Buying land & building a log cabin

Rebeccah0109

Hi, 
I am looking for advice... any advice given will be helpful. I am one of these people who love to come up with ideas and get lost with them, but this time I'm really interested to see how I can make this idea a reality. Anyway... 
I want to build a holiday lodge to use for myself & family as well as to rent out when we are not using it. I would love to be able to buy a plot of land and build a log cabin or something similar. Somewhere like Devon or Wales by the coast would be the dream. When looking at this a lot of cabins on holiday parks come up for sale & I am not as drawn to this idea although I am open to it. 
So, my question is - do you have any advice on how easy this is? What my first steps would be? Pros & cons of it. Also interested to hear about advice on buying a lodge on a holiday park. Do they hold their value? etc etc. 
As I said, any advice would be extremely helpful. At the moment it is very much just an idea that interests me but hopefully with all the right research one day I could actually make it happen! 

Thanks  

greatcrested

This is not the forum for you.

Use duckduckgo (or google if you must) to find self-build fora.

MysteryMe

My advice is don't buy a lodge on a holiday park unless you accept it is not an investment but a very expensive way to buy leisure time.  Leaving aside the significant cost of the lodge, there will expensive yearly fees payable running in to thousands.. There are often restrictions on use with many not allowing sub letting, some are only opened certain times of the year and if you did decide to sell up you generally can only resell back to the park owner meaning you will not get a good price. Personally I don't know why they are so popular but I guess if money is no object and you are going to use the lodge every weekend and all through the school holidays or retired and spending months on end on site it could make sense.

I don't think buying land and building your own lodge is going to be a realistic option either TBH,  certainly not somewhere like Devon. You would need to buy a plot of land where the relevant planning permissions would be granted.  The land would not be cheap and the supply of utilities etc has to be considered. However if you can find such a plot it is possible to build a low cost dwelling. I've been in a small property built using SIPS panels, not much larger than a shipping container but other than size was just like any other property inside. The issue is if you need a mortgage you'll discover not many, if any, will lend on non standard constructions.

As a general example of how something can really go tits up,  I owned a static caravan on a holiday park in Devon for just over 10 years. I did enjoy it until travellers from a huge site in Berkshire bought the holiday park, increased the yearly site fee by over 30% and changed the nature of the holiday park for the worse. They brought in huge mobile homes which they lived in and tarmac and tree lopping trucks started operating out the site.  I had to cut my losses, take what they offered for the caravan and left. All the original caravan owners bar one left within 6 months. They are still operating it as a holiday park as there are also letting caravans that were always owned by the site owners but the bottom line is it's a travellers site by any other name.   Having spoken to a local council this has happened a lot in Devon so be very careful. 

GDB2222

One issue is that land with suitable planning permission will be very expensive, as you’ll be competing with someone who wants to build a conventional house. 

Bossypants

Last I checked there are Finnish companies who will ship you a literal flat-pack log house designed to your specifications which you can assemble (with the help of at least one or two other able-bodied folk, but still). Supposedly they are pretty good and very eco friendly.

Of course you still need to buy the land, sort out planning permission, and all the rest of it, but if your heart is set on a log cabin, it might be something to look into once you get that far?

steampowered

There have been loads and loads of posts on here over many years about people who have bought holiday homes in holiday parks and it has turned out to be a complete disaster. Also have a search on google as there have been a number of missellnig scandals in this area.

Issues have included:
- Massive ground rents and service charges increasing at ridiculous rates.
- People being unable to sell their holiday home (making it worthless).
- Very restrictive conditions being applied. The leases/licences are extremely restrictive giving massive control to the holiday park - it's not like buying a regular house or a flat.

Personally I would not touch buying a property on a holiday park with a barge pole. I certainly wouldn't be relying on it to hold its value as an investment.

Davesnave

Down here in Devon, there are some decent  real houses at sensible prices in  villages where there's still a sense of community. Of course, being realistically priced, they won't be by the coast, and if you just want one as a holiday home then we'd rather you went somewhere else!

Wales sounds good!

AnotherJoe

Mickey666 said:

A long time ago I was talking to a builder about a large renovation project and we were discussing all sorts of options with me asking if this could be done or that could be done, as you do.  After some time (and in hindsight I now realise he was being very patient with me) he said 'look, if you have enough money we can put a man on the moon for you' - which I've always remembered!

So yes, of course the OP can buy some land, get planning consent, lay in services, jump through loads of hoops and solve loads of problems on the way to building the log cabin of his dreams . . . at a price.  Alternatively, he could rent a log cabin for the one or two weeks a year that he would stay in it. 

I know what I would do, but I've no idea if that would satisfy the OP's ambition.

Exactly my thoughts ! Of course it can be done, but OP you didn't mention the cost or your budget once ! 

But to answer one question "do they hold their value?" (units on holiday parks) the answer is, absolutely not, indeed very much the opposite. Work on a 10-15 year timescale after which it's worthless. 

FreeBear

Davesnave said: Wales sounds good!

Don't think the Welsh would be overly keen on the idea either.... Found this nice little plot. Sheltered location, good views over the beach & sea. https://www.rightmove.co.uk/commercial-property-for-sale/property-82500185.html

Davesnave

FreeBear said:

Davesnave said: Wales sounds good!

Don't think the Welsh would be overly keen on the idea either....

Tongue was firmly in cheek, just in case anyone thinks I was serious!

eidand

Davesnave said:

FreeBear said:

Davesnave said: Wales sounds good!

Don't think the Welsh would be overly keen on the idea either....

Tongue was firmly in cheek, just in case anyone thinks I was serious!

tongue in cheek maybe, but that is a great piece of land. If someone could get planning permission then it'd be worth building a proper property for someone actually living over there. Feels like a waste otherwise.