Static caravan, proper log cabin or zone house - renovation

[mogernator]

We are buying a project house. It will probably take about a year to do up. What do you think will be best? Buy or hire a static caravan on site, invest in a proper log cabin type annex or zone the house and do it in phases.

The property has lots of space for a caravan/annex.

If we zone we plan on living in the front kitchen/living/upstairs while the garage and utility are converted (there is another access point) then move there will the front of the house is done. Then finally upstairs.

The roof probably needs doing and we'd like dormer windows put in so that's another job too.

We have two kids 7 and 9 and two cats. Plot is good that they can run free - enough space away from house. But is the caravan going to be a mega hassle. And should we buy or rent? Or should we just invest in a proper annex now? Or are they more time consuming than I think and too small for 4 people?

What would you do?

I think with kids that age and good grounds, I’d invest in a proper garden room with heating/ water/ loo (if possible) as I think this will be much more comfortable and add to the value of the house and when they are older the kids can use it to hang out/ for sleepovers OR you can use it to escape them/ for an office etc.

I'm doing the same. Static caravan is great if you love condensation want to sell on after.
Annex is great if it's future legacy is as a wanted and useable garden building/guest accommodation (and you can afford it).
Zoning is great if you can cope with the noise (you might want work to go on in the evening when kids are trying to sleep), there will be lots of noise in the day often, as it is quick and cheap. (Dust would be an issue but hopefully you will sheet and tape up apertures well enough that it will stay on the right side).

If I had the money, I'd go for annex for the reasons @Heronwatcher gave.

You'll need a good turnkey supplier for your annex if you want it up and habitable quickly.

Oh also to say I’ve done zoning, which worked fine (we basically lived in one room with a temporary kitchen) and used the bathroom to wash dishes etc, but I didn’t have kids at the time and wasn’t working from home and the constant dust/ mess/ noise was pretty awful. I’m not sure I’d do it over the winter with kids! We also had to move out for a few weeks when the boiler was being replaced and we didn’t have heating/ hot water.

I'd do the caravan, quick to set up, you can recoup some of the cost and in my experience ( we did zoning as it was converting two flats into a house so we had two kitchens etc and we didn't have room for a caravan) it can be difficult to get jobs all done in the most efficient order these days due to trade shortages and the inevitable unexpected problems. The flexibility of a completely empty house helps mitigate this. We are only completing some jobs now 8 years on as they were difficult to do with us living in the house.
You could do the annexe but you may be rushed into choosing the configuration before you really know what would complement your new house lay out

Caravan.

Depending on how big a project I'd stay in the house and zone it.

We are half way through converting a bungalow, had to take roof of to raise it up so bought a caravan to live in whilst roof was being done as there were no utilities in the place. We then completed the upstairs and put a temp kitchen in so we are living upstairs whilst ground floor is now being remodelled. Have just sold the caravan, lost a bit of money on it but was cheaper than renting somewhere. Done it with two cats but no kids.

Hmm thanks! It's quite a big project:
Garage conversion
Roof needs tlc
Windows need replacing
Moving staircase
Utility/shower room
Kitchen
Couple internal walls knocking through
New bathrooms
Upstairs needs couple walls knocking and reconfiguring
Decided not to do an extension at this point in time though it could probably benefit from a single storey extension at some point.
Ballpark 12-18 months maybe?

Currently thinking a caravan may be best or zoning. We'd like a garden room at some point but not sure could live in it for 12 months? I think a garden room would suit us better than a bigger granny annex.

If you don't want a granny annex long term then caravan or zoning is the only choice. I'm living in a temporary granny annex effectively. It's a cabin which will be scrapped/recycled when we're done as was not constructed with permanence in mind (cheaper but won't last). We didn't have the choice of zoning though as building was habitable at all.
I'm glad I live separately to the work though tbh.

If your schedule doesn't slip it'll be a miracle, so psychologically best to buckle in for the long haul whichever you do.
If you've got a really good firm doing the lot so all the stages can be planned to flow one to the other really neatly you might be ok, but that's a fair bit of work, if you're project managing yourself you might find less than meticulous planning and trades being slow to turn up when you need them might create some timeline slippage.

i think i'm erring towards a caravan just to have a space separate to the chaos! I'm looking online and it seems you can buy them from a dealer then resell them back afterwards. Massive range of prices but probably £10-20k will get something ok for 4 people for a year.

