Anyone own or owned a static caravan or chalet type thing?

[ArsendLupin]

I've always had a notion of having a static caravan in a holiday park by the sea, somewhere Northern so that we could get to it within a couple of hours.

DH is finally sort of on board with the concept of it, having realised that his love affair with long haul luxury holidays may not be sustainable at present.

Anyway I haven't really got a clue where to start. I've tried looking at some parks online and a few have caravans for sale but I don't know what I'm looking at, and why there's such a price difference. I also can't see much about yearly costs or how long a lease you get. All I can tell is that chalets seem much more expensive.

Any tips for a beginner or experience would be welcome!

@LemonRoses

Ours is a three-bedroom beachfront lodge. It is a fantastic bolt hole that pays for itself with profit alongside, at the moment. We could not have bought a beachfront bricks and mortar for the price and we have no need to fret about maintenance or cleaning etc. Everything is done. We negotiated decking and skirting, metal storage shed, fenced garden area, upgrade to Hypnos mattresses and a washer/drier included in purchase price. They were very open to bartering.

We have a holiday cottage too, but it is not as easy just to turn up and use. It needs far more maintenance and our time there involves garden tidying, odd jobs etc.

They can be a huge money burner, so do your sums wisely and don't borrow to buy one. But, ours will have repaid the purchase cost after about five years at ten weeks a year rental. We have no desire for school holiday use and so rent at peak times. The lodge has a rental life of twenty years with some small replacements of mattresses and similar.
After that we still get to keep it on site, if we choose or we can sell and replace. The lease is for forty-five years so we'll be dead by the time its up. The actual lodge will depreciate, but we'll have had at least ten years of rental at profit after purchase price covered in first five years. It's currently renting at £1,500 for three night breaks and £3,850 for peak weeks. As yet, there is no evidence of it swallowing money.

Ours has 52 week use for owners, but park closes to renters from end of October to beginning of March. There is no limit on how long we can stay but we are required to have a permanent address where we pay council tax.

£3,850???

That's absolutely ludicrous.... You could take a luxury cruise round the world for less than that!!!!!!

We have one near Henley on Thames. In Hurley. We bought it as my dh works not to far away so he stays there during the week. We love it. The site is quiet (no entertainment or pool) owners are in their own section so we've got to know the neighbours. Ours is an older static so we have 9 years left on the plot until we would need to buy either a new caravan or let the plot go to someone else.

I’m not sure you could take a luxury cruise for less, to be honest. I think a luxury cruise is more like £38, 500. Dependent on what you call luxury. That is the rent we get minus administrative cost, we don’t set the tariff, we cannot change it and people seem to book at those prices. It’s considerably less off season - drops to about a thousand then, but we don’t want it used too much.

We bought one last summer. It's an extravagance. We don't rent it out, we have it set up so we can go every weekend. It's an hours drive for us. Costs over £5k in site fees. We bought ours second hand. Still in great condition, we could have paid less but it was worth it to get the pitch it was on! Check gumtree for second hand vans.
We visited lots of sites before deciding, we wanted to use it a lot so needed activities and facilities in case of bad weather. If you will go less a quieter site with lower fees might be better.
Honestly it was a bit of a mad purchase but we love it, kids spend all day outside and we can relax! We will be going for the whole summer next week and I'm so excited.
Just accept that the money you spend on it is gone, like it would be if you spent it on a holiday.

Plus commercial cruising doesn’t appeal much at all.

On a previous thread about static caravans a wise MN suggested block booking a caravan on a site for the weeks you wanted and then moving on to another site the following year. She worked it out as being cheaper and less hassle than owning a caravan.
If you are in Scotland look at the cardoness estate site

I have one in France, last set foot in it in August 2019. 😩
It’s given us some fabulous holidays and has been worth every penny. Make sure you love the area and that there is enough for you to do if you plan to spend all holidays and weekends there.
I now gave a tourer on a seasonal site, slightly cheaper per year but not much on site (French site has a lot of activity). Tourers are very expensive right now, I’d make about 10% profit on what I paid for mine last year.

How much would it cost you to rent one for the weekends and holidays you'd use as opposed to owning? Have you costed both options up?

I can understand why people buy holiday homes they don't spend much time at because it's an investment and the value will go up, but a static caravan/chalet/park home is the opposite of an investment. Unless you have so much money you don't know how to spend it, I don't get the logic.

If you're on Facebook join the 'Unhappy caravan owners' group, there are over 19k members and they're trying to bring in regulations for park owners as so many people have lost thousands of pounds, it's really worth looking into properly before you speak to a salesman.

