To buy a caravan at a holiday park?

[Porky54]

DH wants to buy a caravan at a holiday park 1 hour from our home. Has anyone else done this? I'm just a bit sceptical about the whole thing. We have two DS aged 13 DS aged 9 and another DS on the way in November.
DH thinks it will save money on holidays for the next 4/5 years as he doesn't want to travel with a little one. I think the teenagers will get bored with visiting the same place weekend after weekend and for holidays throughout the year. He has the idea of renting it out to help cover the cost, I just think £35,000 could be spent on better things! Like a bigger house!
We have ordered the caravan but not actually signed for it yet so we can back out and get our 10k of hard earned savings back but husband is convinced it's the right decision... HELP

It's not my scene to be fair, but I Have a friend who did this and had it for years, it was right on the coast and to be fair was lovely. They spent a lot of time down there, weekends and holidays and also have passed to friends to use it.

The ground rent was high though, I think several thousand a year, which would alone have paid for some great holidays.

It really depends on whether you like holiday parks or not and will actually use it and think it's worth the money.

If you were to get one why so close to home? And I’d agree the teens will get bored and refuse to go. And do you want to go to the same place year after year? An hour away is not exactly going to be that different from home - what can you do there that you couldn’t just do in a day trip? Three kids two adults in a caravan sounds cramped.
Now one that you could drive around and explore the country ... that sounds better.

Static caravans depreciate so very quickly, coupled with site fees of thousands every year, you'd have to be avid caravaners to get any value from it.
Sites have draconian rules about who you can sell the van on to, you'll probably lose thousands against an already depreciated asset if you decide its not for you.
Think very carefully OP.

35k would buy you some AMAZING holidays over the next 4/5 years... A caravan so close to home sounds like a recipe for boredom with teens, and it won't exactly be a holiday for you still having to do all the cleaning/cooking etc plus childcare while you're there. Plus as a pp said, they depreciate massively - terrible investment. Get out while you can!

What if you have horrific ndn?...
Mil sold hers when we were unable to take our dc and sil hers due to antisocial ndn...

It depends where it is. I know people with vans on the coast who have teens that love it.

Yes buy a van, it's an expensive business though, if you can afford the huge loss you may as well spend the money on proper decent holidays. Or just rent someone else's van if that's the type of holiday you prefer. Renting it out will cost you more than it will earn you normally. Given site fees, damage and constantly replacing things, to mention the extra grey heroes due to the stress of it.

Previous experience means I always advise against this.

One issue you may not have thought of is that my friend found that if they left it empty for a while, it went mouldy/mould grew. They would then have to clean it for a weekend before using it more frequently. IIf you rent it, you have to think who will clean it an service it if any problems- do you want to drive down there and clean it on a Fri then again on a Sun? Friend did enjoy holidays when children were little, but site fees and all the driving and cleaning meant they eventually gave it up.

We had one and it was fine for a few years then the kids got bored ground fees shot up and it was a pain in the rear to sell even though we bought new we managed to sell it to another caravan park, oh and we rented it out a few weeks through the caravan park was a disaster honestly don't do it.

A few weeks a year*

Depends to an extent on the site that it is located on. You clearly have an idea where but they vary from a field to a full holiday park with pools, restaurants and entertainment.

A couple of friends have had them, one with kids and a couple who are in 60s. For those that had kids, they got bored after first couple of years. Been there, seen it and done it. For the older couple it was better as was just a change of scenery.

However, what both have said is that it is generally very expensive if you have it on a decent holiday park well located. Generally circa £4-5k in annual fees plus other charges such as insurance. In addition, the static has to be generally bought from the site owner (at inflated cost) and you can only sell it back to them unless you remove it from the site. Without exception where was a 10 year clause where it had to be renewed and the new one bought through them and the trade in value was fairly minimal. She reckoned the total cost over 10 years was £80k. That pays for a lot of holidays over that period of time.

In addition, once kids are at high school, they have homework as well as weekend activities and basically becomes very difficult to use it. Her advice to me was not to bother and it was sound I thought. The older couple were not as vehement but on balance didn't think it was good value, but they were less worried about the cost.

It will only save you money if you would otherwise spend £7k a year on holidays for the next five years - and as pp have pointed out you still need to account for ground rent and site fees.

You won’t see a return on the money.

