Park home for permanent residence

[stillvicarinatutu]

In 9 years I will retire at 60 - compulsory.

I will receive a limited pension.

I'm currently renting and that will not be sustainable after retirement. But my lump sum could buy outright a park home .

Can this be done ? Can a park home be bought to live in full time ?

I'm now in process of divorce, but I want the marital home to go to the kids and I don't want to turf my soon to be ex dh of 31 years out of the house - he will not get a new mortgage.
I'm taking legal advice in the whole financial situation but if I do try and take my equity I think it would render my ex homeless and I aren't willing to do that.

A park home seems like a solution and I could live anywhere- I'd be rent and mortgage free , is this possible?
I've seen some beautiful park homes but many aren't year round living . Does year round living in a park home exist?
I could move anywhere. Preferably somewhere beautiful. Lakes? Cumbria? Devon?

I think you need to get proper legal advice op

you must put yourself first. I would sell the marital home and exdh could get a flat

no way would I do this - no way at all

Do not do this. It's throwing money down the drain.
You're better off with a small house or flat.

My grandparents moved into one 25ish years ago on a 50s+ site. Grandad still lives there. It's beautiful. The views are stunning.

But, a brand new home there is 250k. No idea what he pays in fees so it's not necessarily a cheap option.
It's in the middle of nowhere, even the nearest bus stop is too far for older people to walk to. Maybe not a problem at 60, but might be by 80. Having said that, it's got a real community vibe to it and the neighbours are always checking in on each other and help out with lifts when they need them.

Our neighbours did this - to Kelso in the borders. Very nice.

Can the house be gifted to the children now who can then pay you an amount while your husband still lives there?

@stillvicarinatutu
I hope you are feeling better
Do please get legal advice.
Your ex has a new girlfriend.
They may well marry. A possibility.
What happens to the house then ?
What way will your dc be affected ?

You say you didn't raise selfish children but, when you were very ill you were on your own.
You, who have been so kind to Mumsnetters in distress previously.

Please please don't do anything until you have got good legal advice.

You sound lovely, trying to please everyone, it also sounds like your DC are not happy with you 😞 which is very sad.
I would sell the home, the home you're not welcome in and which your exh is having his new gf in, the home you paid for too?
What if they get married, she could end up with the house.
Split the money, he can rent and claim benefits.
You need to look after yourself financially, take legal advice please.
Ps I could live in a park home. I personally wish you all the best

You can't guarantee the house will go to the kids.

Your ex might meet a woman when he's 80 and leave it to her.

My Mum lives in a permanent residency parkhome. There is no requirement to upgrade the home after a length of time. There are site fees to be paid although if you are on certain benefits, the local council will pay your fees. She loves it there.

Be very wary and look into the pros a cons carefully. My friends were stitched up by a Park home purchase. Paid many, many thousands for one, paid site fees on top, they were so happy there..until the site owner sold the whole site. The new owners gave the ones who’s homes were over ten years old notice to quit. They could put them in Part ex for a new home, sold by the site owner, or remove them from the site.
Any homes that were sold on had to be sold through the site owner, he of course taking a hefty cut.

I can’t believe the number of people on here commenting when they don’t know the difference between a residential park home site and a holiday home site.

The OP’s idea is perfectly valid. Park home sites are residential although you do have to pay a fee to the owner to rent the land and pay for services, so that is an area to be wary about as some owners are better than others. Holiday parks are a similar set up but have licensing restrictions from the council which means that the residents can’t use them as a permanent home.

The quality of a home on a residential site vs a holiday site is different in terms of insulation etc. Park homes on residential sites have a resale value, albeit they don’t last forever.

The OP should be aware that the fees and cost of the home can be quite high depending on location. I have linked a site below which advertises options, site fees can be hundreds of pounds a month and park homes can be hundreds of thousands of pounds.

A cheaper park home designed for a holiday park is unlikely to be suitable for year round occupancy. They will be freezing cold in winter.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/buying-a-park-home/buying-a-park-home-factsheet

parkhome-living.co.uk/homes/for-sale

I think it's a brilliant idea OP and a completely selfless act. And the person who mentioned 'selfish little bastards' well they certainly won't be if they take after you OP.. My mum and stepdad did this and loved it.

