Static Caravan owners!

[katienana]

So we are very close to buying a pre owned static on a very popular site. Going to stay there till September!
It comes with all the inventory but I want to buy new bed linen for example - where do you get sheets for the small single beds?
What little things do you have in your static that make it extra nice?
We always take board games and DVDs for wet weather, any other ideas?
I can see me turning into one of those owners that have a full on garden with picket fence in front of the plot!

Might try netmums should've said I was buying a holiday cottage...

We used to have one and never found smaller fitted sheets, just used singles and tucked them well. We had all the usual tv, games consol, bbq and I just bought lots of nice cushions and throws to make it less caravan like. Loved it, when kids were small it was fab, ours was in Whitstable Kent so had several great summers but sadly gave it up when kids became teens, sold it back to the site for less than half the original price . We rarely used the club house etc but our site had a pool that was lovely in the summer. We had a raised deck built around ours which gave us some extra outside space.

Happy times down the van!!

i use single sheets and if they keep coming off i use some of those bed sheet straps that go on corners of the sheets

John Lewis do small single.

I’d say don’t do it at all honestly. It was ok for a couple of years but then you get bored of doing the exact same things in the exact same place. The fees go up every year, the resale value back to the site even after 1 year is pittyfull. They are just money pits.

Also just because right now the site says no age limit doesn’t mean it won’t change and re applied to your caravan, most only allow decking to be built by certain companies who they get a nice cut from. Take a look at king fisher in Lincolnshire their owners have had a right mare with them for the last couple of years with various licence issues and then booting people off. Another site in Lincolnshire charges a £5,000! Change of name if you sell it privately to someone else should you decide to give up and then charge the new owner a higher site fee too. Another in the area a big well known name say all private sales still need to go though them, what they actually do is steal your buyer by offering in them more perks/freebies all so they can buys yours back cheap to sell on again.

I don't have one but my parents did for many years which I used quite a lot. They are basically tin boxes which can get very chilly, so make sure you have plenty of cosy blankets/duvets, plus decent heating, even for summer nights. I don't know how overlooked it is, and I hate them myself, but you might need net curtains or blinds if you have huge picture windows. If you are allowed one, a small lockable outside cabinet is useful so you don't have to keep carrying tools etc backwards and forwards. And lastly please don't stake out your plot with a huge fuck-off deck and fencing made of hideous plastic like the next door neighbours did. So chavvy

If you are near a Boundary Mill store, they sell small single fitted sheets, 2ft 6in.

A lot only allow those plastic decks now. They get good commission.

Brilliant some great tips! We're not expecting to make any money on it but with the world in its current state we want a safe place to holiday. We are an hour away from site so will get lots of use out of it.
We were looking at leasing a flash car this year so doing this instead which the whole family will enjoy...i think my kids will get better memories from a caravan than they would a nice Audi!

I’ve got a static in N Yorks.
It’s fabulous and we love it but just check before you sign on the dotted line that if push comes to shove you could walk away from the money without bankrupting yourself
At the end of the day you only get to lease the land it stands on and you are at the mercy of the site owner be it a big conglomerate or a farmer letting out his field.
Our site owner gets a call every week from one of the big guys, if they make a big enough offer , my £25k investment will go up in smoke
But at least I won’t be paying for it from now till kingdom come as thankfully it is all paid for
Be sure you have dg for warmth and condensation and ch
It was freezing in ours yesterday while it peed down all day

I had my first static when kids were babies and after ten years the site owner kicked us off and a few other older vans also.
Fortunately we’d bought a cottage down there, so we’re leaving anyway but there were a lot of very upset people with lovely cared for vans who were left high and dry.
They couldn’t afford to upgrade and their vans were scrapped.

Double check how old your caravan is allowed to be. Some places have rules about it, and replacing one can be VERY expensive.
Also double check fees for the next few years. Some places have an itroductory offer for the first year but then subsequent years are very expensive.

