Buying a caravan

[mlj123]

Hi all

I am just after some advice really. I have been thinking about wanting to buy a caravan for sometime. I Would be looking at buying one on a holiday park somewhere in the uk. I just wanted to find out if it would be a good idea or not. I would mainly hope to get a good rental income from it, although I might want to use it now and then, the main purpose would be for rental. My partners job isn't very secure right now so I'm not sure if this could be a good investment to help generate income if the worst happened or quite the opposite. So my main questions are:
Can I make a good income from this investment?
Which holiday park would be the best/ most profitable ones to look at?
Which area of the uk is best?
When is the best time to buy?

Bumping for you OP.

It is always a terrible investment.

You are actually buying an obligation to pay annual ground rent subject to increases and other charges, and there is usually a requirement to upgrade your unit after x number of years which despite flannel about very attractive deals, will cost you a fortune. Your rental return will be limited by the British season and the site will usually take a large cut. There will be strict rules regarding renting out your unit and you may not be permitted to do so on some sites.

If the site for bust or is sold to another owner, you may find yourself in an undercapitalised, scruffy site with no recourse to compensation.

Like a car but more so, the minute you buy the static is starts to depreciate, unlike a freehold house you don’t own the land.

For some people, the pleasure it brings them outweighs the financial cost, these tend to be retired people who spend months at a site that friends and family also use.

In your case, with precarious finances in the picture, I’m afraid it would be a terrible idea.

I come from a place where these sites are very popular and a good friend is the accountant for a couple of them. I’m quite familiar with them.

I really wouldn’t say a static caravan is an investment

How much have you got to spend? I have had a holiday chalet for several years in the West Country. Even with bills it makes a profit, especially if you let it out during the school holidays.

@Dreamscomingtrue is right - I've looked into this very carefully (and formerly owned a static caravan).
If you're set on buying an investment holiday home, get a freehold chalet (or a holiday cottage / house). You'll still be liable for a service charge for the rest of the site for a chalet, but that will be minimal.

Wow a mixed bag of replies there. I didn't want to spend too much really. Haven are selling new ones 2 bed for around 20 000 in some areas I was looking at site fees are quite high and then there's the extra costs such as bills and insurance. I just really like the idea of being able to take my children when ever I can. I'm having my second child and it would be lovely to be able to take them there at weekends and stuff. I know haven and some other companies offer a fixed letting where you can guarantee an income but not sure if I'd even make my money back that I would spend. Also if I wanted to make money I wouldn't be able to use it all the time only when it's not let so really unsure if it's a good idea

Is a tourer an option? It’s not as easy to just hitch up and go as some people think unless you’re very very organised and your van is well stocked and packed up but you get the variety of different sites etc.

I'm not sure about a tourer tbh o haven't really looked into it that much. I don't think so as I would like to rent it out as well as use it myself ( we mainly go abroad a couple of times a year) so this would be for us to use on odd weekends through the year when it wasn't being let out. I wouldn't be able to rent a tourer as easily because with the main parks they deal with all your letting and insurance, cleaning etc

These are not investments. I'd get a tourer if you fancy spur of the moment getaways. But they are NOT good investments.

I think it would be a bad choice as any kind of investment. Caravans depreciate in value every year. You would havd site fees to pay even if it wasn't rented out.

They depreciate, there are very strict rules about their age and selling back to the park, there are HUGE FB sites about what a swizz they are. They're great if you want a bolthole but not to make money.

No. If you want a holiday home it's a terrible 'investment' you will get nothing compared to what you paid for it, lots of sites have terms which state you must upgrade every 8-10 years, the ground rent on anywhere decent is in the thousands, plus gas bottles and on a lot of sites plus anything over the allowance you've used in electric. Which, as a regular user of your caravan is fine. As a rental investment you are liable for all of this, plus maintenance/ replacements and turnover of bedding etc. Say someone who isn't being careful because it isn't their place spills a whole load of wine/ milk/ spaghetti on your carpet, cleaning it is a bloody nightmare. Same for fixtures and fittings, it's not like drilling a new one into the wall if say a toilet roll or towel holder falls off. Yes to a caravan you will use constantly, no to rental.

I just really like the thought of making an income but then being able to say oh it's not let this weekend let's go up and enjoy it for ourselves and have the best of both worlds. I've always wanted one and I don't know if I'm being silly and I'd be wasting money when I can just book the odd weekend here and there without owning and not risking a lot of money for nothing. Or if I could actually make my money back, if I was prepared to holiday in it only at times when it's not let. I just can't seem to get the idea of getting one out of my head. When I was a child a caravan holiday for a week with all the family was my main holiday once every now and then, and I'd love to be able to give my children more than that and give them a mixture of holidays abroad and also weekends away cz it think these parks are great for children

If your set on wanting a static, it's not an investment, it's an expensive luxury. However it make it work it needs to be a maximum of 90min to 2 hr drive any further and its too far to use every weekend.

