Unregulated static caravan sales

lyndsaydawn

There's a huge hole in legislation protecting those who buy a static caravans on a holiday park.  Lots of mis-selling, little to no buyer protection rights and a swathe of people who have lost thousands (often £20k+) having been taken in by deceptive sales teams.  With the new programme coming soon featuring Danny Dyer reviving the Great British caravan holiday, I'm concerned that even more folks are about to be scammed for their life savings, investing in a dream which too soon becomes a nightmare. If you want the real truth and horror stories, there's a 'holiday park action group' on a well known social media site you can join. I urge anyone with stars in their eyes over owning their own caravan to take a look first. It may save you £000's, heartache and stress. Martin and Team, what can be done about this horrendous industry?  Often financed by the same companies currently under scrutiny for mis-selling and amending documentation (fraud)  pertaining to vehicles on HP.  

Pollycat

There's a related thread here:
Static Caravans... I guess this is a "warning" to a tiny minority of people... and also a rant. — MoneySavingExpert Forum

Not tremendously sympathetic to static caravan buyers.

My parents had numerous caravans on various sites for over 50 years.
They and my younger sisters had great holidays and so did the grandchildren when they came along.
When they retired, they spent weeks at a time there.
They never let the caravan out to strangers.

They didn't buy caravans to make money.
It's the 'get rich quick' people in the above articles who bought caravans 'as an investment' who got it wrong.

MattMattMattUK

Buying a static caravan is taking on a liability, not buying an appreciating asset, as Polly rightly points out it is those who think the latter that seems to have the vast majority of the issues.

tacpot12

It seems clea rto me that some greater protection for consumers is necessary, but I would not want it to go too far. Too often we see governments that overreact to the problems in an industry and rapidly implement great protections for the consumer while leaving the legitimate and honest business that work in that industry struggling to remain viable. 

TELLIT01

It would seem that some holiday park companies are becoming the new Timeshare companies.  Long on promises but very short on actual delivery.

Undervalued

MattMattMattUK said:

Buying a static caravan is taking on a liability, not buying an appreciating asset, as Polly rightly points out it is those who think the latter that seems to have the vast majority of the issues.

Quite.

The two couples I know (a generation apart in age) who bought static caravans did so with their eyes wide open. They took account of the likely depreciation and likely increase in site fees. They balanced this with the value to themselves and their families that ownership would bring, coupled with the savings they would make on renting holiday cottages and / or hotels and guest houses. 

One couple sold after about 12 years when age and health made travelling difficult. The other couple are still happily using theirs with their family. 

That said I am sure there are some rogue operators, as their are in most walks of life, but there are some idiot consumers too! 

There is only so much that regulation can do......

Aylesbury_Duck

People willingly spend a lot of money on brand new cars that in some cases, lose five figure sums of value in a very short space of time.  When anyone buys a house, there's no guarantee of its future value.

Illegal practices and mis-selling are of course bad, but otherwise I don't see that static caravans are any different to any other commodity.  Their value is whatever anyone is prepared to pay at the point the seller wants to sell.  Depreciation should be offset by whatever enjoyment has been experienced during ownership.  Any appreciation is a bonus.

Suzycoll

lyndsaydawn said:

There's a huge hole in legislation protecting those who buy a static caravans on a holiday park.  Lots of mis-selling, little to no buyer protection rights and a swathe of people who have lost thousands (often £20k+) having been taken in by deceptive sales teams.  With the new programme coming soon featuring Danny Dyer reviving the Great British caravan holiday, I'm concerned that even more folks are about to be scammed for their life savings, investing in a dream which too soon becomes a nightmare. If you want the real truth and horror stories, there's a 'holiday park action group' on a well known social media site you can join. I urge anyone with stars in their eyes over owning their own caravan to take a look first. It may save you £000's, heartache and stress. Martin and Team, what can be done about this horrendous industry?  Often financed by the same companies currently under scrutiny for mis-selling and amending documentation (fraud)  pertaining to vehicles on HP.  

My parents have had a static caravan for over 25 years

As others have said the whole family have & still use it. Parents are now in their 80s & failing health but get there when they can

The bottom line is with static caravans 'is USE THEM ( if you can afford the park fees) 

If trying to make a fast buck you may be disappointed.The park owners also trying to make a buck with large overheads

Read the small print. Caveat emptor 

isplumm

We own a static lodge. Cost £80k 7 years ago. Pay roughly £5k in annual fees. But we knew all this when we bought it. So no scam here. I see examples where you buy the caravan which is worth £30k new yet the payments add up to £50k. Surely people can do the maths.

Grumpy_chap

Aylesbury_Duck said:

People willingly spend a lot of money on brand new cars that in some cases, lose five figure sums of value in a very short space of time.  When anyone buys a house, there's no guarantee of its future value.

I am not aware that many (if any) people buy a brand new car with the expectation of it doing anything other than losing a lot of value.  (Very rare exceptions, for example first buyers of the Jaguar XJ220.)

Most people buy a house with the expectation that it will appreciate in value.

The issue with static caravans is they are really more akin to a car in terms of what can be expected financially but some people extrapolate the "holiday home" description to conclude that the asset will appreciate in value and generate an income in the mean time.

QrizB

They're more like buying a yacht, although static vans are cheaper in pretty much all respects and less likely to sink.