Owning a caravan at a holiday park- Is it worth it?

sdoherty1000

My mum when I was younger had a caravan on a well known haven site, My question is....has any one any experience with this and is it worth while?

Kayalana99

Quite interesting I've wondered this myself but been told it's only worth it if you intend to use it yourself as well which personally I'd rather visit a lot of different places then keep going to the same one. (and yet I would have one in a heart beat if I could afford it haha)

I think the major problem is they have a 10 year shelf life (or something along them lines) and then they won't have them on the site anymore? I might be wrong but heard something like that.

C_Mababejive

I've looked at this and essentially, my view is that ist too expensive and a big con.

AFAIK there are two types of site licenses. Holiday and residential.

For many years sites with only a holiday licence have been bending the rules and allowing people to live there all year or at least for the greater part of the year,

Local authorities are starting to look at this and many people are being served with eviction notices.

They have often paid small fortunes for holiday homes/caravans/lodges,,call them what you like,,,to live in fooling themselves that its cheaper and under the misapprehension that they can live there.

Very often such sites are restrictive. You have to buy the "lodge" via the site owner who takes a cut. He has to have first refusal on sale/take 10% commission, you have to buy your gas and electric from him and follow his rules..repaint your shed every three years blah blah blah...

Holiday caravans,,well the same sorts of rules are often brought to bear..

sdoherty1000

The way I understand is, the holiday park can secure all bookings for the first 3 years at a hefty price might I add. When the 3 years are up you have to source your own holiday goers but with the power of facebook and the selling groups advertising shouldnt be a problem to keep it worth while.
I was hoping for someone in this position was able to offer some advice so I will keep an eye on this space.

Thanks for the comments so far

sdoherty1000

My mum had the caravan at primrose valley in Yorkshire which is where I would be looking at.

lincroft1710

Give Haven a ring and ask how much the annual pitch fee is at Primrose Valley, and don't take "it depends" as an answer.

grey_lady

Be careful, a friend of mine went from owning her own house outright to being bankrupt trying to do this as a business.

Mrsdee_3

I go to static caravans all over the country and rent both private caravans and also directly with the caravan site rentals. The advantage is I get to see a lot of the country, and I do not have any money worries after holiday payment is made.

First of all site/ground fees can be up to £2200 a year to cover maintainance of site.

Council tax is separate and is a percentage of the full cost of the caravan bought, which is then the sum paid annually. A new dear caravan has the highest council tax.

Technically you must vacate the static caravan for two months of the year, if it is not classed as a full time residency, like a kit home on wheels or a log cabin style, based in a residential section of the site.

Gas and electric bills are separate, and rentees will use as much fuel as they can. When I rent it either has a meter which is a bit miserly (I try to avoid this), or you pay a lump sum per week, say £30 to cover fuel.

Many rentees are not as considerate as myself, and will destroy or damage furnuiture. The carpets and flooring will be dirted beyond repair, and will require refurbishment on a frequent basis.
Taps, showers and toilets and electrical goods will require repair work.

Electrical items and sockets must be inspected with a PAT testing every year, and central heating boiler will also require servicing, and safety equipment like fire extingingers and CO2 alarm, and fire alarms must be tested and checked on a regular basis, at cost to third parties.

When you add it up, (and I have considered buying a static caravan at one time) it is just not worth it. Caravaning is expensive.

Plus if you do buy and when it fails, you give it up, your pride and joy is now worthless, and the site will buy it off you for next to nothing ,then they will refurbish it, and either sell it again to some other mugs or add it to their rentals.

The only reason to buy a static caravan on a specific site and the only way to keep it in good condition, is to use it for your own use on a regular basis, and hope you do not get fed up with visiting the one caravan site and area.

To buy for renting out and hopefully making cash out of it is a pipedream. The cons outweigh the pros.

C_Mababejive

I echo the comments in post #8

there are many people who sell their real homes to retire to such places and end up living in a nightmare.

lincroft1710

Mrsdee wrote: »

First of all site/ground fees can be up to £2200 a year to cover maintainance of site.

Some parks are much higher than that, I have seen some as much as £4,000.

SailorSam

My Nan & Grandad had caravans in Rhyl from when we were omly little, so every holiday was spent there. They got to much for her and my Nan gave them away to my Mum and Aunties. I suppose this must have been about the time when people first started going to Spain, so it was harder and harder to get bookings and the cost of keeping it exceeded what you could make. On top of that you needed to go over on a Saturday morning to clean it before it could be let again. Some people left it like a tip.