All advice is welcome!!! (1 Viewer)

[Ellie]

Admittedley both my husband and I are amitures in the world of caravans / Mobile homes, but after having what has been a really rough year going away on hols for a week in a caravan by the seaside was heaven.
Whilst away we decided to buy a caravan at the caravan park by the sea and to use this as our permenant place of residence. As soon as we got home we began to research this and came across many PROBLEMS one being that the caravan park is closed for 2 months of the year (which may I add we could get away with by visiting family).
ADVICE OR INFORMATION ON ANYTHING WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED. WE HAVE NO CLUE WHERE TO BEGIN. :Sad:

 

[pappajohn]

hi Ellie and welcome.

i dont know if you'll get a lot of help here regarding park homes as this is a motorhome/motorcaravan forum but.....

dont really know much about static homes but i think the 'closed season' rule is to get round permenant residency/dwelling laws.

a static site local to me is open 11 months out of 12 so theres no hard and fast rules as to how long they can remain open but they must close at some point.

im sure there will be someone on the forum who has owned a park home in the past and has moved on to motorhomes and may be able to help.

 

[M&L]

There are a lot of people who downsize to Park Homes where they can live all the year round and then there are the Holiday Parks which close for at least two months of the year.
I understand that you cannot use or in fact buy a Holiday Home unless you have a permanent residence but many people get round this by giving a relatives address instead.
It can be done but just be careful which park you choose to avoid making a costly mistake.

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[Peter JohnsCross MH]

Read the small print very carefully as Park Home landlords hold owners to ransom when they want to resell.

High commisions are charged even though the Park Owners do not actually handle the sale.

Peter

 

[david price]

Mother and father in law sold up three years ago and did this.Took them about 12 months to get used to it but now they wish they had done it sooner.They just go abroad for six weeks when the park is shut.
Dave

 

[ourcampersbeentrashed]

Hiya

Hope this post isnt too late.

If you havent already bought then DONT.

By a motorhome instead.

We have a number of friends who in their naivity bought static caravans on sites. All of them have lost money when selling. Most have been forced to sell back to the Park/site itself whilst others have paid horrific rates of sellers fees to the park/site.

For the first year or two you will find it okay, then the annual site fees start increasing dramatically. Then after about 6 years your static is looking outdated against the new ones being brought in. Many sites have a rule that once the static caravan is more than eg 10 years old you have to either upgrade (which is expensive) or pay for your static to be removed from the site (remember in 10 years time it could cost you triple what you would pay today) . If you dont do either, many sites will remove it for you regardless of whether or not you are up to date with your payments and then charge you for removal.

If you have bought, and done it on finance, you may find there is a get out clause if you are very quick.

Be aware that the ground rent is usually kept quite low for the 1st or 2nd year but then will rise dramatically. If there is entertainment on site, it is usually the same entertainment every week for months on end and it gets boring. Going for a week is far different than doing it for 10 months of the year.

You need to find out who are going to be your neighbours - remember some statics do house 1 adult and 7 children, others rent theirs out and you dont know who is next door one week to the next.

Additionally, you may decide to buy a static caravan on one of the more trusted sites, such as Park, but if they decide to sell the park and sell it to rogues, well then there are some real horror stories out there of people who have returned after 2 months to find everything gone and no recourse whatsoever.

The second hand or resale value is very poor too and if you cant get a buyer you have to pay the following years fees regardless. If you cant afford the fees, you lose the lot.

A static caravan is okay for a year or two, but you are far better off buying a motorhome. You can take it to any holiday place, either in the UK or abroad. You dont have to pay or contribute to Council tax or pay ground rent.

Now having said all of that, one of my dads cousins had a static caravan on a small site near the beach up north. The family lived there happily for many many years. The site was passed through the owners family until a few years ago when the property prices were high, the then current owner decided to sell it. The profit made was huge and far above what he expected. He was a very genuine and honest person and instead of kicking the people off the site, he paid them to leave. Each family was given so much per year on the site. Because my dads cousins had been on the site for so many years, they actually received enough money to buy a small house. This did not happen to everyone as it was based on length of time onsite. Remember this scenario is extremely rare and sites are run as money making operations, not as cheap housing.

Most sites close down for 2 months per year for maintenance reasons and to meet their Council Tax/Business Rate registration requirements and to avoid the permanent residency thingy.

I hope I havent scared you too much, but please be extremely careful.

There are some people out there with brilliant and lovely stories to tell of how its been successful for them, make sure yours will be successful xxxxxx

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