I used to rent what had been a park home. The former owners had to buy a new one under the park home rules every x number of years. My landlady bought the old one very cheaply and rented it out. The one I had was fine, but that was in my 20s, I wouldn't fancy it in my 80s. The cost of heating was expensive.

I also know a few people someone who live in an all year round park in retirement or just generally. The people I know live in old cheap parks.

The pros were a sense of community and cheap cost of living.

The cons were no requirement to replace the homes so some were very run down. Getting in and out of the park home as they involve going up steps to get in got hard in old age. They are normally just wooden steps so could be very slippy. You can't just change your mind later on as you won't have the money. Some of the neighbours have serious social and mental health issues which hasn't always made for the best neighbours (noisy and or scary in some cases).

The more expensive parks aren't like that, but then the cost is much higher than a normal bricks and mortar bungalow and you will have to replace the park home a couple of times if you live to be 90.

I’m astounded your kids would see you homeless rather than him. Maybe your kids could buy a house with the equity and you live in it so no IHT?

I agree with this.

Park homes are chalet type fix together homes. Not static caravans. They are well insulated and beautiful.

You'll need to write a list of pro's and cons. You'll need to look into deprivation of assets.

I think your half may be fine going to the children but if your husband is living in the property, his half may not be transferable. But get some legal advice around this. It may be possible. A way around this might be him transferring you the entire property, you transferring it to the children. You buying a park home and moving out. This is allowed free of tax whilst you are still married and it's perfectly acceptable to move assets between spouses.

Then the owner of the house (you), who has transferred the asset to children hasn't deprived assets as you will have another home. I think the measure is, can you sustain your current living conditions and afford to give away the house? In your case the answer would be yes. This wouldn't apply if your husband owned half as he couldn't afford to sustain his lifestyle and give away the house.

Lots to think about and it will take carful planning but it's a good plan on paper!

I’m astounded your kids would see you homeless rather than him

They probably don’t want either to be homeless.

There's lots of horror stories about park homes on here. Do a lot of research, and maybe go on the Relationships/Divorce boards to support you through this. It sounds like you need to be looking out for yourself in this situation - get your share of the house, buy a place, and maybe even keep working at least part of the time. Compulsory retirement from one job doesn't rule out doing others. 60 is still young and you're starting a whole new phase of life. Better to make new connections and not risk becoming more isolated. Take care.

This.

I know someone who was essentially evicted from their own park home, their sole residence apart due to the age of the van.

They got around a rule of not living there permanently by staying at friends and families for about 4 weeks of the year. A reciprocal arranagement where people visited him.

Park home choice aside - that’s up to you.

Concerns I have is the emotional blackmail hold your children seem to have over you.
What happens if the house needs a new roof, expensive repairs? Are you going to have to pay for that? What happens if your ex remarries? Would you be happy to see the children’s ‘inheritance’ suddenly be diverted to step siblings? No one knows what going to happen tomorrow and sorry to use this word but your being naive to assume it will all work out in a certain way.

You either need to be bought out of the family home or it needs to be sold and split fairly.

As others said, be careful -DH's grand mother had one and the land owner wanted all the residents off so he could do something with the land. Could your budget stretch to a small bungalow?

My aunt has a park home in south Wales, not on a holiday site. She’s lived in it 30+ years and hasn’t had to change it at all. It has a great community, is close to amenities and while it wouldn’t be my choice, it suits her well.

Why can't you stay in the house and your husband have the park home?

Sell the marital home and split the money. That will give you a good deposit or money out right to by yourself somewhere. I would be horrified if my mum went without a secure home, so she could leave it to me as inheritance.

My dad lives in a lovely park home, it's a small site in notts on the side of a canal. Hes just installed a log burner and it's really cosy. Everyone on the site look out for each other (probably due to the ages - you need to be over 55 to live there)

Would you consider counselling to work this through? You appear to be acting completely against your own interest. You might like to be 90, so it's really important not to compromise too much for the sake of everyone else's feelings.