Park Home Life

[Anonymous Claret]

I have been thinking about moving to a residential/holiday caravan park for quite a while. Does anyone on here live on 1 of these parks?

I have just put my house on the market and I am trying to gather as much information as possible about the advantages/disadvantages before deciding where I want to live. I have a few friends who have all downsized in recent months/years and moved to 1 of these parks. Not 1 person regrets it and they all love their new way of living.

My main motivation for moving is that I want to live in a smaller property in a more rural location. It will also free up some cash that I can use to invest and travel several months of the year.

Ideally I want to move to an over 50's park that doesn't have a large amount of lodges or caravans. I have already started compiling a list of questions that I need to ask site owners etc such as ground rent, maintenance fees, caravan/lodge sales, caravan/lodge life on site before needing to be replaced etc.

For the near future I need to be living around the Fylde Coast as close to Lytham St Annes (LSA) as possible. In the medium to long term future I may look to move out towards the Ribble Valley or the Yorkshire Dales.

I have visited a few sites and my favourite atm is a quiet holiday park in Weeton. This is about the furthest I want to be away from LSA.

Any information that people share will be greatly appreciated.

[claretonthecoast1882]

Do know anyone personally, but do some proper checks on the site owners. Seen some horror stories of how they are with people if you decide to sell and move on from a site.

[Rowls]

Check the spec on how good the insulation is. Some are awful, leaving you to roast in summer and freeze in winter.

You'll also have to pay through the nose to heat the place if the insulation is poor.

[Tribesmen]

I don't think I would ever want to live in a caravan and I mean ever .

[Row x]

Check the spec on how good the insulation is. Some are awful, leaving you to roast in summer and freeze in winter.

You'll also have to pay through the nose to heat the place if the insulation is poor.

I know a few who live in park homes, all of them pay next to nothing in gas and electricity

[Row x]

I don't think I would ever want to live in a caravan and I mean ever .

Have you been in one?
Nothing like a caravan

[ClaretsPadiham]

My mates mum lives on one on a site somewhere in/around Clitheroe, they love it.

2 weeks a year where you have to leave the site, so thats when they go away.

[Cornwallclaret]

Hello.. we live in a park home in Dawlish warren in Devon and love it. Being a holiday park you do need to provide a permanent residence elsewhere but this works for us as we both work in Exeter. We do have to vacate for 2 weeks in February as it’s not residential so we usually go abroad for holidays in that time.We bought the park home but we do have to pay site fees etc but it’s a fraction of the cost of renting locally. Site fees vary depending on location( ours are quite high compared to up north) . Residential sites are more expensive to buy initially but of course you’d be a resident but again depending on the site there are still site fees( they do vary). Our quality of life here has improved ten fold, living on the coast in a holiday area though during the holiday season it does get busy but it’s a small price to pay for having this lifestyle, during the autumn/winter its very quiet ( bliss)

[Rowls]

I know a few who live in park homes, all of them pay next to nothing in gas and electricity

They tend to be small, so this should be expected. I'd still check.the insulation because they can be awful hot and awful.cold.

[Cornwallclaret]

Check the spec on how good the insulation is. Some are awful, leaving you to roast in summer and freeze in winter.

You'll also have to pay through the nose to heat the place if the insulation is poor.

Double glazing is essential and of course good insulation but our gas/electricity costs are ridiculously low

[Tribesmen]

Have you been in one?
Nothing like a caravan

Yer kind of and we did think it was naff .
You have to remember there is a lot to be said of people who live in caravans in Ireland .
Where we are planning to live in Spain they have them for sale at a grand price of €12,500 , not sure the dog would want to stay in them .

[Row x]

They tend to be small, so this should be expected. I'd still check.the insulation because they can be awful hot and awful.cold.

Most have lots of windows, so even in winter the sun warms the room. It only needs a top up from the central heating on cold days. I think the heat in summer is more problematic than the cold in winter.

[Row x]

Yer kind of and we did think it was naff .
You have to remember there is a lot to be said of people who live in caravans in Ireland .
Where we are planning to live in Spain they have them for sale at a grand price of €12,500 , not sure the dog would want to stay in them .

