Can I live in a static caravan on the countryside?

societys_child

I bought a house when I was 20. My "nice car" was a £300 mini which I had to make do with, for 8 years. Its all about your priorities.
Caravans in winter, damp, condensation all kinds of problems.

TBagpuss

|The short answer is that yes, you can live in in a static caravan in the country but, as others have dais, you can't just live anywhere you want - you need to find somewhere whether the landowner is happy to have you there, and had the appropriate planning consents, you will need access to mains water, and will need to factor in the costs of rent for the land / site fees as well as upkeep of the caravan and all your normal outgoings.

You'd also need to be able to save enough to buy the caravan outright, as you won't get a mortgage to do so.

A caravan is also a depreciating asset - it will go down in value over time and ultimately you may have to pay to scrap it, as well.

So if you do decide to go down this route, make sure that you do a lot of research so you are very clear about what you are taking on, and plan ahead fr your next move, whether that involves saving for a deposit and mortgage, or saving to replace the van. If you buy, make sure that you are 100% clear about what you are buying (and in particular, whether the owner is willing for you to leave the van where it is and live in it, or are selling t on the basis that you are expected to turn up with a low loader and take it away! )

You can't just buy a bit of land and plonk a caravan on it - you would need appropriate planning permissions

xylophone

I have recently bought my dream car and now I am saving up money for a few years till I am ready to move out.

It seems to me that you would be well advised to carry on with this and forget the caravan.

Have you opened a LISA?

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/lifetime-ISAs

Would you parents accept token "keep" provided that you save what you are not paying them into your house fund?

Out,_Vile_Jelly

If you're on minimum wage and spend your money on fancy cars, you're going to be living at home for a while. If you prioritise saving and upskilling to a better paid job a mortgage becomes more realistic.

chappers

societys_child wrote: »

I bought a house when I was 20. My "nice car" was a £300 mini which I had to make do with, for 8 years. Its all about your priorities.
Caravans in winter, damp, condensation all kinds of problems.

The OP is talking about a £30k static they have double glazing , central heating, en-suite bathrooms etc. Some are better than my house.

The issues are;
Buy a static on a holiday site- possible restricted season, site fees and rents, possible restrictions on age
Buy a static on a residential site- rent and site fees
You can't just site a caravan on any piece of land without planning permission and either way, you would still need connection to services.
Static caravans are rapidly diminishing assets with maybe a maximum 30 year life and probably no cheaper to run than a std home.
You're only 20 don't try reaching for everything too soon and putting yourself under such pressure to succeed, you will miss part of your life you should be living.
Keep saving and work on ways to progress your career, whether that be moving job or taking on further training etc and it will come.
I have to admit, the dream car would be gone too, that is money tied up in another depreciating asset.
Look at putting your savings into a lifetime/HTB ISA, the government will contribute a further 25% on top of everything you put in, providing the money is only taken out at retirement or as a deposit for a house

artyclarty

Just a heads up. This is a plan that I thought about at a similar age with my dream car (albeit it only cost £1500) . It was a non starter as I couldn't find car insurance that either would insure on a static caravan site or that would but it would have cost me double what the car was worth!

I still have my dream car 10 years later and a nice 3 bed brick and mortar house now. It took a hell of a lot of saving and doing without - no holiday in 10 years, beans on toast, powdered milk, the whole 9 yards!

I wish you luck, but I would strongly urge that you stay at home and save (if your parents don't mind) rather than invest in a caravan. It will pay off in the end!

nomoneytoday

A friend of mine has one.
It cost around £10,000 for the caravan second hand, which was a bargain, as it has double glazing, extra insulation etc.


It has 2 bedrooms, a small toilet and the living room / kitchen is one big room. There is room on the freestanding concrete for 1 car.


It costs about £100 a week to run (£5000 a year) including the ground rent, contents insurance, electricity and propane gas bottles etc.

tori.k

Are you sure the static you have seen is actually sited and not just for sale, 35k seems very cheap for a sited one, down here they are not much cheaper the bricks and mortar for a residential static/park home. Also a lot tend to have age restrictions in place 55+ so something to check.
I lived in one for a year while buying and sorting out a house and still have mixed feelings about the experience summer was lovely winter was miserable place was insulated but everything felt damp I guess due to the humidity from the gas heating and appliances.
There are a lot of options out there to help get on the housing ladder, it would be a good time to have a chat with family and maybe a fee free broker to looking at what options would suit/apply to you, good luck

Lulu0110

We were looking to buy one of these to live in on a site of a house we were building. There was a dealer who had a site with literally 100's of these static homes and the prices were a lot less than 35k plus they would buy it back off of you. Research what to buy more thoroughly as there is a lot of choice. Sorry I am unsure of the legalities as mentioned in your post though.

theartfullodger

nimbo wrote: »

Can I live in a static caravan on the countryside?

Think of it this way: I CAN drive down the M4 @ 123mph (as in it is possible for me to do so..) but I MAY not (as in that would be illegal).

So yeah, buy one, tow it & drive it to nearest lay-by, live in it: But expect several visits from unhappy locals and the Police...