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!

You don't own the land and in general owning a shiny thing isn't worth it unless you have somewhere to put it that isn't going to drain all your cash. Also there are certain rules about them being private land which mean that certain amenities the Council provide might not apply. This can also affect certain things such as deliveries.

Also, think about accessibility and mobility not to mention neighbours.

A family member of mine did this as her mobility was not great (therefore needed to be on one level) and moved into a lovely site that was for over 55's. It was/is coastal and whilst shape wise they are caravan-ish they were rendered and painted white and looked really nice. Ten years down the line and the site looks really grubby, the nice white render is green from the sea air and my relative basically has no money to leave her dc as these homes are not an investment. Another 10 years and it will probably be broken up for scrap.

often lot of them have an age restriction they tend to be for 55 or 60 plus folk and many wont have pets on site. sounds appealing but as many have said often not full time occupation though that is not always the case

@Blackbears "apparently owned by gypsies " - racist much?

My grandad lived in a park home until he passed away. It was fully residential so can be lived in all year round. Fees were about £100 a month. He loved it. They are not my cup of tea at all And mainly they are a depreciating asset. If you want to sell you have to pay x % to the park home site owner of the sale price. They are not registered with the land registry as you own no land. You just own the park home on top of the land. There has been a change in laws to do with park homes I think in 2013 so may be worth reading up on that.

I wouldn’t. I have had to give a lot of legal advice on them. The law is hopefully improving the protection for people who live in them but you are in a much more precarious position than in a “real” house.

Have been in some lovely and spacious ones but it is the legal risks that would bother me

My mother lives in a park home. It’s like a pre-fab bungalow with nice gardens, overlooks a green and large pond. Very high ground rent but generally very nice. Over 50’s only though on a lot of these parks and they go for a pretty penny too.

There are lots of legal problems at sites

Some of the site owners are appalling bullies who take complete advantage of the fact park home owners have few rights

www.thephraa.website/

My ex's family sold their family home and moved to one, at retirement age now they're in crappy council property as they didnt own property that held any value. If they'd kept their house it'd be worth £150- 175k today. They had to move off every year for 2 months and said it was cramped and freezing in winter.

What’s the square footage?? They’re tiny!

My parents have done this. The site is nice and there are food facilities which we are also able to make use of. They’ve got a brand new caravan but it’ll never go up in value, it’ll only depreciate. It’s nice in summer but cold in winter even with heating. They are able to stay on site all year but they have to have an address that they can use for council tax and post which is a pain for my sister as she gets all their post! My parents seem happy with it though 😊

Some (many) of the posters here don't know the difference between a residential park home and a holiday home. Everyone who says that you can't live in the home for all 12 months of the year is talking about holiday homes, so maybe discount those.
I have 3 friends who live in park homes, and the two (couples) who researched it carefully are very happy. The third couple brought into a dodgy site, but they were warned, they just went for cheap. If you don't care about property appreciation or having anything left of great value to pass on to your children then it can be a good option, but do your research carefully.

If you are in a proper residential park home you can be registered with the council etc, there is no need to lie about living elsewhere.

Read this www.ageuk.org.uk/globalassets/age-uk/documents/factsheets/fs71_park_homes_fcs.pdf

My parents have done this. The site is nice and there are food facilities which we are also able to make use of. They’ve got a brand new caravan but it’ll never go up in value, it’ll only depreciate. It’s nice in summer but cold in winter even with heating. They are able to stay on site all year but they have to have an address that they can use for council tax and post which is a pain for my sister as she gets all their post! My parents seem happy with it though 😊

My parents live in one on an over 50s site. It suits them and they love it.
52 weeks of the year and costs are good.

SixtoEightInches if your parents were on a proper residential site they wouldn't need to have another address for council tax and post.

My Dad lived in one of these. Every Winter, he'd have to move out to a studio flat without proper facilities as it was cheap.
He'd bring me his wet washing to tumble dry every so often. He couldn't dry his stuff it was hard.
He used gas cylinders to heat the home. Very expensive, most times was freezing in thermals, hat and gloves.
Pipes froze up in Winter so no running water and shower.
His ex had one on IOW which charged 7800 p.a ground rent. That's a mortgage.....which you can't get for park homes.
They make you move the home around as it gets older. Then it gets moved off...at your expense.
She ended up selli g back to the park.....quickly....at a huge loss.
My aunt lives in one. She just had a stroke. Not great for disabled access.
Buyer beware.

The ones you can live in all year are normally hidden away behind rough council housing estates and are basically one step up from being homeless IMO.
The ones that have restrictions on the times when you can reside in them are the ones in nice locations.

My oh's parents lived in one for years. For them it was perfect as it was in an area where they wanted to live, they had enough garden for sheds, a greenhouse and veg. plot. Good community spirit, good site owners etc. You have to pay a ground rent monthly (it was £110 a month then), and the site was for over 50s only, but pets were allowed. Obviously all year round occupancy - it was their home for a long time. They were very happy.
Downsides were heat in summer and cold in winter; they are never going to be as well insulated as a house, and the fact that a park home, opposed to bricks and mortar, is generally a depreciating asset.
I am amazed at the cost of new fully residential park homes on this same site now. 200k! Personally I would rather live in something solid. But each to his own. They were very happy there, and it was a lovely design inside - very homely and comfortable.
There are some appalling site owners out there though, who terrorise their elderly residents. A search online will show you the problems. There is currently more legislation going through parliament to protect these vulnerable people.

It is true what Blackbears says-some of these sites are owned and operated by people/families who might best be described as settled members of the travelling community. That in itself is not always a bad thing. Of course many are also owned by big companies.

My Auntie & Uncle did this, sold up and moved into a Park home. It was in a lovely location but they got fed up and moved back into a proper house.

It took them 8 years to sell the Park home and then it was at a massive loss. I personally wouldn’t live in one, but each to their own.

My friends have lied in their park home for 15 years. It is on a site in Kent, on the outskirts of a village. About 30 homes there I think, in the countryside (not behind council estates) run by a proper company with a manager on site. They have a lovely big garden. Their home has two bedrooms and it's nice, and cosy in the winter. If you do it right it can work.
I've pointed out several times that if you can't register to vote, have post to your address, or live there year round then it's not a residential park home, but that was obviously a waste of typing. I've also put a useful link to information from Age Concern, which is worth a read for a balanced view of the pros and cons.

I have done some random googling on this subject (clearly have too much time on my hands).
My only experience of park homes are from my previous job as a debt collector, which covered an area with 3 council run sites (hidden behind housing estates).
I wasn't even aware of any privately run sites, some of which look beautiful online.
Apologies to anyone I may have offended with my previous post and to the people I have probably offended with this post trying to apologise for my last post

sixtoeightinchesofsnow--i will bet good money that the site owner is being disingenuous at best. It will not be a residential site and they have no right to live there. If the local council got wind of it, they could take enforcement action.

www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/cresswell-towers-caravan-park-pensioners-10266605

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2042498/Hundreds-pensioners-facing-eviction-dream-retirment-homes-planning-row-council.html