Bearing in mind most in this country are over 100k, so ones at 12k probably aren't a good example

[Tribesmen]

Bearing in mind most in this country are over 100k, so ones at 12k probably aren't a good example

Yer you have a point , kind of each to there own really .

[Woodleyclaret]

There are quite a few offers deals near Poulton close to Knott End and Thornton Cleveleys

[Woodleyclaret]

There are quite a few offers deals near Poulton close to Knott End and Thornton Cleveleys
There was a nice site on the edge of Gisburn and several people own flats abroad where they go to satisfy the two weeks break clause.

[GetIntoEm]

We've stayed in them for breaks, I'd happily live in one of we didn't have the kids still at home.

Our retirement plan would be to sell up, buy a property overseas and a park home back in the UK for when we need to return back depending on visa.

Still a few years till we get to 60 to be able to do it tho

[JohnMac]

I know a few people who live in Gawthorpe Edge and they absolutely love it. They are in reality Bungalows but made of different materials. The cost of site fees are swallowed up by the utility bill savings.

Another friend lives in the Lune Valley and again swears he would have done it earlier had he have known how good it was.

Neither of these are the same as living on a Caravan/Mobile home site.

[Marney&Mee]

I love Blur me…

[Burnley1989]

I have been thinking about moving to a residential/holiday caravan park for quite a while. Does anyone on here live on 1 of these parks?

I have just put my house on the market and I am trying to gather as much information as possible about the advantages/disadvantages before deciding where I want to live. I have a few friends who have all downsized in recent months/years and moved to 1 of these parks. Not 1 person regrets it and they all love their new way of living.

My main motivation for moving is that I want to live in a smaller property in a more rural location. It will also free up some cash that I can use to invest and travel several months of the year.

Ideally I want to move to an over 50's park that doesn't have a large amount of lodges or caravans. I have already started compiling a list of questions that I need to ask site owners etc such as ground rent, maintenance fees, caravan/lodge sales, caravan/lodge life on site before needing to be replaced etc.

For the near future I need to be living around the Fylde Coast as close to Lytham St Annes (LSA) as possible. In the medium to long term future I may look to move out towards the Ribble Valley or the Yorkshire Dales.

I have visited a few sites and my favourite atm is a quiet holiday park in Weeton. This is about the furthest I want to be away from LSA.

Any information that people share will be greatly appreciated.

Be very very very careful with this, do your homework on the owners of the site.
There are a lot owned by a rough family that will not let you move your van off site, and will only give you a tiny fraction of what you paid if you want to move out. I can put you in contact with someone who has had a terrible experience with this and lost a a huge sum of money.

[kenyon6923]

Agree with most posts here do your research then....do more research......and what licence the site has - your back to paying rent its just called site fees instead plus if residential it's site fees PLUS council tax so ?? £325 site fees plus £125 council tax if single person on band A.
Find out if the annual site fees increase is now to the owners or council linked. The site should know this but the distance gap door to door of ajoining caravans are different if the site is holiday or residential to pass fire regulations. Etc etc etc
Only other "worry" is if its a well run small/family owned site your prone to a parkdean or another big company swooping on it and buying it and then your site fees will go north very very quickly. Last thing if you decide its not for you the selling usually comes with a 10%-15% commission of your sale money going to the site owners.

[Row x]

Be very very very careful with this, do your homework on the owners of the site.
There are a lot owned by a rough family that will not let you move your van off site, and will only give you a tiny fraction of what you paid if you want to move out. I can put you in contact with someone who has had a terrible experience with this and lost a a huge sum of money.

They are not vans, they cannot be moved.

[Anonymous Claret]

Thank you to everyone who has replied so far. There are some really good points that have been raised. I was aware of most of them but I hadn't thought about insulation. I imagine most newer models will be of a good standard but it is something to add to the list.

A couple of you have mentioned the importance of checking on the site owners. I am aware of this potential pitfall and I intend to research the owners of any site that I decide to move to. I was half hoping if people were aware of any particularly bad owners/sites that I needed to avoid. However I understand the libelous potential in these instances so it is only reasonable that I research these sites myself.

