Holiday Property Bonds

eddddy

Gselby wrote: »

... just a way to ensure them and the family can enjoy holidays in the coming years and plan to pass to me and my sis upon their deaths...

That's scarily similar to what people said about timeshares in the 1980s.

People signed contracts that committed them (or their heirs) to paying fees in perpetuity. The timeshares became unsaleable, so the only way out was to go bankrupt, or their estate to go bankrupt, or their heirs to go bankrupt.

mrginge

eddddy wrote: »

That's scarily similar to what people said about timeshares in the 1980s.

People signed contracts that committed them (or their heirs) to paying fees in perpetuity. The timeshares became unsaleable, so the only way out was to go bankrupt, or their estate to go bankrupt, or their heirs to go bankrupt.

Hpb doesnt work that way.

££sc££

Just an anecdote, we met a couple stating in Yorkshire one dreary November as they needed to use up their points. They didn't particularly want to go there. But I quite liked sound of scheme. Once you've invested, basically a free holiday. But then they said they had to pay a £300 service charge go the hotel. So they'd paid inital investment, and then £300 to go on a free holiday they didn't want to go on. Sounded rubbish

Seronera

I've been a member of HPB since 1987. Its one of the best things I ever did, bearing in mind it really was a risky new venture when I put my money in, and I knew it. The bond has now prospered for over 30 years and has over 55,000 members so is very much part of the holiday scenery these days...and no..I don't call it an 'investment' in the classic sense either, but it is an investment in quality holidays, and as such its not 'cheap' as holidays go, in any sense of the word. I do however think it has been excellent value for me over the longer term.

As usual on these forums lots of people comment who know zilch about the way HPB works. Its extremely rare to meet an unhappy bondholder however, and most are from the professional classes who have a penchant for examining small print in detail...me? I'm a heating engineer by trade. To most members its having access to nice properties in beautiful places without the hassle of maintenance. I've run my own holiday cottage in the past and its a pain half the time !

The usual things apply in my view for anybody looking at HPB. Get the Blurb from head office, don't put vast amounts of money into it, read the small print, ask lots of questions about how the charges and points systems work...it takes time to get your head round, but it does make sense eventually, go and look at a minimum of two properties and ask to be shown round. You will be very welcome and nobody will pressure you at any stage. Your money will most likely erode in value, but your holiday benefits will not, as they are indexed annually. You only actually lose if you cash it in and realise the loss. In practice most bondholders have got the hang of adding their children as lives assured so the benefits continue to the next generation, so the idea is never ever to cash the bond. That is good news for both parties as the bond retains the money, and initial charges are only ever paid once and not repeated for the children.

Some above have mentioned timeshare companies who have perpetuity clauses in their agreements that bind families into paying management fees for ever. There is none of that in HPB. There have been a few ups and downs along the way in terms of charging structures, but like all of us, it has had to adapt to the prevailing financial climate and rising costs. The fact that it is still here, and still popular proves the decisions have broadly speaking been the right ones and that the concept is a sound one.

I'm happy to answer questions, but in case anybody feels inclined to make accusations or insinuations let me make it quite clear I have no connection with the HPB other than being a member, and they have never asked me to make any comment about HPB. Apart from one 'bust up' with them (and there was fault on both sides looking back), I've been a very happy member for 28 years and visited about 16 sites, some being repeat visits.

PharmaAl

I have been a member for around 15 years. I invested with my husband after a particularly bad holiday abroad and saw this as a good option. We have enough points to go abroad for one or two weeks depending on where we go or one week in the uk, we are a family of four.
We have had some fantastic holidays with HPB, you know exactly what you will get in terms of facilities and standard of accomodation. Some years using our points and the points free system we have enjoyed up to five weeks away using HPB.
If you don't use your points one year you can roll them over to the next year. Can't see why anyone would be forced into having a holiday they don't want because of the points system, it really is very flexible.
Just as a comparison in terms of value, this summer the four of us stayed in a hotel room for 5 nights and it cost us £500, the second part of our holiday was at the HPB site in a two bedroomed apartment for 7 nights and cost us £270.
As with all financial decisions do some research and decide if it's value for money for you, I personally have no regrets about our decision we made many years ago.

Nobbie1967

PharmaAl wrote: »

I have been a member for around 15 years. I invested with my husband after a particularly bad holiday abroad and saw this as a good option. We have enough points to go abroad for one or two weeks depending on where we go or one week in the uk, we are a family of four.
We have had some fantastic holidays with HPB, you know exactly what you will get in terms of facilities and standard of accomodation. Some years using our points and the points free system we have enjoyed up to five weeks away using HPB.
If you don't use your points one year you can roll them over to the next year. Can't see why anyone would be forced into having a holiday they don't want because of the points system, it really is very flexible.
Just as a comparison in terms of value, this summer the four of us stayed in a hotel room for 5 nights and it cost us £500, the second part of our holiday was at the HPB site in a two bedroomed apartment for 7 nights and cost us £270.
As with all financial decisions do some research and decide if it's value for money for you, I personally have no regrets about our decision we made many years ago.

How much did you have to invest in the first place? It's always seemed like a poor investment when you still have to pay service charges which amount to a substantial proportion of what would be the normal cost of the accommodation.

For the OP, I'd recommend sticking the money in a stock market tracker and using the dividend income to pay for the holidays. That way, should circumstances change, you can still access the cash.

Seronera

I'm not trying to persuade anybody to put money into HPB, and unlike you I'm certainly not making an alternative investment recommendation. My intention is purely to inform people about what actually happens in the HPB rather than the misinformed comments that forums seem to cultivate.

The best decisions are informed decisions and who better to answer questions than people with extensive " hands on" experience of how it all works and what our experience has been. If its not for you then that's fine, but don't try and persuade people we have made some kind of dreadful mistake, and that they might too fall into some kind of trap. As I said, its one of the best things I ever did for all kinds of reasons and the vast majority of bondholders will echo those sentiments, but people must do their own research and make their own minds up if its for them.

fred246

When I looked at it I decided:
A)The service charge for cleaning etc is astronomical - very similar to the charge to rent a similar property.
B)The cost to buy one week off-peak was OK but 2 weeks in school holidays was too high.
It didn't seem worth tying money up for. Better just to keep the cash and spend it on renting properties as you go along.

Seronera

There is something wrong there. The only compulsory annual fee is £25 a quarter. On top of that if you book a holiday then there is a user charge. This varies depending on time of year and size of property, but the cheapest low season are about £270 a week. Both this september and last september in Dorset and Cornwall we paid about £400 a week and there were five of us. User charges of 600-800 are probably common at peak times for larger apartments, but I've never paid anything like that much.

I am therefore asking where the £1500 fits in as only a few of the top properties with large family villas might get close to that at peak times as a user charge. To be honest il have to double check, but that sounds awfully high compared with what I have paid over the years. If they were there for two weeks it might be 2x 750 of course.

He still chose to pay though when there were almost certainly lower cost options within HPB. It's not compulsory to book the most expensive, its a choice. I don't think £1500 is a fair representation of weekly user charges. It's very top end indeed. I've just checked user charges for week 28 which is mid July, peak therefore. The lowest is for a studio apartment in Turkey and is £180. The Highest is for a three bedroom villa in La Gomera and is £615. What does make a difference is the points requirement which is much higher, and the 1500 mentioned may possibly refer to points not pounds.

fred246

I really wanted to do it because I like:
A)Holidays and
B)Long term investments
However after researching it I couldn't invest.