owning a sited static caravan

[offgrid]

Off topic i know and very uncool but has anyone had any experience of owning a sited caravan?

I'm currently in negotiations to buy a privately owned caravan on a big holiday park and have a few concerns.

It seems to me that your at the mercy of the holiday park even though you are the owner of the van!

Its not cheap either, costing 20k for the van plus plus 3k pitch fee per year.

Is there any issues when selling the van on in few years down the line?

Any advice/warnings welcome cheers!

 

[Asterix]

I know most parks have rules related to the age of the static and when it gets to X years old it must be removed,they do seem to be worth pennies by then so depreciation should also be accounted for. I've not owned one but did look at the possibility about ten years ago,I decided it didn't make economic sense,but maybe different depending on individual parks.

 

[harrow]

Off topic i know and very uncool but has anyone had any experience of owning a sited caravan?

I'm currently in negotiations to buy a privately owned caravan on a big holiday park and have a few concerns.

It seems to me that your at the mercy of the holiday park even though you are the owner of the van!

Its not cheap either, costing 20k for the van plus plus 3k pitch fee per year.

Is there any issues when selling the van on in few years down the line?

Any advice/warnings welcome cheers!

Yes I have owned two on two different parks and static caravans can be enjoyable, PM me your questions and I will tell you my answers.

 

[Channa]

Off topic i know and very uncool but has anyone had any experience of owning a sited caravan?

I'm currently in negotiations to buy a privately owned caravan on a big holiday park and have a few concerns.

It seems to me that your at the mercy of the holiday park even though you are the owner of the van!

Its not cheap either, costing 20k for the van plus plus 3k pitch fee per year.

Is there any issues when selling the van on in few years down the line?

Any advice/warnings welcome cheers!

Until relatively recently I worked in the industry supplying and fitting retro double glazing, central heating ,air conditioning re cladding etc my work took me to several sites all over the country and dealt with park dene, Park resorts and smaller independents like Hill Bros

A couple of things, normally any "private sale" the site will want typically 15 % commission, there is often an age limit or some site don't but often rotate older vans to other parts of the park (at the customers expense ) other common downfalls are having to buy gas through the site, your insurance and in the event you want to improve eg DG decking etc an approved site contractor must be used not your own invariably prces are over inflated and the site wants a cut ..I would never give a site a bung so they often blocked remedial work.

Personally I have seen so much heartache I wouldn't touch a static with a barge pole. Money pits might as well hand the site a blank cheque

Channa

 

[yorkslass]

To be blunt, i think once you sign on the dotted line you are at there mercy. I have never owned a static but know plenty who have.

Regarding re selling, many only allow you to sell to a family member. The alternative is to sell back to the site..., at their price.

If they sell the site your rights can be threatened.

Some sites only allow vans below a certain age, could be as little as ten years.

You need to read the T&C and then have a think.

What's to stop you buying a large tourer and putting it on a seasonal pitch, best of both worlds.

 

[phillybarbour]

It’s normally site fees and items that can only be bought from the site owner (as per their rules ie gas, decking alterations etc) that kill it financially. However if you want to be on that park then go for it. I’ve not had one but know two people who have and both enjoyed their time there but said it was very expensive all in.

 

[jagmanx]

It really depends how much you will use it

Occaisonal weekends and weeks
Regular weekends an several weeks
If the latter probably worth it IMO
Check with the site as to how long the caravan will be OK
Check all the site fees and the cost of Gas and Leccy
Car parking & Visitors

Personally I would prefer a chalet but everything else is similar

 

[Martingrant]

Our experience

Hi we had a static on a private site.
When we decided we had had enough,
We were at the mercy of the site owner.
He had it valued----scrap value £600 & a removal to the gate fee of £500.
I would never buy another one.
Don't get me wrong it's nice to roll up turn on the gas bottle and relax.

Hope this helps
Martin

 

[Channa]

To be blunt, i think once you sign on the dotted line you are at there mercy. I have never owned a static but know plenty who have.

Regarding re selling, many only allow you to sell to a family member. The alternative is to sell back to the site..., at their price.

If they sell the site your rights can be threatened.

Some sites only allow vans below a certain age, could be as little as ten years.

You need to read the T&C and then have a think.

What's to stop you buying a large tourer and putting it on a seasonal pitch, best of both worlds.

I wouldn't disagree with any of that, any potential sale ideally should be shown to a trained solicitor so people know the pitfalls

Channa

 

[andyjanet]

Some sites are only 8 months of the year although site fees are charged all year round typically these close in October and open up for easter

 

[Deleted member 43466]

Off topic i know and very uncool but has anyone had any experience of owning a sited caravan?

I'm currently in negotiations to buy a privately owned caravan on a big holiday park and have a few concerns.

It seems to me that your at the mercy of the holiday park even though you are the owner of the van!

Its not cheap either, costing 20k for the van plus plus 3k pitch fee per year.

Is there any issues when selling the van on in few years down the line?