Over Wyre and Gisburn are areas that I may consider in the future but at the moment I aim to stay in the borough of Fylde.

[Burnley1989]

They are not vans, they cannot be moved.

The one I'm talking about was a huge Static, and of course they can be moved

[Row x]

The one I'm talking about was a huge Static, and of course they can be moved

Those are caravans, park homes are completely different things, properly fixed to the ground, tiled roofs, no wheels, gas and electric permanently fitted etc

[Mixedkompany]

My mate lives in one Poulton Le Flyde. He’s been there about two years.
He enjoys living there and has made a few friends. I’ve visited a couple of times.
Firstly, there are a couple of documentaries on tv about owning a park home. Probably itv or BBC relatively recent.
I suggest you track those down. There are some on YouTube including a Panorama one.

Here are some of the financial concerns ;

After a year my mate wanted to upsize on to another park. Same owner/management.
They had paid 110k for their two bedroom lodge. It’s very nice.
They were offered 50k for their lodge. The one they wanted was 125k.
They couldn’t afford to move and were somewhat incensed about the 50k offer.
This is regular practice. Low valuations.
Some learnings from this ……
They are a lost leader financially.
You need to accept you are not going to move again, possibly in your lifetime. Unless you have plenty of funds to splash.
The owners quite like you to move and often encourage it, although not with good offers. They can put up annual charges at will and you have no control over annual increases. This can have the effect of forcing people out. Then the owners buy your lodge cheap and sell it at a high profit margin. Often approaching 100% of what they paid you.

There is no governmental legislation on Park home ownership. You have little or no rights to fight most things.

The site charges can increase exponentially on an annual basis. Make sure these are tied to RPI or some reasonable price increase scale. On no account accept verbal statements about changing prices. For anything. Make sure they are tied to or restricted by a price/cost scale.

There are two types of Park. Residential and Leisure. You need a second permanent address to live on a leisure park and you will almost certainly have to move out for 2 weeks each year. This relates to council tax and its avoidance.

The practicalities of living on a Park have to be considered.
Dogs are often allowed. Not a problem in itself but they can be noisy. Particularly as they can see lots of other people from the deck area. That can start off constant barking dog competitions and become very annoying. My friends have problems with this but they have two dogs of their own. So, they accept it.

There are some great parks and some good owners. Pick the right ones, ensure you have financial safeguards and you should be very happy. Pick the wrong one and the wrong owners and you could have serious problems. I encourage you to watch the documentaries.

[Mixedkompany]

A further point.
Lots of the Parks get sold on to new owners. They then change the rules on charges and anything they like.
This will only result in price increases because they are recouping their investment. And there are only limited ways of doing this. Adding more vans and lodges for example. Often ignoring the planning rules.
Modern vans/lodges are usually well insulated. To be honest this may be the least of your worries.

[beddie]

I don’t have any experience of Park Homes but my advice would be to do as much research as you can and then importantly take legal advice, preferably by some one who has first hand experience of dealing with these.

[Foshiznik]

The main issue I have (my auntie and uncle live in one) is how you can hear people moving no matter where they are in the house as every movement or activity reverberates through the structure. That includes going to the toilet!!

[Row x]

The main issue I have (my auntie and uncle live in one) is how you can hear people moving no matter where they are in the house as every movement or activity reverberates through the structure. That includes going to the toilet!!

Not my experience, probably depends where the loo is, as in any house, one i go to the loo is three doors away from the lounge and you hear nothing

[Somethingfishy]

My mum lives on Gawthorpe Edge off Padiham Rd. She loves it. She has one of the bigger double sized ones so once inside it feels like a regular bungalow. I've been in one of her neighbours and it was only a single and has the look and feel of a Haven holiday static with the open plan kitchen etc
They hold or even gain in value as they are well sought after because the availability of good bungalows in Burnley is low. Any that come up are often snapped up in no time.

The downside is there is an annual rent/maintenance fee to the landowner and whilst it seems well kept you don't often see them at work. Money for old rope.
They also take 10% of any sale so you'd need to make sure it's right for you because upping sticks again could be costly.

