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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Static Caravan as a home?

132 replies

ladybird0718 · 24/09/2018 15:57

Hi All, I'm a long time lurker but first time posting and just wanted some advice. Me and my DH live with my husbands parents, have done for 6 years, its been great, they are lovely people. We decided to move in as I wasn't happy where we were living, it was rented house and not only was it helping us when we moved in it also helped them. We are in a debt plan so a mortgage is off the cards. Anyway, it has been lovely being here. This year we purchased our own Static Caravan on a holiday park, we talked about it for a long time and decided to just do it...Best thing we ever did, we go every weekend and spend as much of the school holidays as we can there, our DS loves it. We are now thinking of moving into this permanently (well almost as it closes for 8 weeks during winter), this is the nearest we will get to owning our own home without paying huge rent bills and when we are there we just feel so less stressed, relaxed, calm and happier in general. It has everything on site for us and DS. Its not a far commute from where we work (around 50 minutes), however, we appreciate there could be traffic in the mornings/evenings but we will get through this somehow. I just wondered if anyone else has lived in a static caravan or knows people who do. I suppose my only issue is how cold it could get in the colder months but we've been looking at insulation. We have double glazing and oil heaters. Our caravan is only 2 years old. During the closure of the park we would come back to DH's parents house which is not a problem.

OP posts:
FaFoutis · 24/09/2018 16:41

The park I lived on was open 12 months year, they don't all close over winter.

serbska · 24/09/2018 16:45

I guess you can still have your official address at your DPs parents if you need to anyway?

brizzledrizzle · 24/09/2018 16:49

Not for school places they can't.

Scatteredthoughtss · 24/09/2018 16:49

What do you do during the other months though? Go back?

Original poster
ladybird0718 · 24/09/2018 16:50

We've covered extra petrol cost within our budget :-) Its approx 50mins for work and school so yeah DS would be commuting every morning/evening for a length of time depending on traffic etc, however, these are things we've thought about and found ways to try and compromise or ease the early morning get-ups. I would reduce my hours 2-3 days a week so we could get home at a reasonable time to ensure DS is always feeling like he's getting home late etc...and we'd be commuting by car so not overly bad, it could be worse if we could all be commuting by train. Playdates not really an issue to be honest however, he's now in Year 3 and despite having lots of friends he's never had a play-date. Friends parties are usually after school say 4pm-6pm, not many have been on a weekend but if they were, again not an issue. DS could also stay over at grandparents once a week to again ease those early morning getups - he's already asked this question as we have spoke to him about it (he's 7). I hadn't really thought about the applying for senior school situation (mmmm)...

OP posts:
FaFoutis · 24/09/2018 16:51

If you are in a holiday part of the country you can often rent a holiday cottage cheaply over the winter.

AviatorShades · 24/09/2018 16:53

When I moved to the UK, with no clear idea of where I was eventually going to settle and with a son already at boarding school in the malvern area,I bought a 3-bed static. on an established site. Like others had mentioned, there was a 10 week restriction over the winter. There were many permanent residents there, including families with children at the local schools.It had its own patch of ground, a brick built shed, and heating/cooking was done by calor gas. My place also had a wood burning stove in the sittingroom, the sort behind glass doors?,off which rads for all the room were run.It was cosy and warm in the winter and seeing a proper fire was a bonus. The kitchen layout was superb and included a table and chairs - apparently it had been designed by a woman - and I think it showed! Plusses for me were all of the above.Negatives included not being able to sell on the open market but had to be sold back to the site owners and this may be be in your contract also, so worth checking.

serbska · 24/09/2018 16:53

Not for school places they can't. Well, they can if they say they do. They live at the DPs parents house and spend weekends and some weeknights at their HOLIDAY CARAVAN. I can think of worse crimes.

Laiste · 24/09/2018 16:54

Check out the park's small print about renewing vans OP. On some sites you're not allowed to pitch vans over 3/4/5 years old. (XPILs got caught out like this) Renewing your van and any re-doing insulation ect. every couple of years can be stressful and ££.

