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?

You have to watch the fees on them and ground rent. Check things like age of caravans allowed (some make you replace every ten years)
Some of them are lovely, have lovely community and are great.
it’s a case of going through those terms and conditions with a fine tooth comb, remembering it’s a depreciating asset and it may take some time to sell.

Better than renting with all the insecurity that comes with that

Maybe alternative is to buy a small plot of land and build a tiny home.

They are static but must have wheels to be within planning restrictions.

I bought one when I left home as a temporary thing so I could save for my first flat! They’re not a huge amount to buy but the ground rent was expensive. I had a garden all round mine!

edited to add, mine was like a mobile home but didn’t see any wheels. I didn’t have to leave each year or anything either!

I think that's ordinary caravan parks, Not retirement ones

We live near the coast and there is a residential park near us. They have pretty much the same rules, and in addition all gas/electricity is supplied by the park, so can work out expensive. And they’re not freehold, so you have to factor in quite expensive ground rent too.

The land is owned by the site owner and usually there is a site agreement is put in place between the site owner and the park home owner for a specified period. When it expires, the park home owner has to renew the agreement to continue to live on the site. It can also be tricky to sell in the event that it’s not suitable. Ours has a residential licence so it’s not necessary to vacate the site - you can live there all year round, but before you buy all of the aforementioned needs to be investigated and confirmed.

No they don't if their licensed for continual occupancy

I believe selling can be a problem, the park owner has to approve and they can be difficult and reject your potential buyers leaving you stuck.

Big risks of the top of my head (but suggest you do a lot of research)

• climbing service charges /site fees
• cost of heating /maintaining
• depreciation (may not be an issue if you aren't worried about inheritance etc)
• difficulty of selling on/ big commission payable to site owner
• site rules and regulations (eg regarding pets )

I think it can work but it very much depends on the site and terms and conditions which need to be reviewed carefully.

I feel for you because my mum had exactly the same issue - came out of a divorce in late middle age without enough money to buy outright.

Residential mobile home sites are not the "holiday" sites, they don't have holiday makers, only people who have bought a prefab home, essentially, and live there year round and have post delivered etc. There can be an issue with location (often near rivers etc. so flooding risk) and substantial ground rent and other unfair freeholder rules.

My mum ended up in a shared ownership 2 bed house, so she pays rent on the bit that she doesn't own. She couldn't look at local authority homes because the money from the house sale meant she had too much in savings, and she didn't want to rent outright because it would have menat she'd lost all money she had (bearing in mind that she started out married, in a house that was paid for in full).

No Amazon deliveries??

I have a family member who lives on a residential park honestly hers is bigger than my house. She loves it and it has a brilliant sense of community.

Mum and dad live in one. It's year-round (lots of confused people on this thread who don't know what a park home is!), it's incredibly well insulated and warm, it's a community of mainly 70+ people, it's in a beautiful area with lots of land, garden etc. and allows them to live somewhere they couldn't otherwise afford.

Downsides:

• Check the T&Cs really carefully, as there are restrictions on selling, and in some the landlords have a lot of power, so can up the ground rents without notice, not do the maintenance, and generally make life difficult/expensive.
• It is a depreciating asset. When you sell you won't get anywhere near what you bought it for.
• They're generally off grid, so gas is in tanks. Doesn't cause my parents any issues but can be a faff.
• The community aspect is nice but as it's all older people they really do fall out ALL the time over the most petty of things (particularly parking!). As my dad says, old people moan a lot (his words, not mine!!) and over time a lot of the neighbours fall out with each other.
• Great rural location also means super isolated: no buses, no shops, no good healthcare nearby. This is an issue as you get older, as my parents have found out. You can end up isolated in your home.
• They're generally on unadopted roads (as they're on big plots of private land), so the Council can't/won't do anything about maintenance, including gritting in ice/snow. If your landlord isn't good then the roads can become very bad very quickly.

It works for my parents up to a point, but now they're getting older/having mobility and health issues, it's becoming unmanageable. But, they're effectively stuck there now as it has depreciated and they can't afford to move somewhere closer to family, shops, public transport and doctors etc.

