Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To give up renting and go and live in a mobile home?

69 replies

Milkshakebelly · 01/08/2017 13:50

DH and I have been renting for the past 10 years. The likelihood of us ever getting on the property ladder is slim to none. I'm sick of renting and out rent is going up each year, I'm worried that it will get to a point where we will have to downsize because we won't be able to afford the rent as it keeps increasing.

I've seen a company on Facebook that builds luxurious mobile homes - I mean REALLY luxurious. To look at them on the inside you would think they were houses. I dismissed the idea as the likelihood of us finding land to park it on round here is unlikely.

However, I've been told by someone that there is a local farmer that owns a lot of land and may be willing to let us use abit of his land for this purpose.

I've told my parents and they have gone apeshit. They think it's an awful idea. In my eyes it means our "rent" would be dramatically reduced and we would own it, have abit of land around us instead of being squashed into a 3 bed terrace.

AIBU? We have two young DC's if that makes a difference.

OP posts:
ShatnersWig · 01/08/2017 13:53

Farmer may sell you land. Planning may not allow you to put a home on it. Look into this very carefully (although I think it's a great idea) before committing to anything.

tyvm1 · 01/08/2017 13:53

If it works out cheaper then go for it. But would you have electricity and gas? Be able to cook in it, heat it and so on? Connecting utilities could cost a fortune. How much would the farmer charge in rent? Would you have a proper contract? Also the homes themselves aren't cheap....
You can buy these homes on proper plots.

In principle yanbu but it could be very expensive and difficult. I'd look into it Smile

mrscropley · 01/08/2017 13:53

Wow!! Am envious!! My dc would love this - so would me and dh!!
Go for it!!

twoheaped · 01/08/2017 13:54

Have you thought about pp to site it on farmland? It is unusual to just be able to plonk a caravan on a bit of land. You can bet your bottom dollar somebody will draw the council's attention to it.
Also electric and water supply, have you thought about that?

Laska5772 · 01/08/2017 13:55

It would be very unlikely to confirm to local planning rules .

NerrSnerr · 01/08/2017 13:55

If it's just on a farmer's land and not a real site would there be electric, water and where would the contents of your toilet go?

Original poster
Milkshakebelly · 01/08/2017 13:55

Tyvm - I'm really not sure. I have no idea how these sorts of things work Blush We have quite a lot of travellers who live in the area and they seems to have just plonked their older style mobile homes on fields so I wondered how they got around with water and electricity etc. The homes themselves are about £50,000 for a 3 bed.

OP posts:
Original poster
Milkshakebelly · 01/08/2017 13:58

This is the sort of thing I'm talking about

To give up renting and go and live in a mobile home?
To give up renting and go and live in a mobile home?
OP posts:
ButchyRestingFace · 01/08/2017 13:59

You can buy these homes on proper plots

This.

It all sounds a bit nebulous. Confused. A farmer "may be willing".

What happens if/when he stops being willing and wants to increase/sell the land?

And the cost of running utilities to it.

mokaerisifhija · 01/08/2017 13:59

They aren't pleasant to live in in winter. They are OK in warm weather as you can get a good flow of air through, but in winter if you are trying to keep warm you will get damp and mold problems and if you keep air circulation to avoid that you will be cold.

Will you try to get plumbed into the sewage system or will you pump out septic waste regularly?

Original poster
Milkshakebelly · 01/08/2017 14:02

We've looked into the homes on proper plots but there aren't any in the area that we want to live and also the cost of them on the plots etc is quite expensive

OP posts:
jay55 · 01/08/2017 14:04

The cost on plots will be higher as they'll have proper acesss to utilities etc.

MeanAger · 01/08/2017 14:05

You're getting a fair bit ahead of yourself aren't you? You have no idea if there is even a farmer, if they have land, if they will sell, if you need planning permission, if you would have water/electric/sewage hookups.

Your question is very premature. You have a few others you need to answer before you can ask this one.

MeanAger · 01/08/2017 14:06

Fwiw, in some parts of my area you can get a 3 bed house (proper house, plumbing and everything) for £40k.

