around adulthood and stopped going in the same way I had. My grandparents sold the caravan. They were becoming older, less people were wanting to go and they were coming up the time when their van needed replacing with a newer model as per site rules.

I know there's been a lot of posts re caravans, but you've said a chalet which doesn't seem to come with a lot os the issues raised, from what you've said. I'd say you've got about 10-15 years before your children are teens and perhaps more reluctant to want to come with you any more.

beedeedee

We kept a caravan on a site in Spain for years. It was only a small tourer, but it was great to have one there. You can have a "permanent" pitch, where you stay on the same pitch and pay per year, or as we did, kept the van in storage on site and had it pulled out as and when we needed it. Also, if we drove down, we could hook up and travel to other sites and countries as we wished. Thinking of doing it again for the winters, if they continue to be as cold here as the last few!

osian

Thanks for all the replies. We went down to see the site and the chalet (just a look from the outside) over the weekend.

Unfortunately it wasn't for us at this current time. We used to love walking on the coastal path before we had children, but the path near the site is narrow and steep in parts so we'll have to wait a few years til the baby is older and can walk sensibly near the cliffs/ without a pram. My eldest is four and I'd trust her to be sensible so maybe we'll come back to the idea in about 3 years.

I like the idea of buying a caravan/ motorhome and storing it in a particular location. I sometimes see campervans (older cheaper ones) so that could be an idea. Not sure if my husband is that keen on it though! My parents had a motorhome when I was in my mid/late teens, but by then I was too old to enjoy it that much. It was fun though.

notanewuser

My parents had a chalet on a beachside camp for about 15 years. It was about 90 minutes from home, with loads for us kids and the dogs to do. There were quite a few owners so we used to have somebody looking out for us and the chalet when we weren't there. Used to go most weekends between whitsun and october and most of the school holidays too. It was great.

They sold it when the charges started rising to ridiculous levels and we weren't using it so much. Made a fair bit of money on it.

DH's parents had a static caravan on a site about 2 hours from their home when they were growing up. Similar story - site costs and requirements to replace caravans of a certain age made it not worth doing once the kids had grown up. They sold at a massive loss.

I know which I'd consider doing.

amus

I think things like this are all down to preference. If you don't mind the unpredictable British weather and don't mind paying a lot to go back to the same place then it would be a good idea, otherwise i think it's a massive waste of money.

MIL and FIL seem to spend a fortune on caravans which depreciate very quickly. Add to that the fact you need a bigger car, need to pay site fees every time you visit somewhere, storage and fuel also and it's not cheap at all. That combined with the fact you're more likely to end up in a soggy wet field means it completely baffles me why anyone would want to do it. Personally, I'd rather go on 3 nice holidays a year to different places (which I reckon could easily be done for what it costs to buy and maintain a caravan/holiday home).


Each to their own.

Gloomendoom

amus wrote: »

I think things like this are all down to preference. If you don't mind the unpredictable British weather and don't mind paying a lot to go back to the same place then it would be a good idea, otherwise i think it's a massive waste of money.

MIL and FIL seem to spend a fortune on caravans which depreciate very quickly. Add to that the fact you need a bigger car, need to pay site fees every time you visit somewhere, storage and fuel also and it's not cheap at all. That combined with the fact you're more likely to end up in a soggy wet field means it completely baffles me why anyone would want to do it. Personally, I'd rather go on 3 nice holidays a year to different places (which I reckon could easily be done for what it costs to buy and maintain a caravan/holiday home).

Each to their own.

I reckon you'd struggle in what it costs us to keep our static caravan.

£225 per year (including depreciation)

amus

Gloomendoom wrote: »

I reckon you'd struggle in what it costs us to keep our static caravan.

£225 per year (including depreciation)

Yeah maybe if its an older caravan without the mod cons and you don't have to pay massive site fees.


In all fairness though I think it would cost a lot more than that to buy a holiday home/caravan for most people, unless you went for a pretty old caravan and already had means to store it/tow it.