What's the deal with residential park homes??????

[A9SheryRan]

My mum is 60 next year and is currently going through a messy divorce. She is having to sell her home in the process and will have to downsize.

She won't come out of the divorce with a lot of money and doesn't want a mortgage/loan in her retirement. She's currently looking for properties now and her only asks are that she has a garden (she LOVES gardening).

We've seen some residential park homes which are within her budget in some decent areas but what are they like?
She's young at heart and always spends time with the grand-kids. After she's settled she wants a pet too.

Are residential park homes a good route to go down? Anyone live in or know anyone who lives in them? What are the pros and cons for someone like her?

Um multiple question marks make it look like anger.

Don't those parks have a clause in the agreement which provides that you have to leave the property vacant for a month a year? So wouldn't work as sole residence.

People go to Spain for a month. Problem solved.

As @Elektra1 states, most (if not all) have a clause about continual occupancy. However, soe of them are really nice and surprisingly spacy.

Yes, sounds nice :) But what happens when you get too old to travel, or if you can't afford a month's holiday a year?

Our friends are in a mobile home.
No children allowed on the park.
No pets.
No washing on the line at the weekend.
No deliveries from Amazon, evi etc.
Supermarket deliveries are ok.

Not necessarily, we lived in a caravan on a residential park year round but that was back in the early 70s and it was a bit rough, we had to carry water across etc but now they seem to have moved on a bit and look quite swish!

You need to find out the rules about the age of the home, some demand they are replaced after a certain number of years with a new(er) one and the owners make this very expensive to do, taking a cut at all stages! Similarly if you have to sell up eventually they will take a cut of the sale price and also vet people to whom it's sold.

I’m sure there are some old threads on this and the advice is not to touch them. The caravans are a depreciating asset, the parks can have a clause that says the van can only be X number of years old, they are very cold in the winter, need to be vacated for a month or so each year.

Stay with family, maybe house-sit while they are on holiday. Off season in many European resorts is very cheap.

Quick google suggests that a Residential park home can be lived in all year round, holiday park ones not so. If she chooses carefully it should be ok.

I was never keen on the idea due to the restrictions shown above but I have to say I have met some people via work who are living very nice lives in park homes. I met one lady who has two, one by the sea and one near her work and her daughters, so that solves the time restriction issue.

Some aren't very adaptable for significant disability but there might be ways round that - the modern ones are surprisingly spacious. And you can't make all your decisions on what might go wrong on the future.

Not all of them have the 10/11 month occupancy rule but most do. They tend to be very friendly, lots of older folk. Some can be weekend party ones though so be careful. Only downside is can be colder in winter, but newer ones are far better insulated. Depreciate in value. Some parks have a rule about the age of the unit too, so if planning on being there for years should consider this too. Also annual site fees can be steep. My dad had one and spent far more time there than in his actual house. Does seem to encourage activity and social interaction as folk walk round park instead of getting straight into a car. Tend to only drive if actually leaving park.

Possibly not the same. But my relative has a static home on a site and the site fees have gone up considerably. Only option they have at this point is to sell... but the site fees being so hight now it isn't easy to get a buyer. And the value of the property has gone down loads.

She's not yet 60, she isn't old.
Could well have another 25 years at home so going for something more secure would be wise.

Thanks all,

It's more residential park homes where we've seen the houses have 2/3 bedrooms and look really nice and modern - not necessarily caravan or holiday park homes.

Some have been advertised as retirement properties or 45+.

Just wanted to see if anyone had any personal experiences or parents/grandparents living in one.

Holiday parks do but residential park don't

I visit patients who live on a residential park - they like it

The mobile home park near us is mobile homes, not caravans, and people live in them year round. It is a 55+ community but children are allowed on site as one house has a lot of children's toys around it so they must see their grandchildren quite a lot. It is very pleasant with small, well maintained gardens, near the town center, and ramps up to some front doors to make them accessible. I suspect they are quite noisy during storms and heavy rain as obviously a wood/insulated wall isn't as thick as brick or blocks.

I don't know what the site restrictions are though. I lived in an area ran by an HOA in the US. The rules were a pain sometimes but it did keep the area looking nice so there are upsides to strictly enforced rules.

I’m pretty sure that the main issue with these residential parks are ground rent and maintenance charges alongside the deterioration of the mobile home over time.

Could she look into buying a shared ownership property and would get universal credit to help with the rent portion?

You will pay a monthly service charge normally £150 upwards every month. You will also have to pay the park home owner a percentage when you come to sell. They lose money and if the unit becomes too old they can charge you to remove the park home from the site. Steer clear is my advice, I have been through all this after my grandad died.

We know someone who lives in one. Year round occupancy, park has a proper residential license so they have a legitimate address, can register with doctors etc. they love it

Only downside is they have to pay ground rent forever

There is a difference between holiday parks and residential parks.

OP, you mention residential park homes so I imagine you mean the second sort.

Age UK has a fact sheet, number 71, about park homes, which it might be worth you reading, available here
https://www.ageuk.org.uk/services/information-advice/guides-and-factsheets/#housing

They can work well but you have to understand what you are getting in to. Modern park homes on residential sites - not holiday sites- can be lovely, spacious, fantastic quality and offer good living. The sites can have a good community feel. However park homes depreciate instead of appreciate in value, so as an investment you can forget it. You might have a clause in the contract that they have to be replaced after saying twenty years. You have to pay site rent and that can increase a lot, there is little regulation around that. You will have to pay for utilities of course. You will need to check the contract closely to see if there are any restrictions that you can't live with, eg no pets
The main issue in my view is that it is a depreciating instead of appreciating asset. But if the benefits of living there outweigh that concern then it can work for many people.

They can be a legal nightmare. Would not touch with a barge pole. You’re basically under someone’s fiefdom and often the agreements have very restrictive terms. Resale can also be a total swizz where you have to pay a high percentage to the site owner.

My parents fell on hard times and bought a park home. On these sites you don’t have to move out - people live there as they would in a house. My parents loved it. Only downside was depreciation - as they get older, they can lose value. It’s not like a house that appreciates. Also when they sold it they had to pay 10% to the site owner - that was the law and I assume still is. So if your mother is looking at 25 years for instance, take care to find a place that’s new enough and ensure there’s money for maintenance etc. Good luck.

My friend lives in one, I think some people are getting holiday park and residential park confused.

you can live in it year round, and of course kids etc can visit anc come and stay, would be very weird if not ss so many people have grandkids. It’s like a normal home , except you can’t buy unless over the stated age, so no kids live there,

however over the years they do depreciate in value, where as bricks and mortar increases.

my friend bought hers at 50, but id say most folks are 70 plus age range. The plots of land are tiny. The house is lovely inside, but outside it looks like a caravan park.