I had the same reservations about her living in a "caravan" but it feels nothing like that.

[JoeAM89]

My parents live in Stubbins Vale in Sabden, and absolutely love it. They have a static caravan, not a park home though. They live there all year round, apart from when they go on holiday. Don't have a single regret. Bills are dirt cheap too. I think they pay about £2k per year in site fees.

[ALHAMBRA 1925]

We've lived in a park home for two years now in the Ribble valley.
We are very content, it's full residential and very peaceful.
Over fifty fives only.
All my neighbours are pleasant ( even the blue and white ones) plenty of Clarets here.
We're warm as toast in winter and the gas/electric are
very reasonable.
Make sure the home is built to BS3632 and make sure you get a " written statement " from the Park owner.
We're glad we downsized it freed up funds in our retirement to do a load of travelling.
Also note that if you are a full residential you don't need to vacate for two weeks a year.
Good luck and have a good look round the park you like and walk about and ask the residents a few questions.
UTC.

[Nonayforever]

I have one in the Ribble Valley.
It's better in most respects than a house apart from the investment potential.
It's better insulated than most houses, therefore cheaper to run. No parking war's, no unpleasant neighbours, no noise ( strict rules ), reasonable fees ( £3,500pa) fantastic rural setting, full services (wi-fi, waste, site maintenance, gardening etc etc )
The site I'm on is year round so don't have to move out.
I have other properties on which i pay rates which satisfy that Ribble Valley council clause, although other residents get around that clause quite easily.
The only disadvantage is that the lodge doesn't appreciate in value the same as a house, although I'm free to sell it to whoever I want.

[Row x]

I have one in the Ribble Valley.
It's better in most respects than a house apart from the investment potential.
It's better insulated than most houses, therefore cheaper to run. No parking war's, no unpleasant neighbours, no noise ( strict rules ), reasonable fees ( £3,500pa) fantastic rural setting, full services (wi-fi, waste, site maintenance, gardening etc etc )
The site I'm on is year round so don't have to move out.
I have other properties on which i pay rates which satisfy that Ribble Valley council clause, although other residents get around that clause quite easily.
The only disadvantage is that the lodge doesn't appreciate in value the same as a house, although I'm free to sell it to whoever I want.

Is it a lodge, or a park homes?, two completely different things

[JohnDearyMe]

Be very very very careful with this, do your homework on the owners of the site.
There are a lot owned by a rough family that will not let you move your van off site, and will only give you a tiny fraction of what you paid if you want to move out. I can put you in contact with someone who has had a terrible experience with this and lost a a huge sum of money.

Private Eye routinely write about these sorts of scenarios in most editions.

[Terrier]

Friends of ours live in a relatively new park home which is fantastic inside and a third bigger than most bungalows in burnley in size, smaller garden but that's no problem to them as they get older.
Site fees are about £200 a month but the band a cost compared to their old b/m home and the vastly reduced water,gas and electric bring this down.
They say more than worth it for the peace and quiet and one more thing is current new homes being brought on site are priced at £235000 so the caravan comparison is silly.
Not far from burnley in lovely countryside!

[Clovius Boofus]

Too many pitfalls for me. Legislation is needed, especially for those sites that run on a full residential licence and have permanent, year-round occupation.

[Row x]

Too many pitfalls for me. Legislation is needed, especially for those sites that run on a full residential licence and have permanent, year-round occupation.

In what respect?

I know people who have been on a residential park home site for 15 years with no problems, despite a change in owners of the site, the only change made was dogs are now allowed
The home is 100% owned by the occupiers, and sales are made via estate agents, with no input from the site owners at all.

[Clovius Boofus]

In what respect?

Well, reading through this thread will give you the gist as to what I'm on about. The site owners can price people out by raising sites fees and changing T&C. I'm happy that you know people who have had a good experience, but there are many of others where the opposite is true. Like I said, legislation is required to protect the residents from rouge operators. Private Eye magazine has loads on this.

[get stuck in tracy]

Have a look at Bridge Heywood in Read, well run holiday site run by decent people.