Original poster
Milkshakebelly · 01/08/2017 14:09

I don't think I am mean The question is regarding giving up renting and living in a mobile home - my parents think it's an awful idea full stop regardless of whether we had all of what you have mentioned. An average three bed in my area is £230,000 so I think you are incredibly lucky to have housing for £40,000

OP posts:
Efferlunt · 01/08/2017 14:10

You can't just plonk it down on some farmland though. You might be able to find a trailer park type place with a site but you'd still need to rent the plot etc and you wouldn't have the same protections as if you were a renter.

Emma2803 · 01/08/2017 14:11

You will definitely need planning permission for your mobile home. You will be forced to move otherwise. We lived in one for three years on our site for our house while we built it. You will also have to consider heating, electricity and sewage. We were lucky, hubby plumbed in central heating and a sewage system and we were able to connect to in laws electricity. If we didn't have planning permission for our house we would have had to remove the mobile.

belmontian · 01/08/2017 14:12

We are in the same position OP and have looked into the same idea. An elderly relative of mine lives in a development of these luxury caravans homes and loves it. You do need to bear in mind that they have a 'shelf life' though; the salesperson we spoke to reckoned about 20-25 years, so they are not an investment per se, rather a short term solution to the exorbitant rental market.

My relative has lived there about 7 years now and some of the early homes look dated and a bit scruffy. They are coastal and need scrubbed every year because a green slimy film envelops them every year. Just something to think about! But YANBU to try to consider alternative living arrangements.

MeanAger · 01/08/2017 14:13

You are because as it stands you don't even know what living in this mobile home consists of. No-one can say if you are unreasonable or not without knowing what the living conditions would be. Would you be renting the land off the farmer? Would you have shared access to the land, would you have all the utilities etc. the answer to those questions will determine how people answer your AIBU. You don't have enough information for people to tell you whether yabu or not.

Emma2803 · 01/08/2017 14:13

Ps if you had all of the above it would be a great idea!! I love our mobile and it was a tiny two bed, it was so cosy!

honeyroar · 01/08/2017 14:16

You need to look into it properly. Find out if the farmer will really let you and what rent he'd want, find out if he has permission for a static caravan all year round. Find out if any electric or sanitary services are available (and if not how and where you can empty your tank..). Once you know the logistics of all that you can get excited.

Nabootique · 01/08/2017 14:23

You do need to bear in mind that they have a 'shelf life' though

This was what put me off. I looked into it in quite a lot of depth recently as I was considering it. The ones I was looking at were on a proper site, but the above, coupled with the risk that the land could be sold and you'd have to move the home (expensive from what I read) and the value of the home plummets pretty quickly and you can't really sell them on easily, made me rule it out.

Having said all of that, if you're going in with your eyes open and you still feel it suits then go for it. Not up to your parents.

Nabootique · 01/08/2017 14:26

Oh, and you can't usually get a standard mortgage on them. There are companies that specialise in loans to buy them, but they cost a fortune. It worked out I wouldn't really be paying much less than I would in rent for a two bed, but the mobile home I was looking at was more like 80k (ridiculously expensive area).

RainbowsAndUnicorn · 01/08/2017 14:32

If it were just the two of you you could risk it but I wouldn't with children. Living in some field at the whim of a farmer in basically a posh caravan wouldn't appeal to many children for more than a week or so.

ratspeaker · 01/08/2017 14:33

What honeyroar said. You really need to know you have a site available and that you have permission to stay there.

Plus look into the cost of getting it taken to the plot, cost of connection to utilities especially water, electric and sewerage.

A lot of static homes can have central heating either by oil fired boiler , with a big oil tank or gas bottles ( you can get large gas storagetanks but the regulations are strict )

There are residential parks scattered around the country. Although you own the home you pay ground rent.
Often you have to pay them for electric ( so you cant shop around)
Different parks have their own rules as to age of occupants, age of static homes , number of pets
Its becoming more common for the parks to be for retired or semi retired.

Swipe left for the next trending thread