Top Tips to buying a holiday home
It’s very easy to get excited when you’re planning to purchase a caravan holiday home to enjoy down time with your family and friends. With an abundance of holiday caravan parks throughout the UK and wonderfully furnished caravan holiday homes, including lodges, its easy to get a little carried away.
However, it is also important that you spend your money wisely to avoid disappointment from what should be a wonderful occasion.
We’ve put together some handy hints to help you consider what is important during the purchasing process. As a family business, we’re passionate about positive purchasing, keen to ensure our prospective buyers are making a purchase that is truly right for them.
1.Place: Whilst a comfy bed and spacious en-suite are no doubt important, its key to find a park that is a realistic and enjoyable journey away from your residential home. We ask our customers to think about the time of day they’ll be travelling, such as after work on a Friday or on a Tuesday morning, as this could impact their journey time. It’s also important that the location of your holiday home is also in an area that offers you the opportunity to enjoy you favourite past times when you’re on holiday. Whether you don’t want to leave the park or you want to be able to explore on foot or two wheels, you need to consider how easy this is to enjoy from your prospective park.
2. Price: It’s really important to consider your budget and not only for the purchase of the holiday home but for the annual costs associated with ownership. Buying a holiday home is an investment in your time, not a financial one. As with a car purchase, it is a depreciating asset and the return on investment is in the happy memories and quality time with loved ones enjoyed at your holiday home. Annual costs include a pitch fee, which is the ground rent for having your holiday home on the park land. This cost includes the maintenance of the park, security and insurance provided by the park as well as some services such as wi-fi provision and, in some cases, water and business rates. There will also be the costs of your utilities to cover as well as your holiday home insurance. Park businesses will vary in how they charge for these elements so it’s important to consider this when comparing parks.
3. Paperwork: Buying a holiday caravan or lodge is a big financial commitment. It is important that customers understand exactly what they can expect for their money and this is often communicated through the use of a Licence and Purchase agreement. It is important the park you are purchasing from uses such agreements as part of the sale. As members of the BH&HPA, we use the model Purchase and Licence Agreements. These are designed to set out ownership terms and conditions, including how you can use your holiday caravan. It is key to consider the length of licence, which varies for 15 to 30+ years.
4. Park: Considering the top 3 points should help you decide which park is right for you. Ensure that the running costs are within your annual budget, and they offer to show you the necessary paperwork. If the park you like doesn’t meet these 3 needs then please continue searching.
5. Pitch: Once you’ve found your park, you can then choose a holiday home based on their pitch availability. The location you prefer on park may determine the size and layout of holiday home that will best meet your needs.
Our team are on hand to talk through these points with you when considering a holiday home on our park.
You can find out more about the running costs at Riverside here and view the holiday homes we have available here. Further information on buying a holiday caravan can be found here.
