To not expect to pay excessive amount as we're family.

[Boop1e]

In laws brought themselves a caravan on a haven site a year ago. Decided to spend some pension money on it.
the site fees have renewed and have gone up just like everything else in life.
They don't rent it out and we only use it as family.
Anyway father in law has just charged his own son £75 for 3 nights to use it. He owed me money for ordering him a new tablet and doing him a favour so took the money out of that which I couldn't afford to lose.

Before the season started he mentioned charging £25 a day but nothing else happened and no mention of it again before we went.

He's also charged brother in law £150 to use but they paid upfront.

Am i being unreasonable to feel this is a lot to charge your own children and £10 or so a day would be sufficient. I'm not convinced I spend £25 a day heating and lighting my 3 bed home. They get their passes included with the caravan for 10 people.

Husband won't challenge it because it won't make any difference.

I wouldn’t charge personally but the amount is reasonable if that’s what he wants to do . Could you stay on the site for that kind of price in someone else’s caravan .

So the person who already bought the caravan should pay for the gas and electric while OP and her family stay there and use it?
She’s being charged £25 a night, which is WELL under the going rate. Why is it “tight” to charge an nominal amount but not tight for OP to expect someone else to find the energy costs she uses while on holiday?

That is very cheap. Those caravans are extortionate to rent. And the site fees will be very high for owners.

Can see all the people who expected it for free where the exact reason when we had ours we didn’t tell anyone.

They just all thought we rented the same place every year.

They brought a caravan? Was it not already there?

Sounds cheap though, make sure you thank them for letting you stay.

Husband won't challenge it because it won't make any difference.

That's because he's not paying it, you are.

I assume you have separate finances from that comment so at the least he should be going halves. Why isn't he?

Is it run on calor gas? The bottles cost a fortune. I paid £500 for a week in a caravan £75 for three nights is great and I'd snap their hands off.

Lucky you being able to use it. My husbands family own a lovely villa in Spain we’ve never once been allowed to use in 20 years in case we “leave it untidy”.

They told you what they were going to charge so you can’t pretend you didn’t know!

You are obviously welcome to find alternative accommodation for your holidays. Good luck finding one anywhere near that cheap though.

£75 for 3 nights including passes for the pool etc is a bargain. How many of you went?

They may also be feeling a little bit of a pinch with site fees going up and utility costs as well, vs when they bought it. So the £25 per night, for a few nights per year, gives a bit of comfort on this.

I don’t see this as ‘profit’ but as sharing some of the costs amongst those who actually use it and benefit from it.

Has and electricity bid much more expensive than on a domestic tariff. The wear and tear can be significant. I would be happy to chip in for a holiday facility that I made use of.

True, if I had a caravan I would probably let my own kids use it with no request for a contribution. BUT they would offer / insist.

OP: your FIL stated in advance the request for £25 pn. ‘Nothing happened’ = ‘you didn’t pay him the ££’ (unlike your BIL who paid in advance) so FIL netted it off what he owed you. What’s the problem?

Yes, it's cheap - but can I just play devil's advocate here?

The fixed overheads will cost the ILs the same whether everyone uses the caravan or nobody does.

Just don’t go again

Yeah! Stay home and without a holiday! Go elsewhere and rent a caravan for £100 a night! That’ll teach them!

YABU - my FIL has a lovely lodge in a great UK tourist spot and we’re not allowed to use it . They want access to it at any time in case they feel like ‘driving up’.
Fair do to them but I’d happily pay £25 a night as all other accommodation is so much more to book..

Husband won't challenge it because it won't make any difference.

I took it to mean that FIL won't change his mind & pay the money back.

They will be using gas and electricity. that is not free.

"£10 a day would be sufficient"

Based on what? He did say £25 a day at start of the season. Presumably he has a handle on the costs.

My DD runs a caravan site and I know costs for gas, electric and site rents have increased enormously. £25 a day I'd a steal. If you can't afford it, don't go. You won't find a holiday any cheaper though!

Gas, electric, wear and tear inside the van. Why shouldn’t they contribute if they want to use it?

But why should they? It's their pride and joy that they want to leave immaculate. And leave their dildos in the bedside cabins

Do you have loads of hot showers , cook a lot have the heating on full blast? A bottle of 47kg propane gas is about £100 it doesn't last long at all. Haven aren't the cheapest either site fees wise could be 6-10k per year depending on site , pitch and facilities. Owning a caravan is very expensive. 25 is very cheap if you are using lots of energy.

I would not expect to be charged an excessive amount by family, but I don't feel that you were.

The Gas is extortionate it's LPG on most sites.

I’m just home from 4 nights in a static caravan, Was 500 quid. We are actually considering buying one and keeping it on a site. I would absolutely expect family to pay a small amount for gas and electricity usage which are both extremely expensive just now. Obviously wouldn’t be charging family the “going rate” but it shouldn’t be costing the owner money to allow family to stay.

£25 a night seems like a bargain for a few nights away - where else could you find decent accommodation on a site with leisure facilities, for that price, @Boop1e?