Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

UK travel

Welcome to our UK travel forum where you can get advice on everything from holidays to exotic destinations, to tips on London travel.

Flip

Original poster

Buying a static caravan - mainly for investment?

22 replies

givemesteel · 07/04/2019 12:30

Hello, I'm currently trying to work out whether buying a static caravan in a holiday park is a reasonable investment or not....

Has anyone bought one as an investment as well as somewhere to go on hols themselves?

I know some parks don't let you sublet so will avoid those. I'm aware there are service charges / ground rents and some parks make you replace the caravan after eg 15 years. Then there's insurance, cleaning and maintainence costs as well. Presumably all that is tax deductible though. I'm just trying to work out if after that there's a decent profit for the level of investment.

Our situation is we've got 3 small children (preschool, one starting school in Sep) so a long time until teens and not keen to go. It wouldn't be our main holiday, but just somewhere to go a week here and there whilst kids are off on school hols,and the odd weekend. Also have retired parents who would probably take disabled sibling sometimes.

But it wouldn't be worth it just for the enjoyment of having one, as we wouldn't be there enough, so would have to be worth it as an investment also.

Anyone else bought a static caravan(s) because they made a decent return on investment on it?

Thanks in advance.

OP posts:

CatsCatsCats11 · 07/04/2019 12:42

They are not an investment you are buying a lifestyle you will lose money buying a caravan. We have one and we all love it but you have to go in with your eyes open.

BulletWithABun · 07/04/2019 12:46

If you want to use it yourself in school holidays, you will be losing the income on the best selling/highest priced weeks of the year.

continuallychargingmyphone · 07/04/2019 12:50

You’d be better off buying a small flat in a seaside town.

Holidayshopping · 07/04/2019 12:53

Our situation is we've got 3 small children (preschool, one starting school in Sep) so a long time until teens and not keen to go.

Not keen to go where?

Original poster

givemesteel · 07/04/2019 13:04

Thanks for responses so far, to answer a couple of points.

bullet yes you're right that going during school hols means you lose that prime time income, but I think we'd prob only go 3 weeks a year during peak time out of 9ish weeks of school hols that are warm enough for a UK beach hol (ie Easter, whitsun and summer hols), so would still get say 5 out of 6 weeks of summer school hols.

continually yes possibly but there's a big difference between price, ie £30-50k for a caravan versus maybe £200k for a seaside apartment (I live in SE so it would have to be south coast somewhere to be worth it), which would also have ground rent and other charges.

cats do you rent yours out or just use yourselves?

OP posts:

Original poster

givemesteel · 07/04/2019 13:05

holidayshopping I've read a few threads already on static caravans where a lot of people say their teenage kids won't go to a holiday park, so I am assuming it's something we'd do for about a decade whilst kids are smallish.

OP posts:

Macaroonmayhem · 07/04/2019 13:13

Not an investment. It is a depreciating asset. We have one on a holiday park, we’re not able to (officially) rent it out but friends and family are allowed to go. The fees go up every year, while the value of the caravan falls and eventually we will have to remove it from the site as they have rules about the age of the vans on site. At that point we’ll have to try and sell it. We bought it because it was relatively cheap, in an area we love and within easy driving distance so we use it most weekends.

To make it even try to work as an investment we’d need to buy one that costs 5x the one we bought and rent it out every week so get no use for it ourselves. For that price I’d rather invest in bricks and mortar which should at least maintain the capital value we put in.

Sorry!

stucknoue · 07/04/2019 13:16

They depreciate year on year and realistically you would be lucky to rent it more than 6 weeks a year as summer hols are the main market (with a bit of June and September for toddlers). Private caravan lets would need to be a lot cheaper than the site lets because you get more guarantees with them - I only paid £400 last time I went in July for a brand new 3 bed anyway in Devon

mrsnec · 07/04/2019 13:19

The people I know who own them actually live fairly close to them and use them at weekends from time to time because they like the facilities of the park.

One site in particular has an owners lounge and it's their social life.

That wouldn't be enough for me and when I looked into it it wasn't my cup of tea.