Rafflesway · 24/09/2018 16:54

I had family who lived in a static mobile home for many years due to the DH's work. ( He was a civil engineer and used to move around the country every year or two working on different contracts.). This was back in the late 60's/early 70's. To be honest, once inside their mobile home you would never have believed it was a caravan. It was bungalow shaped and had 3 bedrooms, a kitchen/diner, full bathroom, a sitting room and was wonderfully cosy. Definitely no damp problems and it certainly wasn't cold in winter. They had something like a wood burner in the sitting room and I believe they had fitted electric radiators throughout. They were always connected to mains water and electricity and had none of these 10 months residency issues as husband's contractors always sorted out plot arrangements for them although I think the rules were quite different back then. I would have been more than happy to live in their home! Smile. I would say go for it! ( My tablet not allowing paragraphs for this post - strange Confused)

Polly2345 · 24/09/2018 16:55

Senior school application - move back the in laws for a year before you apply, then go back to the caravan once he'sin a school? Not sure if that's cheeky or not? Or even allowed.

CarolDanvers · 24/09/2018 16:55

I definitely would.

CaptainKirkssparetupee · 24/09/2018 16:59

You have to be off site for 1 to 3 months a year.

PickledChutney · 24/09/2018 16:59

Wow! Status caravans are not cheap. You must have really loved living with your ILs if you’d rather spend money on a caravan than save for a mortgage or use the funds to pay off your debt.

LeftRightCentre · 24/09/2018 16:59

IF you can afford it, then yes, if you're doing it to save money, then no.

Curious2468 · 24/09/2018 17:02

How did you find a caravan of you have a debt management plan? Not meaning to sound goady but would clearing the debt and saving for a rental/mortgage not be a better long term option?

averylongtimeago · 24/09/2018 17:03

I have lived in a caravan for several years, including when the kids were at school.

If it's a modern van it will be fine in the winter- we also added extra electric panel heaters in the bedrooms. Storage can be an issue, you have to be ruthless about clutter and tidying.
The biggest problem I had was washing- have you got space for a washer? Launderettes are few and far between and cost £££. Drying clothes can also be a problem- some parks ban washing lines and drying indoors will cause condensation.

It looks like you have checked out the legal side so that's ok.

School- more of a problem, but I'm sure there are ways round it.
I would say my kids were teased about living in a caravan- be prepared for some unkind remarks about "scallys" and "gypos ".

AviatorShades · 24/09/2018 17:04

Oh! I couldn't paragraph either,Rafflesway Smile

Loonoon · 24/09/2018 17:09

I’d do it like a shot. It would be great to,have some space and give you and your PIL a break from one another. Modern caravans are lovely.

squigglybiscuit · 24/09/2018 17:12

My dad and his partner live in a static caravan (the lodge as they call it). I would say it's expensive to heat, you also find that the build quality ends up not as high as a normal house (so when things break it's more like breaking a fitted wardrobe etc) and you usually (for council tax purposes) need to vacate for One month a year. Often you can't use it for post or as a "proper" address either. There's a weird council tax/voting situation either so just be wary if you're planning on building your credit back up etc as well.

Charlie97 · 24/09/2018 17:15

@ladybird0718 you've clearly thought things through!

Bloody good on you and I hope you're all really happy

RSTera · 24/09/2018 17:31

I think if you are going to live there for all but 8 weeks of the year, some of which would be the school Christmas holidays, it might be better to move DS to a local school. A 50 min commute is going to wear thin very quickly.

AviatorShades · 24/09/2018 17:42

squigglybiscuit The Lodge? Ours was called PonderosaGrin

MrsMoastyToasty · 24/09/2018 17:49

Have you thought about the depreciation on the value of the caravan?

derxa · 24/09/2018 17:51

I'd love to live in a static caravan or a log cabin. Well done.

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