Any caravan owners?

shegirl

I'm tempted to use part of my inheritance on a caravan on a Haven park. I'd probably go for the deposit and finance option rather than shelling right out for one!


Anyway, I'd want to be renting it out most of the season with a couple of breaks built in for me and ds.


The big question is though,is whether it is really worth it and whether there is any money really coming in on it. Enough to cover site fees plus a little extra would be handy


At present me and ds have been holidaying on the same park for years and I could probably have bought a caravan with the amount we've spent over the years tbh! And I know it would technically end up as a free holiday,if I was to go ahead. But it seems a bit weird to spend the money out if getting nothing but a free holiday in return.


So, any experiences?

arbroath_lass

I'd be asking lots of questions, you hear so many bad things about ownership. How old is the caravan, how long can you keep it on site, what are the site fees, do they take the bookings, how much do you get if it is a Sun voucher holiday and so on? It's a very expensive way to holiday.

shegirl

arbroath_lass wrote: »

I'd be asking lots of questions, you hear so many bad things about ownership. How old is the caravan, how long can you keep it on site, what are the site fees, do they take the bookings, how much do you get if it is a Sun voucher holiday and so on? It's a very expensive way to holiday.

The opinions seem to vary. It seems it largely depends on how often you holiday yourself and whether you let it out directly through the park or yourself.


The first years site fees are included in the price,which isn't so bad. It's just whether it's really worth it long term. We could holiday in it and there would be the possibility of occasionally using it for respite purposes for ds,with a couple of carers (should we find ones good enough when he's older!) but unless site fees etc could be recouped,with a little on top, it wouldn't particularly be worth it

[Deleted User]

Be careful of the scam where a new owner buys the site and then terrorises the tenants or vetos sales, so that the caravans are worthless, and their only escape is then to sell to the owner for a pittance.

forgotmyname

Why pay interest on the finance if you have the funds?

Do you live close to the park in case someone reports a fault and wants it fixed now.

Potential is there but its fairly risky.

Site fees, Water rates, Gas & electric charges. It all adds up.

Traceyg

My parents have a caravan but not on a Haven site (they don't rent either as they spend summer down in it) Like the others have said you have to take into consideration how old the caravan is before you have to move it off site, site fees, water rates, electricity rates, gas safety check every year plus you will need to buy a tv licence if you are renting it out as yours will only cover you for your own personal use.

Also if you are renting out I wouldn't buy a brand new caravan, I have seen and heard horror stories of people who have rented out and its been left in a terrible mess and in some cases smashed up (I'm not trying to put you off!!)

It is nice though as we use my parents and it's great to get away for a break.

artichoke

why not join the Haven Owners forum and ask owners at the site you want to buy at what their experience is?

There is a forum for each site and this question comes up regularly so if you search you will find loads of advice ..

http://www.havenownersforum.co.uk/forum2008/

art

Charityworker

Hi there. I own a caravan on a Park Resorts site and I've had it nearly 4 years. The ownership is about the same as haven.

The site fees are roughly £3500 per year and then on top of that you have the electric (about £250 per year), gas (about £280 per year), insurance (£200 per year), gas and electric safety check what you have to have if your going to let it out (£90 per year), business rates and water rates (£500 per year).

During an august week you can let it out for £400 per week but the hard to let weeks (may, september and october) you have to sell them for £100 or dont sell them at all. I spend 2 weeks a year and the odd weekend in my caravan.

Last year I made a profit of £6 on the caravan (whoo hoo!) but it did enable me to own a caravan for nothing. This year I think I'll make about £100 profit.

I do the lettings myself which means that I do all the advertising, the admin and the cleaning which means going there every saturday to clean it inbetween lets. You can let it out through the site. I did that the first year I had it and lets just say the clientèle isnt very good. I've heard its worse from Haven. The first year there was a lot of damage and things went missing from the caravan including the TV (!!!), 6 doormats, 2 bathroom blinds, 2 frying pans and duvets. When this happens the site charge you to replace them, even though its their customer that did it. Since I've been letting it out myself nothing has gone missing.

If you want any more info let me know.

shegirl

Charityworker wrote: »

Hi there. I own a caravan on a Park Resorts site and I've had it nearly 4 years. The ownership is about the same as haven.

The site fees are roughly £3500 per year and then on top of that you have the electric (about £250 per year), gas (about £280 per year), insurance (£200 per year), gas and electric safety check what you have to have if your going to let it out (£90 per year), business rates and water rates (£500 per year).

During an august week you can let it out for £400 per week but the hard to let weeks (may, september and october) you have to sell them for £100 or dont sell them at all. I spend 2 weeks a year and the odd weekend in my caravan.

Last year I made a profit of £6 on the caravan (whoo hoo!) but it did enable me to own a caravan for nothing. This year I think I'll make about £100 profit.

I do the lettings myself which means that I do all the advertising, the admin and the cleaning which means going there every saturday to clean it inbetween lets. You can let it out through the site. I did that the first year I had it and lets just say the clientèle isnt very good. I've heard its worse from Haven. The first year there was a lot of damage and things went missing from the caravan including the TV (!!!), 6 doormats, 2 bathroom blinds, 2 frying pans and duvets. When this happens the site charge you to replace them, even though its their customer that did it. Since I've been letting it out myself nothing has gone missing.

If you want any more info let me know.

Why so cheap on the lettings though? I could never hire a caravan at Haven for £400 a week during august,or many other months,if at all!

Charityworker

shegirl wrote: »

Why so cheap on the lettings though? I could never hire a caravan at Haven for £400 a week during august,or many other months,if at all!

That's in line with other privately let 2 bedroomed gold star caravans on the site. You can get a little more if you have a 3 bedroomed. You can't charge more than other privately let caravans in the same area otherwise people will always go for the cheapest one.

ThumbRemote

Charityworker wrote: »

Last year I made a profit of £6 on the caravan (whoo hoo!) but it did enable me to own a caravan for nothing. This year I think I'll make about £100 profit.

But presumably you didn't own a caravan for nothing. If it cost £20k to buy and has a lifespan of around 10 years, it cost you 2k this year. Obviously adjust the figures accordingly.

The only reasons I can see for anyone wanting to own a static van are the convenience of being able to go at the drop of a hat, being able to spend significant amounts of time there, or wanting your own van that no-one else uses. All of those are negated if you're going to let it out. Otherwise you're just paying through the nose for a massively overpriced van, huge site fees and any other costs they can throw at you.