To ask for advice with a financial/camping dilemma?

I can't imagine letting my parents do this for me. Savings if that was their long-term plan, selling things or remortgaging. I'd be mortified.

Does your son know your plan @Twoshoesnewshoes?

I think you need to start a separate thread for this question!

OP I entirely get you wanting to help your kids with the deposit. As you have said this has come sooner than you expected. Does he know that?
if he has saved £40k himself, perhaps he uses that as his deposit now, and you help when he comes to move on and you are in the right position for yourself.

or he waits.

They save like many others did, including me.

We have a micro camper - Peugeot Partner with a boot jump. It's our only vehicle. We have a decent tailgate awning which I think is essential - sitting in the campervan is cramped and there's nowhere to put stuff while in bed mode.

Other downside of this set up is the lack of inside cooking facilities. But we love it.

My door neighbour rents his VW camper for 1500 a week could you do that fro a few weeks to get it to pa for itself

Yes because every young person has 40k lying around

Why do you need to release funds? If you haven’t got it spare, then he needs to fund it.

I love our campervan, we use it all the time.
I would rather not go away than sleep in a tent.

Please make sure your investment is protected if your son is or gets married!

I’m going against the grain here I feel but I agree if you give to two children you must give to the third! I would be crushed if my parents gave a deposit to my sister but not to me as they had bought a camper van.

However, the timing is another question is there any wiggle room in when he needs the money. Can he wait a year?

I would rather sell the van than take out a 400 a month mortgage for 5 years

The money you save by not paying site fees etc can go towards other weekends away

or buy a doer upper caravan there are many on the market

I’m a bit tight/strict on this sort of thing. Presumably your son is living with you currently, is working, and has a pretty cheap cost of living. He should be using this opportunity to save. Is he out spending and enjoying himself then you’re going to sacrifice something you love so that he doesn’t need to? He needs to learn that you need to save if you want things

I would sell the van, reduce my monthly trips away to every other month and stay in nice hotels instead of a tent.

Is your son aware of your financial position? I would feel absolutely terrible if my dad sold his beloved camper van (or remortgaged his house) to give me money - even if a sibling had already received help. It’s the last thing I’d want - I’d rather my parents enjoy their well-earned savings. Talk to him, tell him you want to help him and are saving but only have x amount so far.

I havent read the full thread but I am commenting as a Conveyancer. It is lovely that you are doing this for your son. One thing to keep in mind is, as you will be providing a gift, the conveyancer will be required to evidence the source of the gifted funds. If you are remortgaging, keep any paperwork to confirm this and in an ideal world you would receive the remortgage payment in an account set up for this purpose without any other money (other than the van money if applicable) being paid into it. If there are other monies into the account you will be required to evidence the source of those monies. With regards to the van payment, keep paperwork/receipts and ideally sell it to a business and receive the payment into the account above. AML regulations are a pain, and if you do the above it would limit the huge admin burden you may otherwise have.

It's a head Vs heart decision. No one owns a VW campers for cheap holidays, they pay for the van life experience. If you're remortgaging anyway I'm inclined to think you can't afford to keep it. Me, I'd prefer to spend £400 on a weekend away 3-4 times a year and free up the other 8-9 x £400 p.a., but that would not be the sacrifice for me that it would be for you. Maybe there is a sleep pod alternative that might work for you. You can even get conversion kits for estate cars. But I wouldn't go back to a tent, and I'd worry you'd never get your VW back.

If you must remortgage, get very good life & critical illness cover.

I wonder if it might be more sustainable to help your son out with his mortgage payments rather than giving him so much upfront, that you don't really have to spare.

This is so true! We often go away for one or two nights, and we just wouldn't have done that with the tent! We also camp all yar round, which we definitely wouldn't have done in the tent

Keep your van. You will get more than £400 of fun out of it (you know this). A tent is not comfortable, takes more time to erect, cold and damp in UK climate, everything is on the wobble in a tent, you cannot take good clothing in a tent, beds are so much better in a van.

We love camping (couple in 30s with a school child) however I dread setting up and packing down every single time we go. It takes a good 1.5-2 hours, you’re having to unpack the car and then when packing down you’re playing Tetris with the boot. When everything is set up I love it but it’s such a hassle. Then add in to that the British weather, if setting up in the wind or rain it’s just a nightmare.

We only go away camping now if it’s a long weekend because a Friday - Sunday just isn’t long enough for the stress of setting up.

We are looking to get a camper in the next few years as we’re getting sick of the set up so I wouldn’t go backwards to a tent.

Your not going to be able to re- afford to buy the campervan.
The depreciation is almost negligible so the issue is, how can you keep the campervan and therefore enjoy the lifestyle while you can.

So. Asking for help.
Do you have parents who might be willing to give you an inheritance early, and therefore avoid giving it to the tax man. Seven year old gifts dont count as deprivation of income and care homes will take everything. It might be a difficult conversation but easily worth £40,000.

Or mad solution.
Can you rent out your home and live in your campervan for the whole summer. I've had more than one friend who couldn't really afford their mortgage and spent summers camping ( whilst still working) . They both and rented out their houses for 6 + weeks a year ( school holidays) to make ends meet. One put a fence up halfway down the garden and camped at the end. It sounds mad until you do the maths.
You would still need to take out a loan to give him £20,000 but that wouldnt need to be secured against your house and then you could add to it what you could afford each year.

Or change the problem.
You could be a guarantor on your sons longer term mortgage.
Or
He could apply for a 40 year mortgage and you could give him various financial gifts along the way to shorten the term as you can afford them.

Or you could get a second job ?