And to answer your question as to when is best to buy one- 18 months ago, before Covid. Rents and sales are through the bloody roof from folk looking for a cheap holiday home while not being able to go abroad.

Fair enough OP! In that case I’d have a year (maybe not this year depending on Covid) of going for a few caravan holidays and just see if the novelty wears off. If you love it get one but not with a view to making a profit.

Does anybody think I can at least make back the money I spend on it? Or does everyone think I will lose money? Because if I was going to lose a lot of money would be cheaper just to book a holiday or weekends away at one rather than buy. If I was gonna buy I would like to think that I would be better off than if I just booked one when I wanted to go

You will always lose money.

At the minute prices are so high for caravans I've seen the prices over £1000 for a week in high season, but it's seasonal and next year isn't as much right now. plus I imagine if there are more travel restrictions you still have to pay all the site fees etc even if all your bookings are cancelled and you can't even use it. So it is a gamble

@mlj123

Does anybody think I can at least make back the money I spend on it? Or does everyone think I will lose money? Because if I was going to lose a lot of money would be cheaper just to book a holiday or weekends away at one rather than buy. If I was gonna buy I would like to think that I would be better off than if I just booked one when I wanted to go

You will always lose money.

Site fees are huge.

Cleaning, breakages etc - and I don't mean a broken cup. A friend had a van for a few years in the 00s and she had to replace internal walls more then once due to handy fists.

@mlj123

At the minute prices are so high for caravans I've seen the prices over £1000 for a week in high season, but it's seasonal and next year isn't as much right now. plus I imagine if there are more travel restrictions you still have to pay all the site fees etc even if all your bookings are cancelled and you can't even use it. So it is a gamble

Well yes, you will have to pay the site fees. And again, as mentioned, you often have to buy the gas bottles from the park and all sorts of other swizzes.

A tourer with a motorised hitch would hold its value better, and you can book a site with a hookup. So much easier.

In fairness we have made money over the past two years we’ve had a static lodge type caravan. We’re not expecting to use it as an investment longer term - just an easy bolthole. It pays for itself by letting in 10 peak weeks (when we have no desire whatsoever to be there anyway). We’ve had minimal site fees because of Covid restrictions and we’ve been offered the chance to sell for more than we paid for it. Assumedly the site wants to resell at even higher cost. Current rental rates are, what I think, very high for what is basically a large caravan with sea views and plastic decking.

It gives us more or less free weekends away on a beach and we work from there sometimes. We can swim ever day. Over about ten years it will have paid for itself, but we’ll not expect to come out with a profit. More break even rather than investment for financial growth. We are doing it because our cottage is too heavily booked for spontaneous nice weather trips and it’s very easy. Our children use it with some degree of disdain, but seem to have bagged a few weekends in the caravan when the cottage is already occupied.

Don't buy a static, you lose money straight away & the site owners are the only ones who gain because you have to sell your caravan to them or give them a hefty cut of what you get for them. They will only offer you peanuts for your caravan. Better to buy a tourer that is 2-3 years old, they hold their value more than statics, you can remove it from a site if you want a change. I started with a £250 caravan that I sold for £225 to buy one for £1700, that I sold 3 years later for £1500 to buy another for £5000, which I sold for £4000 3 years later to buy another for £7000. You can get one with proper central heating, a separate bedroom, walk in shower & bathroom, kitchen with tall fridge freezer for around £20000, look on Auto Trader or look around caravan dealers, don't be afraid to haggle with a dealer, I have had discounts from £299 to £550 off the ones I bought, also don't be afraid to look at private sellers, my last on was bought from a lady whose husband had sadly passed away & she just wanted rid of the caravan, I got a caravan that was £10000 in the dealerships for £7000 & she included an awning that was brand new worth £600, gas bottles that were full & a brand new leisure battery worth £100. Buy yourself a couple of caravan magazines to get an idea of layouts & sizes, don't be afraid to ask for advice at dealerships, you won't ever regret buying one, it's lovely to have a bolthole where you can go whenever you feel like it. If you don't want to tow you can always keep your caravan on a seasonal pitch so you can leave everything set up all the time.

Yeah I was going to say about some sites won't let vans of a certain age be there anymore. U end up having to get rid of a perfectly good van (and the hassle that involves if it has decking around it etc).
You'd be better buying a flat in a tourist area and renting that out/using it for weekends away? Least you should make the money back when you sell it.