True costs of a static caravan

[malfoyy]

I'm desperate for somewhere of my own by the sea... So just how expensive is having your own static?

There must be a load of hidden costs?

Following!

There are! site fees, services, ground rent etc. Some sites expect you to change your caravan every couple of years which considerably adds to the cost. Some restrict who can use it so you cant just let family/friends stay. Look at the site management. is it good? do the facilities look in good order? what are reviews like? etc

My experience of this is that the people who own a caravan within 2 hours of where they live use it much more than those further away. to make it cost effective you really need to be using it all year round and lots of weekends and full weeks.

I would start by buying either a touring caravan or a camper van. see how much you use this over a period of say two years then work out the cost per year of a static van divided by the real number of days you are likely to use it.

Honestly if you do this I bet you will be shocked at how little you stay and what the unit cost of each holiday is in your own van vs the unit cost per stay in a hired van or cottage.

For mine, used all year round, probably occupied 100 days (annual figs)

Site fees approx £1800
Gas bottles around £100
Electricity about £300
Insurance £250
Gas safety check 50

So £2500 fixed costs. I reckon I’m also about 600 in extra petrol costs per year too, to cover the cost of actually getting there, so 3k in total.

We used to have a static and the overall costs kept rising....
Many sites have a 15 year rule now, so once your caravan reaches 15 years old you have to replace. And they usually ha e the monopoly on buying back your old caravan so only peanuts for that. A new caravan is in excess of £30,000 so over 15 years is £2000 per year PLUS site fees.
Let's talk site fees.... ranging from £2000 upwards. Basic level is a small site, maybe attached to a farm with no facilities. For 5500 -6000 range it's a site with pool and restaurant etc e.g. Haven...
So for the caravan AND the fees, anywhere from £4000-10000+.
Then there may be extras to factor in - gas, car fuel etc... it all adds up!
We now have a large router caravan on a fixed site. Still have a fixed place to visit but much cheaper and if sites fees rocket we can vote with our wheels!

Should read we now have tourer caravan! Doh!

Crikey!

Thanks for the info. I'm not sure I can justify those fees.

I didn't realise it was possible me to have a tourer but keep it somewhere longer term, that might be my answer? I just don't know where to start looking.

Yes, you can have a tourer and use it like a static caravan, many caravan sites have special rates for a full and half season (you won't be with the statics normally, you'll be with the touring caravans).

Mine is 2.5-3hrs away. Costs £3400 per year in site fees and I visit every weekend - it's great for relaxing and winding down as well as getting away from the other half! Completely recommend it!

I'd second looking Into a seasonal tourer, then you have option to move. Bailey retreats are popular at a local site to me basically a step between tourer and static, but they no longer make them.

Whenever I’ve thought about it, I’ve looked at what else we could get for the same money. So if I’m looking at £5000 a year then we could do 5 weeks at £1000 somewhere else. Obviously it wouldn’t be mine, but I’d not have to clean, do maintenance, try to let it out, fend off CF who want a free holiday etc.

A friend has just bought a static caravan and said their site fee is a whopping £5000 per year! I don't understand why people do this as you can have up to 5 holidays abroad as a couple. If you were to holiday in a static caravan it costs £600-800 per week in peak season so if you are wanting to let it out to make the money back you seriously restrict when you can use it.

I think its a great idea if its somewhere that you are going to use all of the time throughout the year for long holidays and most weekends. personally, the figures never added up for us as I knew that after the initial honeymoon period of going there all the time, the kids would want to travel further afield and we would start to use it less and less then you have to deal with family/friends wanting it, having to have it cleaned etc. a camper van is a great idea because you can park it at home and drive off uk or Europe whenever you want.

Are there any restrictions as to how long you can stay, could you live permanentely on a static site.
My friend wants to do this when her dd leaves school as all her money will stop then and she's disabled.

Some sites are water to autumn half term.
Other allow eleven months of the year.

We have a static van in a site with good facilities - pool, restaurant, entertainment etc - and reckon our annual costs are around £5000. However, we use it a lot and don't go for any other holidays.

romanyroots - many of the sites have occupancy restrictions and in terms of costs particularly if you are staying in the winter heating etc can really rack up. has your friend spoken to the local council about what help they can offer her due to her disability?

We have a static on a small site in a busy seaside area. It is about 1.5-2hrs fm home.

Site is open Mar to Nov.
There is no age limit to the van as long as it "looks tidy"
We pay just under £3k per year in 2 instalments.
Insurance is £120 per year.
Electric approx £60 per year.
Gas bottles £35 each.

We go down for 2 weeks at Easter
1 week in May/June
3 or 4 weeks in the summer hols
1 week in Oct

We also go for the odd weekends - DD and I have been for 3, DH and I for 2. We would go more often if DD didn't have so many weekend activities - it was easier when she was younger.

We've had it for 10 years now, and had a smaller one before. In 10 years our site fees have only gone up by £300. We paid £9500 for it 10 years ago. It was built in 2000 and is still looking good.

Our site doesn't have any facilities, less a kids park and BBQ site. But the area has loads to do, lots of pubs/clubs and free entertainment as well as a pool/fair/petting zoo.

This may well be our last year, simply because we aren't using it as much, but I will be very sorry to see it go. I can see us buying another once DD has left home and spending a lot more time in the area. It's my happy place.

Do you have a site that has chalets on it? These are bricks a mortar so can't be moved when too old. Our fees are approx £4K a year but you can get buy one for £10k upwards. If you rent out whilst not using it you can recoup some and the council tax will be massively reduced.

Really, really not worth it financially unless you're going to use it a lot! We had one in France which cost us £2000 pa in site fees alone. And we found we didn't use it enough to justify it. (You also find you'd like to go on holiday somewhere else, but feel obliged to go to the van because it's already been paid for).

mummy

Thank you, she rents privately atm and has to pay for an extra bedroom so her mum can stay over, she lives in another country.
She is looking for options as we are surrounded by very poor council estates.
I know beggars can't be choosers but she really doesn't want to have to go back again, it took her several years to escape.
At the moment she is ok as her dd is 16 and continuing in education, but she is worried for the future.
She seemed quite struck on the idea of a static van and I suppose if she is on her own in the future she could keep some bills down, living like this.

Also interested in this!

Do those who own their van also privately rent it out? If so, does this considerably contribute to the overall fees or are there then other costs to factor in, like cleaning, admin etc?

We rent ours out to friends and family. We’re not allowed to rent it ‘publically’. We just charge a minimal fee, we usually cover the gas and electric for the year doing this.