A small portable heater is a hood idea

I absolutely love mine! I didn’t buy brand new but fortunately have dg and ch, essential as we use it 11 months of the year.
I haven’t got nets as I hate them, some people use mirror film but I’m not bothered. I have got a chavvy plastic deck which I love sitting on, drinking wine, reading a book. It’s great for my (non-barking) dog too.
Amazon sell the small sheets too.
If you use Facebook there are a couple of pages you might like Pimp my Static and Static Caravan Chat.
It is expensive but the freedom we have to go as often as we want, take the dog and the DGC love it too.
I’m still in lockdown but so looking forward to going again.

My parents have an ecstatic ❤️ caravan on Arran. It's the best thing they ever did. Nope, it's not an investment. It's spending your money on something you love.

Our family has been hugely enriched in so many ways by enjoying the caravan and all that it brings.

Enjoy van life! Ours doesn't have WiFi which to me is a bonus. Decking is a must.

Definitely need patio furniture for it, and a bbq.
Patio is fine instead of decking. A fence is very important (for us anyway).
Remember to get insurance for it, its only £100 a year roughly.
Check how many months of the year you can use it.

NEVER forget to winterise your caravan when you leave it empty for the season.
Get a garden storage box / shed (Keyes sell them) for beach toys, chairs etc.
Ours was an absolute money pit, but I did love it!

Bloody autocorrect! Keter.....

How far away from home is it?

For your handover, you need to know who the local calor gas person is, and which days they deliver to site. A telephone number for a local gas engineer to do your yearly check (there might be a deal where they come out and do several people on the site at the same time).

Also, and most importantly, how to close down / switch off water and gas for the winter months.

DON'T forget to drain down your pipes and boiler - otherwise it can be an expensive fix in the Spring time!

No advice but I am v jealous!

Enjoy.

We have one in the family & it gets used all the time. We have DG & CH. it's a home from home right next to a sandy beach an hour and twenty minutes away. We all love it down there.

Nintendo console down there, dvds, wind breakers and chairs, patio with a bbq. Games, play stuff for garden, We get the paddling pool out on hot days. It always feels like a break as it's so much quicker to tidy up & you don't get sidetracked into doing stuff for the hell of it. It's proper family time.

The boys spend more time outside when down there too.

Love how we don't need anything to take except food. Hairbrush, dryer, toothpaste and washing stuff is always down there so doesn't take long to go. Love it. Fantastic memories too.

Enjoy!

We are 100% going to add a deck. It overlooks a play area so I can be enjoying a cuppa while the kids play.
Thanks for the Facebook recommendations @caramac04 I will have a happy few hours browsing!
Its a 2015 van so not too old, caravans can be any age. Its piped gas which is good. The plot is a really good one, we would have to get a top of the range brand new caravan via the site owners to get on this plot. It's a 10 month season, would have preferred year round but I probably wouldn't be using it all that much in Jan/Feb anyway.
We have looked at tons of sites locally and this is the best deal for us, its a busy site which wouldn't suit everyone but for my kids it is ideal. They've been so starved of interaction lately but looking round the sites they made friends everywhere we went.
@HowManyNameChangesNow its an hours drive, so can easily do weekends there.
DH family had one when he was growing up so he's always fancied it, lockdown just gave us the impetus to do it.

Look on Ebay or buy from a caravan shop, I know you can buy sheets for all the shaped fixed beds for touring caravans, it's the 2'6" singles in statics that are the problem.

Check everything when you get the keys.
I'm currently in my dad's and I'm glad he has it (for himself but for us to borrow too).
But when he got it there were various dodgy things that needed to be fixed.
Eg they said they would replace mattresses and didn't.

I wouldn't buy a static because in most cases you have to sell back to the site owner who gives you a fraction of what your caravan is worth, they won't have caravans over a certain age, any work has to be done by people the site owner employs & gets a cut from. Buy the biggest touring caravan you can get, it will be cheaper than buying a static, you will actually own it & if you get fed up with the site you can move it somewhere else. Lots of sites have seasonal pitches where you can leave your tourer set up on a pitch for the season, leave your awning up. A twin axle caravan is around 25' long & 8' wide, you can get an awning that is the same length as your caravan & at least 3 metres wide which more than doubles your space, you can have wet central heating which is as good as your heating at home, a proper shower room, slot in cooker, full size fridge freezer.