Caravan and a big water tight shed so you've got plenty of storage space.

Sorry this is long! We have just spent 2yrs doing this OP, so happy to answer any questions you have. Derelict property that needed new roof, 2 walls taking down, steels put in, new floor boards/joists, retrofitted insulation, underfloor heating, 38 new windows and 2 large bifolds, complete new kitchen and bathrooms and a 3x4m extension etc. I wrongly assumed it would take 1yr, it took 2 and we are only just in the house. Structural work done- but lots of bits to finish still.

Just DH and myself and we bought a static van. Ours is a small 2 bed, 28 x 10, but if you can- get the largest you can fit on your site. Ours was positioned right over the sewer, so it was very easy to plumb it in for a flushable loo. DH and I both WFH- which was challenging at times in a van- but certainly do able.

Our van is single glazed with a gas fire. You can get 'winter ready' vans with double glazing and central heating- but the costs really go up to buy these- but equally, resale value might be more. An electric blanket and a karcher window cleaner- to remove the condensation in the winter were life savers.

We had things sealed in crates and those vacuum bags in the house- and despite being in closed rooms- dust got in everywhere. For the noise and dust alone- having somewhere clean and separate from the worksite was lovely to escape to. I'm SO glad we didn't decide to try to live in the house whilst work was going on.

1 thing we didn't have was a washing machine. If you can put one in a shed or a room in the house- it will save a fortunate and time in going to the laundrette.

Think about parking for trades. We have a very large area at the front- which could fit maybe 6 cars. Many trades have large vans though, and some days we'd have 6 or even 8 people on site- so parking can be an issue.

Provide solid bins ALL over the garden and in the house. I found lunch wrappers, cans, cigarette packets etc hidden/shoved inside pipes, pots and all around the garden! 😡

Speak to the council, because you should get a year off paying the council tax if the house is uninhabitable. If the house has been empty, ask the council for their empty homes inspector to come and assess it. Empty 2-10yrs, you pay only 5% VAT on materials to get it back to a home. Empty 10yrs+, you pay no VAT on certain materials!

IF you set up a drink station with a cheap kettle, tea, coffee etc- get cubed sugar because it won't spill all over the place and attract ants!

We are in the process of selling our van- so let me know if you want a little one 😉

For context, our van (Sth East) was £3000, and £600 to have it moved to our place and positioned. Its old- but has all the basics- oven, hob, fridge/freezer, shower, toilet, beds, lounge etc. We bought from a dealer who said they'd buy it back for £1500 when we were done.

2yrs on- the same dealer won't honour the price to buy it back- so I'm advertising privately.

@CC4712 ah thanks so much for all that. I will definitely get in contact with the council. It's not been lived in for about 3-4 years now. Do you want to pm me details of your van?! We are also SE!

You don’t need to limit yourself to one static home. You could get two or one and a proper caravan for sleeping in.

@mogernator I was actually joking about you buying my van, but will private message you anyways. 😄

Definitely not the zoning option.
we did a downstairs refurb thing, a 6 week project by professionals.
the dirt in the liveable areas of the house was horrendous. It gets everywhere no matter how hard you try and stop it.

Caravan if you can afford double glazed and central heat, if not maybe a combination of caravan and zoning. Caravan whilst the weathers good and zoning over winter. If your budget is £10 to £20 k you should be able to get a winter usable one. There's a company called Sambeck caravans based in Colchester that have a massive range, they sell a lot of ex holiday park vans. They have a website and have a good reputation.

Could you rent nearby? We've just emerged from a massive renovation project and lived in rental locally for 18 months.

There is no way we could have zoned it - house was uninhabitable for a while (you get full council tax discount for this portion) with structural work, no heating and no plumbing in for a while.
There wouldn't have been space for a caravan and I doubt we'd have coped in one anyway, and that's just with one child and one person WFH.

@Devilinthedeet It was sold a few weeks back I'm afraid.

@Devilinthedeet 2yrs ago, the caravan company said they'd buy is back for £1500 when done. On enquiring after the renovation, they would only give £600- despite what they'd said before, plus, it would cost us £500 to transport it there.

We sold it for £800 and the buyer paid to move it. TBH- it was very cheap for 2yrs of accommodation, so didn't owe us a thing. I've seen the buyer has it up for sale for £2300, but its been there for over 2mths and not sold!