Some of the caravans are absolutely lovely and very comfortable but the site fees on the decent sites were eye watering!

But still definitely cheaper than an apartment. Certainly where I was looking anyway. (Weymouth)

feelingverylazytoday · 07/04/2019 13:20

Only buy it if you love the area and lifestyle. My son and his family have one, they absolutely love it and spend as much time as possible there. They don't rent it out.

AnchorDownDeepBreath · 07/04/2019 13:24

Agreeing with everyone that they aren't investments. They depreciate in value quickly.

By all means do it to have somewhere to go that you love, especially if you're already all big fans of caravan holidays, but it's not an investment and you'd be very lucky to have any type of return all things considered.

Piglet208 · 07/04/2019 13:25

Even if you maximise the rental income it will likely only cover the annual site fees and costs. The initial cost of the caravan will never be recouped and as it is a depreciating asset you will lose money when you sell. It is a lifestyle more than an investment.

nooddsocksforme · 07/04/2019 13:26

It’s not an investment. We have a “ lodge” which is a glorified caravan. We love it but it costs a fortune in fees for the site, and for gas and electricity. We don’t rent it out but if we did the site would take a percentage of the fees and we wouldn’t make all that much ( although it’s £900 a week to stay in a lodge at high season) We know this because we were shown figures when we purchased it.
Not sure I would do it if I knew then what I know now- but because they depreciate in value don’t want to sell it .
Definately a lifestyle choice.

Shortandsweet20 · 07/04/2019 13:31

If you rent them out it's not ideal to keep your things in there. We sold ours recently after ground rent went up to £5000 for the year! Don't forget the parks are often closed from October to February but you still have to pay rent and often a close down cost incase they freeze etc.

They aren't an investment unless you're going to hire it out all the time!

Original poster

givemesteel · 07/04/2019 13:34

OK interesting thanks all. I was interested as I'd seen a few ads on a local Facebook page for holiday caravans and some people obviously have several so was thinking some people may be making a decent return on them if they're not using them that much themselves.

For those of you with caravans, I'd be interested to know what the depreciation is every year and what site fee increases you have every year?

OP posts:

Shortandsweet20 · 07/04/2019 13:40

We got ours in 2014 for £45,500 and sold it for £34,000. In perfect condition with a lovely plot and decking! It's lost a lot of value! The ground rent with water, gas etc was about £5000!

MadameAnchou · 07/04/2019 13:41

We have a lodge which is not a glorified caravan but more like an actual house. We have it because it's in a different part of the country near MIL so we can go and see her at weekends and holidays. It has a year-long license so you can stay in it any time but it is quite expensive. We don't rent it out but honestly, it's not a good investment. It was just a way to get a bolthole in an area we love that's functional and has no maintenance and is not a flat (our son has autism and flats aren't a good mix for him).

I wouldn't buy a van, tbh.

MadameAnchou · 07/04/2019 13:42

Our lodge was built in the 1980s.

NicksWife08 · 07/04/2019 13:53

In laws had one, they paid £35k for it, had it 5 years and sold it back to the park for 12k.
It cost them £5-6k per year. Site was closed from January to March. The other issue was they rented out the lodges actually owned by the park before the ones owned by anyone else, so in a quieter period no one else stood a chance of getting a let.

MadameAnchou · 07/04/2019 14:09

Oh, yes, that's another swizz they do. If you try to sell the van privately and not to the park, they will then charge you in the region of £3-£5k to move it to the boundary of the park and not allow a non-park removal of the van.

TricksyLiesmith · 07/04/2019 14:14

We have a one and it's the best thing we have ever done . However it is not an investment . It's kind of like buying a high end car in that if depreciates .
Our site does not allow sub letting which we prefer as we know all our neighbours. We also can leave out things there and go when we like . It's is expensive to run but the lifestyle is amazing and we spend solid time as a family.

MadameAnchou · 07/04/2019 14:35

Exactly, Tricky! We really enjoy the lodge but it's definitely not an investment. Our site facilities are amazing, though, and our older kids love using them now they're able to go on their own to the clubhouse complex and gym. It's really an indulgence.

Flip