We thought about buying one but instead have bought a large touring caravan and put it on a seasonal pitch with a full sized awning on for extra space, it's obviously not as big as a static but it's always ours, we don't have to sell it back to the site owners or give the owners a cut, they can't force us off site and offer us practically nothing for it etc
We can also move it to another site if we fancy or take it away for a fortnight in the summer.

@mayblossominapril

On a previous thread about static caravans a wise MN suggested block booking a caravan on a site for the weeks you wanted and then moving on to another site the following year. She worked it out as being cheaper and less hassle than owning a caravan. If you are in Scotland look at the cardoness estate site

This makes more sense to me.

My family sell second hand static caravans.

The thing to remember is, most sites only allow up to a 10year old van to stay on site, regardless of condition.Tgen you have to buy new.
Site fees are usually expensive.
A lot of people have come to buy vans this year as a lot are mow on board with the 'staycation' ideal!
A lot of people think they can either stick a 10year old van on any site or just plonk a van in a 'mates field....'
Niether will really work.
Also a lot of sites have no access between say January- March, each site is different, please check this

Whether they call it a caravan, a chalet or a lodge, ultimately it is a very large nicely decorated shed.

After a certain period of time depending on the particular park's policies they get demolished as they're worthless.

If the rental value of a lodge is so high that its purchase price is recovered in 50 weeks then why is the park operator selling them off so cheaply and how are they making sufficient profit to stay in business themselves?

oh and also....
second hand Static Caravans are rare to get hold of at moment where we live( Wales)
And prices have gone up anything from £500-£2000 the last 18months.
We havent had any in for 5months now ( Other side of buisness is too busy to allow time for sales also)
Be aware also that new static caravans...some sites and private sellers have closed their purchase books till 2023 as very in demand and fully booked!

@LemonRoses

I’m not sure you could take a luxury cruise for less, to be honest. I think a luxury cruise is more like £38, 500. Dependent on what you call luxury. That is the rent we get minus administrative cost, we don’t set the tariff, we cannot change it and people seem to book at those prices. It’s considerably less off season - drops to about a thousand then, but we don’t want it used too much.

It's not about what you want though is it? It's about what is essentially pure greed. Let's be fair. I've just mentioned this to my Mum after we were previously discussing how some holiday operators, owners & companies are massively taking advantage this year, of the current situation (my parents owned a Travel Agency & Tour Company). My Mum was absolutely dumbfounded and nearly dropped the phone. Utterly speechless.

As for cruises I've just looked at a 21 day round the world cruise - £3,195! Including drinks, spa access, balcony with a view, all gratuities AND flights & a hotel for one night either end!

I don't doubt Caravans & 'luxury' Lodges are expensive to run and expensive to buy - particularly on prime plots - and yea, some are very, very nice. However once it reaches the point where it's costing guests more than it would for two weeks in the Caribbean (or a Cruise for twice as many nights than they'd get in the Lodge), then you need to start thinking that there's something massively wrong somewhere....

Thankfully the Government are soon to be introducing regulation limiting the percentage at which owners/operators can inflate prices for the school holidays. It's about time too.

Factors to look at are -

Price of static - we paid 20K
Annual charge - we pay 3K
Cost of decking etc - ours was included
Number of years on lease - we got 10 yrs

Many people go half with a family member which can make it a lot more affordable. We went halves with my mum and love ours!

@Gertie75
I think you have the right idea
You are portable and beholden to no one and if your site has a good toilet and shower block then win win

Also important to consider life stages
If you have elderly parents then you can find your weekends eaten up by helping them out

We got our first static in 1979 when parents and our children were young
I got this one 4 years ago
Both of us retired and no parents
We are literally in a private owned field and we’re allowed to bring on own van with no time limit
No facilities on site and we pay just over £2k a year
In fact it’s possibly one of the youngest here and it’s 16 years old
Since lockdown was broken on April 12 we’ve probably only had 3 weeks at home all told

We paid £13k for a 40 by 12 2 bed with ch and dg
A must
Our over large verandah was £4.5 k , solid wood
We’ve refurbed a lot of it but if we were to rent it wouldn’t command £3,800 in peak weeks
Obviously you’d need a better site and all singing and dancing
Ours is for our use alone
We’re half hour from york and use it a lot for dining,entertainment and shopping
Also my dil and children live close by
We live near the beach so wanted to be inland

