Park Home Life Continued…….

Whats the cost of a Residential Caravan? Well because they are marketed as Park Homes and errected to look like bungalows the prospective purchaser is led into believing they are buying something far superior to what they really are buying which is of course a caravan.  As a lot of manufacturers are actually setting up their own parks the profit margins become immense. For example a double unit costing £45K ex works will probably end up on a pitch at a price of £145K, which gives a nett profit of £100K.  The Park Owner will argue that they have bought the land and developed it to receive the Residential Caravan, hence the final price but dont forget that the purchaser will pay rent on that pitch for every month they are there, and of course the Park Owner still has a vested assett in the land. So it is definately a win win situation for the Park Owner, even more so for the unscrupulous one. It is extremely difficult to be able to buy a Residential Caravan at ex works price and get it sited on a licensed park, however if you have your own piece of land with planning permission then you are probably going to make a good purchase.  Also if that piece of land forms part of a curtillage of an existing house and an interest can be shown to exist between that house and the Residential Caravan, then no planning permission is required, so there is food for thought.

Whats the value of a used Residential Caravan ?  There is a lot of marketing hype about this one, however in general a Residential Caravan will decrease in value rather than gain.  When it comes to selling dont forget that 10% commission to be paid to the Park Owner, its tempting to raise the price to cover the cost but in reality this does not really work, and you have to hope your Park Owner is not a Sale Blocker.  At the time of writing the housing market is in a turnmoil with many values on a downward spiral, so it probably follows that Residential Caravans will be suffering the same problems in any event.

Why does the Park Home Industry target semi retired and retired people? One of the reasons for this is that the industry relies on this segment to have the money to purchase outright.  This is usually acheived by equity in an existing private house.  You dont need a solicitor to purchase a Residential Caravan, which is of a benefit to the Park Owner and probably a detriment to the purchaser.  It is hard to think of anyone parting with that amount of money without first consulting a solicitor, but sadly this appears to be the case. Another ploy by the industry is to take a purchasers existing house either in part exchange or the Park Owner will make an arrangements to sell your house for you, again it needs to be stressed that the advice of a solicitor should be sought if entering into this kind of agreement. For the unscrupulous Park Owner the more vunerable and older the purchaser the better it is for them.

Is there a safe way to purchase a Residential Caravan ? There are steps you can take to protect yourself.  Always seek the advice of a solicitor and let him handle the money side of things.  Have a good look at the Park you have chosen and check with the local council that all planning permissions have been granted and the development is in order, it may cost the purchaser if things are wrong.  Check the council licence agreement to make sure you have residential status, this is very important where a mixed holiday/residential park exists. Check with the local Trading Standards to see if any complaints have been received or being investigated against the Park Owner.  Have a chat with the prospective neighbours, if they are willing to talk and are happy with the park they will be glad to tell you, if they appear shy or evasive there is a good chance the Park Owner is unscrupulous.  Talk to local shopkeepers, they will have first hand knowledge of unhappy residents.  Do not consider moving to a park that does not have a residents association functioning, remember there is always saftey in numbers. There is much information on the internet that can be used as a useful resource, a useful website is" can you trust them" which can be found at the following link,

http://www.canyoutrustthem.com/index.php?go=details&id=13861&adv=&city=&company_type=&company_name=&search_comments=&search_company_name=&search_country=

Another useful website can be found at Park Home Residents Action Alliance, the site is extensive and a great resource that will cover just about everything you will want to know, you can also become a member at a low cost,  those who run this site actually live in Residential Caravans and have first hand knowledge of many of the problems encountered, the link for this is at,

http://www.phraa.co.uk/latest/disclaimer-notice-phraa.html

The National Caravan Council can be found at

http://www.nationalcaravan.co.uk/home/index.asp

The BH & HPA can be found at.

http://www.bhhpa.org.uk/