Personally I would steer well clear.

Anything retirement type places id thoroughly check the terms and conditions. A friend grandparent is in one and service charge is payable monthly even after the person has passed away until the property eells (which can take a while due to probate etc) and all has to come out the estate or family expected to pay the fees. They don't sell that well (hence why always available!)

A former boss of mine did this. She sold her house, cleared her mortgage and used her equity to buy a 2nd hand park home on a residential park.
She loved it for the first 3 years or so, then the park fees went up dramatically and they had a new stipulation that no homes older than 15 years were to be onsite ( previously it was 25 years, which she was aware of and had planned for financially).
She had to walk away in the end as her " home" was worthless, she couldnt afford to move it either.

You might want to investigate social housing for older people OP. Some of it can be surprisingly nice, and sometimes with instant availability - there is often nothing like the demand there is for eg family homes.

Check out some housing association websites to see what might be available in your area. An added bonus is plenty of similar aged neighbours to get to know.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/apr/13/the-stress-is-overwhelming-the-highs-and-lows-of-starting-a-new-life-in-a-static-caravan

might be helpful

SANDLEFORD LODGE PARK, DEADMAN’S LANE, THATCHAM, BERKS, RG19 8XL - Brookwood Park Homes
This is at the High End of the range. The website covers a wide area, so could go and look.

My in laws have lived in a park home for the past 25 years. It suits them well. They have had some adaptations as mil is now mostly wheelchair bound. They have had insulation added over the years and it keeps very warm. They are on a lovely, well kept site. It's over 50s but I would say the majority are in their 70s and up.
The big issue I find is it's very insulating. They only mix with people of their age and most of them are unwell. We get a continuous update on who has died, who is close to death, how many have been rushed to hospital. I'm not sure it has done their mental health a huge amount of good.

Please advise your Mum to be very careful before buying. There are some charlatans out there.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-68484190#:~:text=Alfie%20Best%20owns%2090%20residential,TV%20documentary%20called%20Gypsy%20Billionaire.

Friends of mine bought one when they retired and they say it's the best thing they ever did. It's a residential park that is open all year. Their home is super cosy and more of a lodge I guess than an actual caravan. There is a fantastic social life there for them and they love it, they say it's like having another big family as the majority of the other residents are also retired.

We also have a caravan on a holiday park and there are some people who live there all year and then move out for 2 months over winter. They tend to go abroad or move into an Air bnb locally. They also have a fabulous social life there and the other residents are super supportive.
If I found myself in a similar situation to your mother OP I would definitely consider it. I would just say to be careful and check out all of the costs of the annual ground rent which can be expensive depending on the site but it can be a good option.
Caravans do depreciate yes of course, but it's weighing up the affordability and quality of life versus leaving a property for inheritance I guess. The park home where my friends live suffers less with depreciation as they are built differently to a caravan and can be adapted and improved and the site site does not have a limit on age of homes residing there.

I remember your thread from last week about your Mum.

Could you support her to get what she's entitled to from their joint assets? For example go with her to see a lawyer.

By avoiding 'confrontation' (aka getting what she's entitled to), you're storing up problems for the future.

Who do you think she'll be coming to stay with when the holiday park closes for a month every year?

My grandmother has lived in one for as long as I can remember. She has had pets, I think they were rules about no large dogs, but small dogs on leads and cats were fine. She has a small garden, big enough for a veg patch, small lawn and couple of borders. They did have a no children rule but that was no children living there full time, we spent weeks there in the summer and that was fine. They did have to make an exception for that as one couple, who thought they were past babymaking days had a surprise baby.
There is a big difference in holidays and residential parks with different rules about how long you can stay there. Depending on the park, there also may be rules about reselling to them when you want to leave.

https://www.sellmygroup.co.uk/blog/difference-between-residential-park-holiday-park/

decent bit of info here

I knew of a young couple who moved into one years ago, they loved it. But my old neighbours moved into one & out again pretty rapidly, I never asked why.

There was one not far from where I lived, it made the news as there was much anti social behaviour.

If you’re sociable or a busybody, it could be a dream to live there.