Definitely fb unhappy static owners is a good place to start
If you do decide on a static don’t buy in preloved, ebay or gumtree unless you know you have a site that will accept you

There’s a reason why they are cheap and that’s because owners can’t get them on sites of their choice or any site at all

Do get everything in writing and even then there’s no guarantee

If you get every that ticks your boxes
It’s a fabulous life
On a good run we can spend the night in york and be back ‘home’in 20 minutes
As there tends to be no tractors on the road late at night 😂

@mumofblueeyes
Going halves with a relative is a good idea
Sadly my relatives can’t afford half 😂

@LemonRoses do you get £3850 pw peak for letting your lodge in a standard year or are these COVID prices? I'm shocked that anyone would pay this much for a week self catering in a 3 bed lodge the U.K. I feel a bit sceptical about that and would not want OP to bank on this.

[quote TheWatersofMarch]@LemonRoses do you get £3850 pw peak for letting your lodge in a standard year or are these COVID prices? I'm shocked that anyone would pay this much for a week self catering in a 3 bed lodge the U.K. I feel a bit sceptical about that and would not want OP to bank on this.[/quote]
To be clear, we are talking six peak weeks at that sort of price. Probably higher this year than other years, but yes we do, and no you can’t budget for that for a regular income over an extended period.
It does pay over and above our costs including purchase though.

At some parks four night breaks are over £2, 000. Not our but as example.
bookings.ariaresorts.co.uk/AvailabilityRange.aspx

Can’t show examples for full weeks as all sold out. Undoubtedly Covid19 has pushed prices up, but that’s about market forces and what people pay.
Ours isn’t a particularly cheap park anyway because it’s aimed at people who want a specific location that has direct beach access and good seafood restaurants rather than a chippy and karaoke. You can definitely find cheaper places usually, but we don’t want to play Bingo or watch sport on giant screens. We also don’t particularly want to rent to large families with younger children who will increase wear and tear.

It's so expensive you could probably go at least 10 weekends away for same price as your annual fees and costs. I like the idea of it but reality is that unless u are using it a lot it's not worth it.

My aunt had one it was beautiful and she paid to get decking put up. Think she must have spent close to £40K by the time she added on the extras. She was struggling to pay all the fees and costs and decided to start renting it out. The second occupant trashed the place and stole the tv. She ended up selling it after about 2-3 years and got back less than half her money. The site took a chunk of the sale 🙄

I recently looked into this. After purchase, it worked out it would cost about £500+ per month to run which seems extortionate yo me.

I bought mine in the Lake District last summer after spending a lot of time researching the pros and cons. I bought a 10 yr old, 2 bed van for £22k and the site fees are £3k - cheaper this year because of VAT reduction. It is a lifestyle choice and I absolutely love it. It's a 2 hour drive away which is the maximum I'd want to do. Me and my family have total freedom to go whenever we want, don't have to think about packing anything more than a change of clothes, I always have wine in the fridge and food in the cupboards and the beds are always made up. The grandkids have total freedom to play out with so much space. We can walk for miles or do nothing all day. Yes it will depreciate to virtually nothing over the next 10 years but I will of had a lifestyle I dream of for that time. Ours is a smallish site with no rentals which feels safer and has a strong community feel. Either me or my adult children and grandkids are there every weekend and I've just spent 10 glorious days there instead of going on a twice-cancelled cruise! No regrets except wish I could of afforded it years ago. I advise doing plenty of research in to choosing your site, then spend plenty of time picking your plot.

I love my static, we are very lucky on the site as there are no rules as to the age of the vans, mine is 20 years old and I have decorated it in a great sort of mid-century/kitsch mashup.

We have had some fantastic times there with all the family, my dgs absolutley loves it there, so much freedom to play safely etc, I bloody love it if I can get there and be on my own last year I moved in in july and left the last week of september with dh coming and going as work would allow.

costs are not to bad,
£120 a month ground rent
New gas bottle £80 (one will last a season for us)
Insurance £120 a year
Electricity about £50 per season
Gas safety check £80 per year
we also do our own drain down, the site owner offered to show us how to do it, its easy peasy so I would begrudge a site that insisted on payment for doing it.

We are not allowed to sub let, nor would I want to, I see it as a second home and I would hate having strangers in, I would not buy anything that I would need to do this for to offset costs.

@Bluebarney That sounds idyllic in the Lakes. Have just spent 3 glorious days there with my dog in a B and B. I long to move there at some point but would love to know about the site you are at. Hope you dont mind if I DM you?