Any advice/warnings welcome cheers!

hi
im on park resorts. if you buy privatley the site will want there commision to
change the name over. then you loss the discount off the site fees which are
£800 a year. there is the age limit in the contract but it is not enforced.
if buying private you would want the van dirt cheap. like a £20000 van for
£4000.
there is rates to pay about £350 a year inc. water rate
insurance is compulsary about £320 year
gas check every year £80
electric check every 3 year £95
they charge the electric off the meter at cost price 14p per unit
the 47kg gas bottle is £50 or £55 if bought off the site.
our site is open 12 month but a tourer is only allowed on end march till nov
costs £2000
you also need to show proof of your council tax bill for where you live. because
people were living there.
if your stopping there through the winter there not very warm the central heating
eats the gas. not as warm as a camper van.

 

[maingate]

We looked into it a number of years ago. If you pick the wrong site it can be a nightmare. We decided against a Static and even a log Cabin (for the same reasons).

 

[landoboguy]

Try and choose a smaller more family owned site, the big boys will want to sting you, and course they want a turnover of vans when they get to a certain age as they get commission on every one sold/changed.
Im on a smallish site only 60 vans, has a decent club and is well situated in North Wales, Ive no complaints the owners are straight forward, ground rent is 2300 py and gas leccy is mains and reasonable enough.

My friend has one on a big nationals site and wishes he never bothered.

 

[Channa]

Try and choose a smaller more family owned site, the big boys will want to sting you, and course they want a turnover of vans when they get to a certain age as they get commission on every one sold/changed.
Im on a smallish site only 60 vans, has a decent club and is well situated in North Wales, Ive no complaints the owners are straight forward, ground rent is 2300 py and gas leccy is mains and reasonable enough.

My friend has one on a big nationals site and wishes he never bothered.

It is important when studying the contracts to establish what the continuation clauses of tenancy are on the smaller sites

I used to deal with Diane Whiehouse on Whitehouses in Towyn even fitted a air con to her own lodge, she always seemed the pretty fair sort of person ,the family sold the site and I know at least a dozen people were given notice to leave by the new owners... Out of interest Andrew at Treetops runs a decent family owned site.

Don't forget the saleman types will tell you sites are 12 months but unless you have a residential licence 10 months is the most a van can be occupied

I know of a couple with a £135000 lodge that fell foul of that in North Wales it had a holiday licence and not residential life savings and a happy retirement ruined

On leaving a site £500 disconnection charge is typical if it needs a crane expect to pay £1000 extra ....that's to the site front car park . Haulage £750 for a 35 x10 van £1250 for a 35 x 12 very few sites allow bring ons and as someone has pointed out discounts on rent are lost because the transaction bnot done through the site

It is time the industry was regulated to be frank

Channa

 

[rugbyken]

i’m on a park home site basically a double static and there are a lot of regulations to protect owners now which i went into before downsizing to ours , there was a recent act of parliament that limited site commission to ‘up to 10 %’ so of course it is always 10% , it also banned the new van scam and park homes are now sold by & through estate agents the only thing a site owner can do is refuse to accept a new owner but has to have a sound legal reason, and site fees can only rise with inflation and are linked ie you pay the same as rest of site, there is a strong residents assoc on our site and they have oversight over all bills ie our electric unit cost has not risen for 3 years and our lpg tank is filled at 2016 35p litre 2017 31p a ltrs went up to 33p in oct but we got a £50 free fill ,
all in all almost 4 years down the line i would make the same choice we came from a 5 bedroom ed house in leicester to a park home in my home village in rutland banked a good sum and more than halved our living costs,

 

[Channa]

With respect Ken Park homes are entirely different to a static caravan on a holiday site

Channa

 

[jeanette]

We have a large tourer sited at Berwick (not the big one) and they weren’t too bad if we decide to pull off (which we’re thinking about)we just hitch it up and move off, the electric is in for us with the site fee and we had no problem putting in the decking the site itself is really clean and they do keep it immaculate, you can just have a seasonal pitch but when and if you return the place you had is not guaranteed it could be somewhere else on site,which in fairness the touring site isn’t that big!

 

[Channa]

We have a large tourer sited at Berwick (not the big one) and they weren’t too bad if we decide to pull off (which we’re thinking about)we just hitch it up and move off, the electric is in for us with the site fee and we had no problem putting in the decking the site itself is really clean and they do keep it immaculate, you can just have a seasonal pitch but when and if you return the place you had is not guaranteed it could be somewhere else on site,which in fairness the touring site isn’t that big!

Absolutely my line of thinking Jeanette shifting a static is hassle , placing a large tourer on a pitch with a large awning and flexibility to move on makes far more sense and have summat to sell worth a few quid come the time.

I frequent a few caravan sites and some of the seasonal pitches are stunning

Channa

 

[offgrid]

Wow thanks for all the reply's definitely much to think about, bit of an eye opener glad we didn't rush in to signing that contract

 

[campervanannie]

When we went down this route years ago we opted to buy a large tourer and put it on a static pitch that way we got the best of both worlds.