WIBU to live in a caravan?

[PickledLilly]

I need to get out of my relationship but live in an area where rents/house prices are high and wages are low and Housing Association houses are impossible to get.

I hate the idea of being at the mercy of a landlord and want the security of something of my own but could never get a mortgage on just my wage. WIBU to buy a nice static caravan on a holiday park for me and my two children and cat to live in?

I know it would be a lot smaller than our current home (but so would anything I could afford to rent) but there are other year round residents, lovely grounds, playground and a swimming pool that’s all free for residents to use.

I just get this sense that some people would be aghast at me moving my children into a caravan but it honestly feels like my only way out. WIBU?

Billie, that sounds like a very difficult situation, as much as I don’t want to move my kids away from their father at least my mum is here as well so I don’t actually want to move away anyway.

I e not tray, but it'll be cold. My parents lived in one for 18 months. A new one with central heating and double glazing and my dad, usually one that is fine with the coke, would wear thermals and a wool that to bed. Not to mention having to defrost water and gas pipes

Oh and they could only live in it for 11 months a year.

my Dad, usually one who is fine with the coke

Nobody has thought to mention the coke problem!

I think it sounds like a great idea. All that outside space and safety. The kids would probably love it, I know mine would.
I also want to say that you're doing well OP. That was me making those plans a few years ago, and it's so challenging. You've got a long hard road ahead of you but hopefully like me you wont regret it.

I wonder what vans people are living in that are cold in winter yet centra heated and double glazed. They are clearly not fit for purpose as the whole purpose of the above is for winter usage I fact some sites insist on the above to be able to stay on site in the winter months.

Then again I live in a wooden house might be warmer in a static

• my Dad, usually one who is fine with the coke  

Nobody has thought to mention the coke problem!*

My dad the Coke head 😂😂😂 that proper made me laugh

It has to be what's called 'lodge insulated' to be truly warm and dry in Winter if it doesn't have a woodburner in it, which probably isn't advisable in a caravan as they aren't the most fire-hardy places. And that doesn't come cheap.

I get the angst over lack of security in tenancies but rent is not 'dead money', shelter is a basic need, you're paying for shelter.

I think sadly you're going to have to revise your standards and outlook if you want to leave this relationship.

Sadly most women come out the poorer for it and especially with not being married.

Apologies OP I understood you to have 30k to buy the caravan.
I think you definitely need to do a long term financial plan (maybe 5 year) before making any decisions and moving so you're not stuck indefinitely in the caravan.
Your children are young so I don't think they would be teased.
Good luck to you I hope it works out.

A cautionary tale: "Mid Suffolk District Council confirmed several families had received eviction notices from Stonham Barns as the park attempted to resolve planning issues which saw it threatened with court action earlier this year.

The business, near Stowmarket, has been subject to close scrutiny ever since authorities visited last winter and found up to 200 people - many of them older and with complex health needs - had been staying on the site all year round, contrary to planning regulations" www.eadt.co.uk/news/mid-suffolk-district-council-working-with-stonham-barns-on-breaches-1-6316532

That story^^ . Those poor people.

I do think there has to be some reason the holiday park homes are SO much cheaper than residential... otherwise, why would anyone buy on the residential parks?

I know the op says she won't do anything without triple checking, but I definitely wouldn't take any of the parks' words for it either. I'd check with the LA as well, as the park's 'rules' might not be legal! In that story, some residents say they believed they were living there perfectly legally.

It occurs to me that this is a bit fucked up. People aren't allowed to live in perfectly lovely homes on holiday parks, when the owner clearly doesn't mind and when there is such a shortage of affordable homes elsewhere. But 'council accommodation' now means people living in converted shipping containers! It was in the news not long ago that some council tenants had to move into these 'dwellings' (shipping containers) as there is nothing else for them. It's inhuman. And if someone comes up with what looks like quite pleasant alternative solution, like the op, they aren't allowed to do it.

I know there's more to it than that and there is a good reason for the law, but, on the face of it, it seems bonkers.

Anyway, I hope you're alright op.

A cautionary tale: "Mid Suffolk District Council confirmed several families had received eviction notices from Stonham Barns as the park attempted to resolve planning issues which saw it threatened with court action earlier this year.

I know that site and have chatted to some residents about how they live there. I've been to week-long camps there several times. The people I spoke to explained that they had to move out for, iirc, one month a year, and one bloke said he swapped with a friend in a different site, while another went to visit family. It's hard to imagine anyone living there and not knowing that it's a holiday site.

@TheDarkRoom I agree that this is stupid, but it's planning restrictions put in place to satisfy other local residents. I think in some cases it is also for compliance with pre-existing restrictions on the site eg if it has an agricultural tie.

When I was born, my parents were living in a caravan. We stayed in caravans and semi-derelict houses hour a few years - I can remember the end of the era. My grandparents lived in a static caravan on a smallholding for most of my childhood and it was a perfectly good home. It didn't really seem much different to me from any other home. They would have preferred a house but agricultural restrictions on the land made it hard to get permission, although they did after about 10 years.
OP, please do update if you decide to go for it. I think it's a great idea

I know there must be a reasonably good reason for it, but it does seem a shame that creative solutions don't work. Housing is a so unaffordable for so many now.

Yes, I'm sure you're right that the residents knew it was a holiday park, but a few people have been on here saying "my friend / relative lives in a caravan on a holiday park and it's fine because not all holiday parks have the same rules". So it could easily be that these poor residents believed their park had 'different rules' to others and that they were allowed to stay there permanently, as long as they vacated for a month every year. Clearly that wasn't the case.

And sometimes the salesmen at the park can misrepresent the situation

www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/uk-england-kent-46049014

Exactly MsBevvy and even that park said that residents "had to have a residence elsewhere". The ones where they don't even ask for that... I don't know how they can be legal. Worrying. But, maybe it depends on area.

Update! I’ve been and had a look around. I think financially it might just be about do-able but I need to properly tot up the figures. Seen a perfectly nice second hand three bed van with 8 years left on it which I reckon is about affordable and ok in terms of space. I can almost taste the freedom.

Exciting op!

Have you checked their rules are in line with what you can do and also in line with the LA?

I hope it works out for you .

Well done OP. I'm so happy you're able to do it 🥳

Pickled Lilly I hope all works out for you and your DC. :)

I did a weekend with my two children in one for a “holiday”

Kind of fun as a novelty but living there.... absolutely never ever never NEVER

Just a word of warning, my sister bought one ( some years ago) and when she wanted to move out she was forced to sell it back to the Park and got less than half what someone else had offered her. I have a feeling that programme like watchdog cover this sort of thing from time to time. You have to be financially secure when you want to move on, otherwise it sounds like a reasonable solution

Oh sorry didn’t read the update

Oh god I feel sick. I’ve got such a big decision to make. It’s all so overwhelming.

It's exciting! I know I've said but, my friend lives on a Haven site and LOVES it!

What van is it?