Static caravan purchase is it worth buying

We have one (or a lodge as the more substantial ones are now called). Caravans tend to have a 15 year life (before being worthless and moved off the site) and lodges up to 30 years. Not a lot for the price, particularly when most owners take good care of them and see them as a home from home.

Bear in mind that you can be moved from a lovely pitch to a less desirable one on a whim (eg if the owners want to use yours as an incentive to sell a new unit). You pay a premium for one with a sea or river view when you buy, but don't get that back if you are moved to a pitch next to the bins.

Site fees are just the start. The owners insist that you buy everything from decking to wifi through them, and add a 30% premium to the charge as 'commission'. There are rules for things like decking that change on a whim (eg that wood has to be replaced with UPVC) and you have no choice but to comply, often at a cost of thousands - a full UPVC deck can be £12k including the site 'commission', and the fact that you have just paid £6k for a wooden one is irrelevant.

Most sites have a clause in the contract that allows them to have first refusal on buying the unit when you sell, and they offer peanuts - a unit can be bought for £100k and three years later the owners are offered £15k for it. It will then be resold for £90k, which is heartbreaking for the owner who may have sunk their life savings or pension lump sum into it. You have to pay a 'disconnection fee' and 15% (plus VAT) of anything you get if you do sell - and remember this is your property - as 'commission' to the site if they don't buy it back from you, so you lose that immediately you buy. It is not the same as depreciation on a car, for instance. It is inbuilt obsolescence which only benefits the site owners. Most of the cost of the unit is paying for the right to site it on their land, and you don't own that land, so don't get it back on resale. Your £100k purchase has a resale value of maybe £25k in its own right.

Look on the Holiday Park Action Group on Facebook and listen to Dean Dunham on Youtube. He is a lawyer who is campaigning for consumer rights for caravan owners. Both have a lot of horror stories, and will warn you of what could happen. It might not - we have had a lot of use out of ours, enjoy going and it helps us to see more of family who live nearby, but we accept that we've lost a lot of money on it, which we've mentally written off. If we are asked to move from our pitch with a view we would leave, and as we paid outright for it we wouldn't owe anything, but many people are trapped because of loans.

My advice is don't do it, although we have had caravans and lodges for more than 25 years now. Our site used to be a family one, but changed to a chain one the year we bought our new lodge, and the difference is noticeable. We enjoy going, and use it a lot, but the costs have rocketed, and there is nothing we can do about it. As an example, we used to have an electricity card that was topped up when it ran out, and it cost about £30 a year for electricity. The new owners installed meters, and we had a bill recently for £75. That covers one long weekend - the rest is standing charges for the winter when not only were we not there, but the electricity was turned off. The bills are quarterly, and run to hundreds in the summer, which, bearing in mind that there are no expensive costs such as tumble dryers and so on (we have gas central heating, so rarely use the electric fire) is ridiculous. Gas has to be bought from the site, and is significantly more expensive than elsewhere. A bottle costs £100 and lasts a week when it's cold and we need the heating on.

If you are planning to buy on finance you stand to lose even more. Black Horse is the main lender for park homes, and make a fortune on loans. Many people realise the costs too late, and hand back their keys when they have paid off half the loan, so have lost an average of £50k on a dream. The unit is then sold on for nearly as much as they paid in the first place, so the £££ add up for the lenders and the park owners.

Under no circumstances buy in the hope of renting out to cover costs (I know you don't plan to do this, but someone reading might be considering it). The sites take a huge cut, and will rent your home-from-home to people on tabloid deals where they get a 'holiday for a tenner' vouchers, so by the time you have paid for valeting, gas and electricity and the site gets its cut you are out of pocket. The site makes on the deal as they can charge for access to facilities and the tenants pay for food and drink on site. You have no idea who is using your things, and many don't take care of it, and you have to insure against losses and damage.

TBH I wouldn't buy on a site that allows subletting anyway, as you would never know who was next to you and noise travels. Our site is owners only, which makes a huge difference. It is quiet and very pleasant as everyone has a vested interest in keeping the place that way, but again that could change overnight if the owners decided there was more money to be made by allowing rentals.

I've posted a lot about this in the past, so a search might find more, but feel free to PM me if you have specific questions.

The short answer though is Don't Do It.

We bought one last year having never owned any type of caravan. We have not regretted it at all, it is literally like having two homes. We are on an adults only site which is run by a fantastic team, in North Yorkshire. I would say go for it.

Motorhome is what I meant above. I said campervan, which I guess are the smaller type.