I'm not keen, I have said it's a waste of money and will be effort but he seems to think we would be there every weekend... i struggle to keep up with everything at home and the kids activities and a full time job, so I can't see it working out. He also thinks his family from the north will visit more, we are (south east)Kent/East Sussex border.
He thinks an hour away is okay for the kids travelling in the car and with it so close we can go every weekend.... But I think we will battle with teenagers to go once the "novelty" has worn off. It's all because people have told him not to travel with a small baby!! Bloody people!! Also he doesn't like big holiday complexes and when we went all inclusive 3 years ago for the first time his was his idea of hell so I can't see what he will get from this! I think I will have to put my foot down and wear the trousers on this one. I can see my bigger kitchen disappearing before my eyes!

Thank you all for the comments and advice given it has definitely helped me to make my mind up. A big fat no from this corner. Although I could be back later offering a caravan to rent

Work colleagues of my parents have one, they actually move there for the summer and go to work from the caravan.

What happens when your teens either want to stay home alone while you go to the caravan or they want to take friends to the van while you stay home?

As for not travelling with babies, a former workmate was married to a palestinian, so when she had her first baby he had a tour of the middle east to see family members he had more stamps in his passport than his age in months.

But she was so laid back, she would occasionally tell a story of driving out of Baghdad while the tanks were on the way in on the other side of the road.

I'm not really sure if he hates holiday complexes, why he thinks a caravan park will be better? Other than accommodation type and geography they aren't much different,

And have you looked at the ground rent? My friends I think was six grand a year, she was in a similar location to you.

My parents have had one since I was in my early teens, by the sea about two hours away from them. We used to go down a lot in the summer, most weekends and for a fortnight as well. I mostly loved it, it felt like my second home, I could wander off on my own to the rocks and sea. Their site is very basic, but that suits them. I still go down every year, sometimes with them and sometimes alone or with friends, and absolutely love it.

One big bonus is that you can leave your stuff there, so you don't have to pack fully every time you go.

A tip to prevent damp - put dehumidifiers or just bowls of salt around when you leave.

we have one. Here are my thoughts

• Look at ALL the costs, site fees in particular can be high and go up every year.
• 1 hour is a great distance, means you are more likely to go often.
• There will be more costs if you want to rent it out - gas certificate, electric checks etc. Plus the holiday park may want a cut of your rental or may only let you rent via them.
• the older children will not want to go as often as you do
• read the site rules carefully! there can be some odd ones.

We love ours and get a lot of use out of it, but it is harder work than I thought.

Would he consider a towing caravan ? That is what we graduated too and the dds enjoyed that for a few more years we kept it after they stopped coming dc2 was 18 might be something to look into if you don't want to hotel abroad.

Our touring van had fixed bunk beds for the dc

We go to caravan parks most years on holidays and our favourite one is about an hour and a half away and my teens love it. We’d love to get a caravan there however the site fees are extortionate so not only are you paying for the caravan but also fees.

If you will use it most weekends and holidays then go for it. It’s a home from home and a change of scenery.

MY friend has a cottage on a small Scottish island that they use most weekends and school holidays and it’s like a second home for them and her children who have made friends there too. It’s an hour from home too.

Well, I wouldn't buy one as we live next to a beach.

However, I know a family who have bought one. They live in the suburbs of a city and use their caravan a lot throughout the year. Their boys love it. Like you, they live about an hour away. Maybe 90 minutes.

I also have a friend at work whose Mum practically lives in hers.

I guess, it's about finding the right park for you. However, I believe your heart is not in it and it it therefore unlikely to work.

For the amount the site fees are you could spend that on many weekend trips to a caravan without buying it.

And if you are planning on going every weekend, how are you going to rent it out?

I have friends who have a static caravan and love it but having to find £5k each year in site fees is starting to take it's toll on their finances.

A friend bought a patch of land and has a caravan on it so no site fees. For that money you could have a great holiday every year in a different caravan park, or even a few good holidays. I would check the small print very carefully I watched one of this Watchdog type programmes where the site fees kept going up and the owners couldn’t sell it back they eventually did at a huge loss.

I had one for a few years and it was one hour away on a good day. The site fees were high due to the fact it had a pool, spa and a restaurant. For the first couple of years we went most weekends, which although lovely once there it felt like hard work packing to go even though we now owned 2 of everything. Because it was so expensive we never went on any other holidays, I think if you could afford a mixture of both it would work out.
We sold once the boys got older as we wanted to holiday in different destinations.
I would be wary of some sites, ours was lovely but you still had children messing around late at night at times which security did nothing about.

Great if it's by the sea but I think they are hideously expensive for a metal box.
We rent someone elses!