To want to live in a park home?

[OohBabyBabeh]

I mean you get a fully detached, fully customisable (can order it exactly how you want!!) can pretty much pick and choose what town to live in, it's cheap, and you get a bit of garden and land with it.

In the current housing situation we face in this country, park homes can surely be a reasonable solution ?? Please tell me I'm not the only one who has tried convincing their OH of seeing how great they can be!

Is this an advert?

What's a "park home"?

Nope! Lol @Blanchedupetitpois my OH seriously questions my sanity when I mention it but I need to know other people can see the positives of them.

Don't you have to pay rent/service charge?

@FuckNuggets

I don’t know what they are so no idea who is being unreasonable

Okay to put it bluntly they are usually found on traveller sites

I think lots of park homes don’t allow occupancy 12 months a year which could be tricky... you also need to pay fees etc and dependant on the park may need to upgrade on a regular basis but I can see the appeal

A friend has recently done this. They have cleared their debts and are in a beautiful river side location.

Kind of like static caravans blanche

I looked into it op for a holiday home but it seemed more trouble than it was worth.

I considered this as a down sizing option. However, most are only residential for 10 months of the year and the ground rent can be pretty expensive.

have you ever lived in one? it's not exactly like living in a house.....

It sounds appealing in a tiny house, downsizing, simplifying way...

But once you look into it it's shit

The parks you live on can insist you dispose of your house at your own expense every 15-20 years (at which point it's worth nothing) and replace it with a brand new one.

Site fees can be increased at any time.

Rules often prevent you living in your home 52 weeks per year

There are lots of restrictions on having a park home as a permanent address

They are not adaptable if you need a wheelchair or adaptions in old age or due to an unforeseen circumstance in the future

They are often very expensive and difficult to keep warm in winter

Parks can enforce new rules at any point.

Essentially it has an appeal at first glance but is probably absolutely rubbish and a worrying, insecure money pit long term in reality.

I'll admit I don't have personal.experience but you don't 'get a bit of land with it', there may be a grassy area next to your unit you can use as a garden but it's never going to be 'your land'.

The units will only depreciate in value until they become worthless and you'll need to fork out to buy a new one.

Many parks will only accept units less than X years old, so you'll keep having to buy newer ones as the years go on.

Many parks also say you can only live there 11 months of the year so you have to find somewhere else to live for a month, often January

I think there can also be problems getting registered with services like doctors etc as they are not seen as permanent homes, though I could be wrong about that one

We considered it too, and the fact you cannot live in them all year stopped us

there is a lovely one near us, with a private island community of semi permanent residents, but each year they have to move out for two months

we have some lovely park home sites near us, prices vary anything up to 200,000. they are residential sites, fully furnished, all services but some have calor gas and the site fees are really high. you live in them all year round like you would any home but don't know about getting a mortage for them.

Park homes are often found at Haven and Park Dean sites. Of course they are much cheaper, mainly because they have a relatively short life span in comparison to bricks and mortar.

Many sites will be restricted to 9 or 10 months a year; so unless you are retired and go to the costas for two months, Airbnb locally or stay with relatives 2 or 3 months a year, then it starts looking less appealing.

On top of that there are often issues that come up around rent and service charges (there have been some high profile watchdog investigations) and when you want to sell.

Clearly it is a cheaper approacb to home ownership, but there are many and significant downsides.

My in laws looked at this - seems a great idea to start with but once you get into the details really not worth it unless as a holiday home imo

Park home as in static caravan?

You have to be really careful you don’t get stung there OP.

Most sites say you have to replace with a new static every so often, which means your costs are much higher, it’s not a one off “buy a static to live out the days”, instead it’s “oh crap my static is reaching 5 / 10 years old and I have to find the money to fork out for a new one again or I will be kicked off site”.

There are often rules which say you must have a permanent address elsewhere also that you pay council tax for, and the worry of finding somewhere to stay over the winter when the park closes for the season.

Some caravan sites are year round living and licensed for that purpose, but they are normally less prestigious sites. I lived on one of those for a while in a tourer along with other people in similar circumstances. It was a great but constantly shifting community, low cost living but you could get some undesirables and to be honest living in a tourer over winter required preparation. Also have to be prepared for people to look down on you and have certain preconceived notions about the kind of person you must be for choosing to live on what people see as a council approved travellers site. You might find companies want you to use a care of address particularly your bank which can cause problems.

Done with your eyes open and with the right mindset and equipment it’s great and I would encourage it, but you need to know the rules of the site you choose, understand that people can have strange ideas about people who choose to live that way, and be prepared for a few difficulties along the way. It’s fine for singles or a couple without children, with children I would think twice and now I’m settled with a partner and a child on the way I wouldn’t choose it over a house which has proved much easier to manage.

As per Blueskies...think very very very very carefully before doing this.

Its mostly a con trick. First thing is first ,check check and double check that the park you move on to has a RESIDENTIAL licence. If it doesnt have one, you have NO right to LIVE there . Check with the local authority for the area. Park home site owners tell lies to get people to sign up to buy. I cannot stress this bit strongly enough.

Site owners will charge site fees. You will have plot fees which are likely to be anything from £3000 upward pa. You will have to buy gas water and electric from the site owners, often at inflated rates. You may have to pay more for waste disposal. The site will have a big list of rules, some of which you may not like.

If you LIVE there,you will have to pay community charge.

Some sites have rules such as having first refusal on who you sell your caravan to. Many people end up just selling at a loss to get away from the place.

By the way they also love to describe these structures as lodges,chalets,bungalows etc,,but they are all caravans .

A town near me has a place that has static caravans/chalets. It is a residential place for the over 60s. Its very popular.

There are some lovely looking sites near us, they are 12 months a year and have good facilities so I can see why they may seem appealing.
Trouble is they are apparently owned by gypsies who will randomly decide they are fed up with a resident, wait till they are out and then remove their home with a big digger. As far as I know no one has managed to successfully get anything back and although this is known locally they seem to have a steady stream of people willing to buy the freehold on the the new vans they put in place of the one they have removed.

It's not a "park home". It's a caravan.

I live in one, been here almost 2 years, brand new, 52 weeks of the year, long established residential site in wooded area, am very happy and pleased I downsized

Mil friend has done this. Sold her house for £300k and purchased a Park home for £250k. 3 years on and she hates it. She has had it on the market for the last years and can’t sell, she’s really worried now as it’s depreciated in price, she can’t shift it and houses round here have sky rocketed. So basically she is stuck with it and having to pay ridiculous ground rents. I’d never do it. I will keep my money in bricks and mortar.