Lots of good advice here.
We had a static when our 3 kids were young and had some great times there.
Downsides are the annual site fees, which can be very expensive, and the depreciation, so you really don’t get your money back.
If you go for it, think about distance, because if you want to get up and go, that won’t happen if it is too far and are you content returning to the same place, or would you prefer to explore.
We bought a motorhome in 2016 when I retired and used it a lot, exploring the UK and Ireland until 2019. Intended travelling to France in 2020, but we all know what happened to that plan! In the last 3 years we have welcomed 6 beautiful grandchildren and, through our own choice, our free time is now more limited, but we are still getting away for short trips.
Downsides of the motorhome include being tied to taking it when you want to explore - there is not always an option for parking. However, we like being active, so walk a lot and always take our bikes for exploring. There is more planning required for trips, you don’t want to have to reverse on a narrow, windy road and some campsites get very busy at peak times.
Motorhomes tend to hold their value a lot better than statics. For us the main costs are storage (only a 15 minute drive away), tax, insurance, MOT, service, fuel and site fees (now £28 -£35 per night).
Whichever idea you prefer, why not hire for a week first (we did with a motorhome), it might help you to decide.
Good luck and hope you and hubby enjoy your retirement Rubydooby

Most of the concerns about static caravans have already been mentioned, expensive site fees, depreciation, etc.

Some neighbours of ours bought a huge secondhand camper last Sept and have used it just once! I think they paid about £50,000 for it but on top of that it costs a fortune to fill with fuel. They have to pay to insure and store it. Meals out are now really expensive and it’s no holiday to be cooking meals all the time. Then you have site fees. You can get a lot of very nice holidays for that!

Another friend hired one for a week last year prior to buying one. Her husband is well over 6ft so they insisted they got one where he could sleep comfortably. The only one who enjoyed the holiday was the dog! the husband said however he settled either his head or feet hit something. My friend said she couldn’t settle as he was moaning and crashing about. Camper vans are now out for them. 🤣

I echo Astitchintime‘s opinion. My daughter owns a VW camper van and I often borrow it for a few days. The freedom is just wonderful to be able to set off at short notice . No annual fees to worry about . The camping and caravan club approved sites are all of a high standard and cost £18-25 per night to stay. This includes electric and water hook up and full use of all their facilities.

If it’s something you might consider, I’d recommend hiring one for a few days and see if you enjoy it.

I bought one secondhand in 2016 on the edge of Dartmoor which is a 45 minute drive from my home. It is managed by Haulfryn and the site manager is always very helpful to us.

Yes, it’s expensive in terms of annual site fees (now over £5k p.a.) and the value of the van depreciates. However, I can’t put a price on the pleasure of the breaks we've enjoyed there, particularly when my home town becomes busy with holidaymakers. Various friends and family members have shared it, with or without me there but I don’t let it out to strangers.

If you are on Facebook, you can find groups there who are generally negative in their comments. Some were caught out during the pandemic when all sites had to close and local councils discovered “holiday homes” being used as permanent abodes. There are some rogue companies around so it is important to research your chosen site.

I shall probably have to sell my place next year as advancing age and accompanying health issues make ownership less viable.

Good luck in your quest! 😀

If I were in your position, assuming you have the money to buy a NEW static caravan, I think I would prefer to buy a motorhome (it is only poor physical health that stops me now).

As Grandmabatty stated, sites can change hands and thus the rules for caravan owners and some site owners do insist on caravans being replaced as they age.

A friend of ours has one on the east coast and their site fees are exorbitant now compared to when they first bought it ten years ago.

We bought one three years ago. With hindsight, would we do it again? Absolutely. We looked first at new caravans on a large and very well resourced site. Clubhouse, indoor pool and so on. The ground rent per year was expensive. The van was nice but not cheap. We looked further and had many conversations about our priorities. Eventually we made our choice. Firstly we are lucky perhaps that we live in Cornwall. We chose a site that is within half a mile of the sea. We bought a two year old ex rental van. Fully equipped and in excellent condition. We paid £19 thousand. We are half an hour away and in fact as I write this my wife is at the van with our dog. I am going down later this morning. It is a small, family run site. A small shop and a food outlet are the only facilities. It has a touring field in the next field. There is also a large field for walking and exercising your dog. It is very quiet. We go each week for one or two nights. Making a cup of tea, taking it outside to sit and enjoy the view as well as the peace is a simple but treasured pleasure.
If you have any questions, please ask.

I know quite a few people here have holiday homes and use them regularly but we have had both a holiday flat and a holiday lodge. We sold each because we struggled to find the time to use them.

Be very careful. My friend had one. The site changed hands and the site is no longer as desirable. Site fees have gone up substantially too. Most sites insist that you get rid of a caravan after a number of years and have to replace it for a new one. They do depreciate in value.
That's the bad news. My friend loved her caravan and the peace and quiet. Her and her partner used it often until she died. My parents had one too when my children were small and would let us use it. It was at the beach at St. Andrews and we have fond memories of going there.