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Moving to live in a caravan
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I would far rather live in a static caravan / mobile home than on some sink estate somewhere,
I have one on my land and love it, .
We have a caravan on our land. We've just never stayed in it. Other people do though. Naturally, they don't see it as an alternative to holidaying on a sink estate!
But holidaying is different from full time living and hidden-away sites like ours aren't easily available to most people.
Just setting up home in a field probably isn't what you are talking about either, because trying to do that would bring a host of other problems in it's wake.0 -
Yes I totally agree that owning your land is key and personally I wouldn't have one any other way i.e. Site fees.
I wouldn't want a caravan park for others as I like my privacy.
I see living in mobiles / statics as very George Clarke and the Tiny Home movement in America. I can see the appeal, you can only be in one room at a time and we saddle ourselves with ballbreaking careers to pay for more rooms than we use, why not get off the treadmill, only pay for the space you use to free up time for things you really enjoy.
I love that carefree bohemian outlook.
I am a hypocrite though because I seem to have discovered an interest in it having had the career to get enough behind me not to worry. I guess I'm looking forward to retirement lol and freedom0 -
As I've posted before, we have a family living in a reasonably large, potentially mobile caravan, which has been parked in a council lay-by a mile or so outside our village for around 2 years.
I'm sure the council don't want them there, and it's likely they've been given orders to quit, but villagers aren't particularly stressed about it and the child attends the local school. In many respects, they've almost become part of the community.
Meanwhile, the family must have saved a mint on rent, council tax etc, So, if they wanted get financially straight again, the strategy could have worked.
They chose the right council; ours is one of the more laid-back ones. Not all would be anywhere near as 'understanding!'0 -
The residential site I lived on, due to law changes, said that when your van was 20 years old it'd be considered based on its condition. Trouble was, the site owner was a right tarter... she was quite evil. One poor woman was trying to sell her mobile home and to sell your buyers had to be "interviewed" by the site owner (all quite a common occurrence on such sites) - and each time she sent a potential buyer the site owner'd end up flogging them one of hers!
You can't stay there forever. There comes a time when you have to remove your van and/or buy a new one (from the owner at full retail price) -or- the site gets sold and cleared and you're given Notice to Quit. In law you have quite a bit of notice, as a residential site, the reality is you can't just site your caravan anywhere so, overnight, they become virtually worthless.
In my case I sold mine and moved .... but, some years later, I noticed that the entire site had been sold and cleared - with a new layout and brand new expensive mobile homes and an Over 55s only ruling. So, if I'd stayed there, I'd have just had an eviction notice and "lost everything" as my van wasn't very new and would've easily reached about 20-25 years old by that point ... and I'd have been well and truly up the creek without a paddle.0 -
What you describe is some of the horror tales people hear about parks and would put people off. My parents looked at some new mobiles on residential sites for in excess of £250k and I couldn't understand the logic as to me with that sum you'd be better buying bricks and mortar. IMO caravan living is for either the romantic nomads or those wanting to save cash,
What did you do when you left the park Pastures New , exotic travel hopefully with a user name like yours.0 -
This is why we couldn't live in ours, the roofed bit is the extension so no facilities in there. I couldn't find the pics before the roof trusses were put up.
We lived in it while the extension was being done.
The original bungalow was L shaped.
https://ibb.co/epheXJ0 -
In the OPs case I would first look to downsize or maybe move to a cheaper part of the country if that is feasible
However some of the posts on caravans on here are just way off the mark in my experience.
I've no idea how far back or how old some of the caravans being talked about are but my van is 11 years old, so hardly brand new and is well insulated, has a galvanised frame, double glazing and full gas central heating. Vans being built today will have even more higher spec. And this is just a holiday static caravan not a Park Home
I've got a 25 year licence, annual rent is £2000 for all year round occupancy, got mains gas supply and have enjoyed ownership. I don't rent it out to others. It is my bolt hole. I don't care that it's a depreciating asset, so is my car. I bought it for lifestyle and leisure not as an investment. No one should buy a static as an investment.
I could live in it full time if I had to, but it would not be my preferred choice and IMO is not a substitute for bricks and mortar.0 -
What did you do when you left the park Pastures New , exotic travel hopefully with a user name like yours.
LOL... settled the bank loan and walked with a few quid. Then got a Shared Ownership studio flatlet on a council estate 10 miles away ... so "proper bricks" ... but then that went into negative equity, so I had to buy myself out of that.
I'm not very good at decisions it appears0 -
Good morning,are you still thinking about your plan you posted a year ago?or did it go ahead0
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I can say the family living in a caravan I mentioned in Post 24 are still there, still using a child attending the school to gain favours with the council.0
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