Static Caravan Owners who have spent thousands perfecting their home from home but now say they are being forced out of their sites by unfair rule changes that mean they simply can’t afford to stay! Come and join us: / 1488700298019076
I was stupid enough to buy one once - good few years back now, it cost 16 grand and the annual fees were about 2 grand. The site owners went to great lengths to explain what a great investment it was. We had a few happy years but then circumstances changed and we decided to sell up. All of a sudden our 16 grand caravan that was in immaculate condition was only worth 6 grand. When I queried the price I was just told - oh that's the book price. When I asked what book I was given some bs about a book that the industry used to calculate used caravan values, I asked to see it but of course no such book existed. I reminded him that when we bought it we were told - don't worry they don't depreciate like cars or anything like that, you will get most of your money back if you sell in 5 years. Of course the site rules meant we couldn't just leave it there and sell it to somebody else, if we wanted it removed they wanted to charge us a couple of grand - they had us right over a barrel. For God's sake people , don't do it - there is no legal or official body to stand up for you when it all goes wrong - these site owners are the greediest people on the planet.
My parents had it even worse than this, £30,000 for the caravan, +£3,000 every year in ground rent. It was in fantastic condition, but we were offered £1,500 around 10 years later. My father declined, the site was still selling our model of caravan for £12,000 at this stage. He tried to work out if he could sell it to someone else, and immediately got offers in excess of £8,000, but when the site owner got wind of this he immediately told my father that if he wasn't selling to him then he had to remove the caravan from his property, and was not allowed to use private movers either, he had to pay the on-site staff £2,000 to move it from the location to the site gates before a private firm would be able to move it from there to final destination, we couldn't find another caravan park that would take it anyway. My father gave up and went back to the site owner to sell to him after all, but the site dropped the offer to £1,000. My mother was furious and we decided to keep it and rent it out over the summer to cover the ground rent, but the ground rent kept increasing until just recently it was approaching £5,000 per year. My mother has just sold it (my father died years ago) they offered her literally nothing for it £0, after a week of heated arguments we finally managed to get £650 for it after fighting tooth and nail.
@@RetroSanctuary It is awuful to hear all these comments, but at the same time l thank you all because it has saved others from going through the same.
With more people selling their homes and retiring to static caravans in parks...the government has to step in and regulate the industry as a priority!!!.❤️🇬🇧
So grateful mine was given to me ❤️ people give them away a lot!! The previous owners bought a house, the caravan didn't sell, expensive to move, couldn't afford site fees..... keep an open mind and you can find these for free!!
We looked into owning a static van in Cornwall but after "eventually" getting the full yearly costs plus buying the van £40k the fees worked out at over 7k a year so (my way of thinking) over 10 yrs ownership you'd pay 70k just to use it plus it would be worth very little if try to sell , don't do it it's not worth it , go have a luxury holiday several times a year in a nice cottage at a fraction of the cost of van ownership 😔
Lost our caravan as we didn’t get invoice so didn’t pay deposit for fees in time even thought it was a month earlier than normal, and had already allocated plot to new owners, cost £2500 in solicitor fees to try and sort the £8000 bill they wanted for fees of removing and disposal of caravan and tidy site? They didn’t chase us for fees but correspondence with solicitor did. Never again will I invest in one unless it’s on my own land.
We live on Wyre Coutry park the mis selling of lodges is even worse as people are being told they can live on parks sell their homes To down size these lodges cost between £145,000.00 £350,000.00 our land owener is not paying bills so we may get cut off this week the whole site the council knows what goes on and turn a blind eye
I liked the idea of a a static caravan for weekends away, but after reading loads of stories about the way in which these sites are run I will give them a wide berth
NEVER BUY A STATIC ON A PRIVATE OWNED SITE. if you have a fall out with site owners, they will decide who you can sell your van to, and if they want to be awkward, they`ll keep refusing new buyers until you agree to their pathetic low buy it back price...or they`ll charge you a ridiculous amount to tow it off their site and will refuse anyone else permission onto their site to move it...JUST DON`T DO IT.
@@holidayparkaction2758 I still get tempted to get a campervan or something, but everything is so expensive now. It is best just to get flights and pay as you go accomodation.
Add in the cost of the over inflated purchase price and ever increasing site fees, it’s far cheaper to rent one in different places . Unregulated, unscrupulous sites , that want more for them and less for everyone else . It’s now sadly become a scam and a grift
yes, I often rented from privite onwers on famous parks via Uk caravans for hire. But even a lot of those owners do not rent out anymore. They end up selling I think.
This is no news to me I had one back in 2007 and paid £32000 for it and 5 years later site fees had jumped from 2k year to well over 4K per yer and was only offered at first £2500 for it in the end settled for 6k these parks are all the same it’s not vetted by law to protect people from the rip of park owners buyers beware if your thinking of getting one you really do need to want it and plan on massive use of it
Caravans are a rip off we paid £25000 for our van but when we went to sell it 8 years later we were only offered £2500. They said that's the book price, it seems a good idea to have a holiday home but don't do it you will lose all off your money. Plus the site fees if you add it all up it's very expensive for something your going to lose on.
This is why I like the idea of RVs and motor homes if you fall out with the owner of a site just pack up and drive of static caravans are harder to remove and require a lorry. I think people should only be charged when they use they caravans because a lot of sites are for holidays only not year round living
You cant live in them permanently. Even if some of them are 12 month parks, they still wont let you. When buying you must show your permanent residence address.
I grew up with these sorts of holidays. We originally had a caravan on an independently owned park but something happened to that (I'm too young at the time to remember what). Then we moved to a Haven which became a Parkdean. I have spent 30 years with these trips and wouldn't give up the space. With Parkdean we have never faced any issues, it's quite a reputable site that we're on. When you grow up from childhood like this, the summers and such, you spend the whole 6 week break there and you know tonnes of other kids, you play out with them for years and years. Honestly the best times of my entire life, and still sometimes the kids I used to ride bicycles around etc with now bring their own kids here which is mad when you think about it. As long as you are with a reputable site/company, and this is actually a life you want to buy into, then I don't think you'll have many problems. If you are brought up flying all over to Mallorca etc, and that's your idea of a good time, then it might not be for you. It is an entire lifestyle you're buying into. I never went to Spain until I went on a lad's holiday when I was in my 20s, in fact that was my first time even going on a plane... That's the lifestyle, you make holiday friends, go to the same place every year, and grow up with them. The pleasure is, really, more in the friendships than in the sun or beaches...
@@missfunk5 I was too young to really know about that side of things. I always enjoyed being at the caravan though, cycling round w my young pals. The management itself I wouldn't really know anything about.
@@missfunk5 DON'T DO IT - you ate just looking for trouble. He gives this great account of 'when I was young' but admits he knows nothing about the site management and the legalities ... 😮😮
It's a waste of time owning one of these overpriced tin cans.. Most sites are only open just over half the year. And now the UK weather is so unpredictable.. Even summers are hit and miss... Your better off renting one..
We did years with the SUN £9.50 Holidays.Before we made the biggest mistake buying one. Much better renting. You get looked after better. Owning once they have caught you in there claws. Say goodbuy to your money. these sites should all be MP. full off S--T
This not a new thing, caravan park owners have been getting greedy for years now. its one of the biggest rip offs in the uk now and the reason why i'll never buy one.
We were mis-sold and Misled and now have bronze services Europe based in Scarborough now assisting us on a joint litigation case. If you think you’re a victim then I implore you to contact them. It’s a no win no fee.
Buy one in Spain. Hold their value, often sell for more than you paid, better weather, regulated inflation linked ground rental, gas and water charges much much cheaper. Rip off Britain always lets itself down.
I wonder if it's the same here in Italy,mind you the reason I go back home to the Uk is to see family and friends. I will have to move them all to Spain lol
IT IS JUST NOT WORTH THE IT OWNING NEW CARAVAN DONT BUY FOLK AND WE NEVER RENTED IT THEY GET MESSED UP THING BROKEN WE LOST OUR WE LOST 43 GRAND ALL GONE
Static vans have always been a rip off, the owner can up the yearly fees in an instant, if you don't own the land (which of course you never can), then don't get into it. If you want to holiday in a van on a site like this, get yourself the most expensive twin axle tourer you can and have it towed there, then if this happens you can just re-locate it, used static vans are worthless, especially this old.
@@jbbloodclot that's bad owners. My dogs never messed near caravans. Any mess anywhere I cleaned it. It's disgusting not to clean it but any sense they should not let dogs do it near homes or public areas where people go x
@@jbbloodclot it is disgusting. I agree as a dog and cat owner. I always behaved wi ith my animals and others should. I even used to clean up others mess so mine wouldn't be blamed. Some sites don't allow animals. Maybe best way. X
Reading through all the comments it does not sound like a good idea to buy one. II liked the idea of having a place of my own to go back to in the UK, but the site fees are so expensive. It seems it wouldbe like throwing money away, l would only use about 90 max a year anyway. Have just booked two weeks with haven a bronze caravan, works out at 37 pounds a day, so out of season is ok. The problem l have is l like to escape the heat for 3 weeks where l live and paying to stay in the uk for that amount of time is so expensive now, in the south east.
A quick question, do the sites have 2 tier site fees? Although completely wrong, I can see the motivation for pushing up site fees exponentially year on year but surely high site fees means that the sites themselves cannot sell new caravans/lodges etc?
Why on earth didn’t they get a bank loan annually for the amount and pay it that way over 12 months instead of bad mouthing them over social media? No wonder they’re being evicted
I bought my static one year ago. It was new price £100 000.When Iwalked into the sales office I made it clear that I was buying a place to live in.I was told you can't say that ,that this is called a HOLIDAY home then they showed me how to get round it ,on the site that can make you quite vulnerable. Its something they have over you like a threat . There is a huge amount to ths story that applies to thousands of owners. My caravan was damaged before I moved in, the installation by the site wasn't connected and not checked before I started using it ,that caused massive leaking and for a whole year I have been trying to get this put right..too long to write ,plenty evidence and pictures pluss independent survey that was ignored ..as I right this the floor expert will be repairing it again this is the fourth time.. please interview me ..I'm resigned to loosing my home to get justice .. I have spoken to a solicitor and there isn't any legislation they can use. Look forward to hearing back from you . Jennifer Skilton
If I had a plot of land I wouldn’t charge the ridiculous prices they charge. Any caravan can stay there. This country just want money money money. Greedy
At least dick turpin wore a mask not much to choose between site owners definitely would not buy one. We had one at Ingoldmells we will stick with our tourer. My sister bought a willerby aspen for £18000 sadly my brother in law passed away twelve months later my sister had to sell it as she couldn't drive and the expense was too much she was given £10000 for it from the site owners no argument that's it or get it off the site as said robbers.