static caravan living

[cazzaz]

I am thinking of selling my house and moving into a static caravan. I am looking for residential caravan sites .Can anyone tell me how to find them? I have googled but cant seem to find a list of such places....any kind of help would be very welcome. I live in the north west lancashire/cheshire but may move further away.

[anneasquith]

are you becoming a romany traveller cazzaz. what about sites that are used for holidays.

[craft1948]

I think they're called Park Homes....

[ethandron]

this may be of some help:
http://www.url.org/?l...JWH5qMCFVEA4wodg0ezXA

[tastymorsel]

I think you are only allowed to live on these parks for 10 months out of the year

[ethandron]

also here:
http://www.caravantal...40027-caravan-living/

[cazzaz]

thanks for the links .....very useful

[ethandron]

cazzaz, from what i've heard/read about it, you need to do loads and loads of research before you take the plunge. lots do it successfully, but as you can see from one of those links, there are lots who live to regret it and end up throwing good money after bad.
good luck with whatever you decide :)

[B00]

Speak to Doc, he lives in one in Blackpool.

I have to be honest and say that we've looked into it ourselves, but sadly we're too young and we've a child and dog :-(

[dotty.]

There is a new one being built near leyland golf club and you only need to be 55, It's croossed my mind that it might be interesting to look into. it's on the A49 just before the new Buckshaw village and right next door to the shell garage.

[dotty.]

THIS IS IT:
and it lists all other sites too
http://www.parkhomesa...targladeCroftPark.asp

and there's the Royal Umpire site on the road from Euxton the Croston too that's been there decades.

[B00]

Yeah Dotty (hiya by the way) the youngest age they'd accept was 55 on the ones we found too.

We were looking at ones down Cornwall way, but like I said came across those problems. Also quite a few you have to vacate for a few weeks per year, so that's a tough one to work round too.

[dotty.]

I know B00 but it depends on the original planning from the LA, the purpose bulot ones are permanent homes it's the touring sites that have that rule as far as i understand it.

[dotty.]

(hi back at ya BTW) LA means Local Authority, where the site is built just for the permanent residential occupants as opposed to allowing short lets or tourers then i think they can be occupied all year round

[B00]

Yeah, that was the gist of what we read when we looked into it too. I'm determined to move to Cornwall one way or another Dotty, so i will keep looking for ways to do it!

[dotty.]

take joint jobs running a guest house or small hotel and make it a vocational move, you'll get help with that from the local authority maybe or even the benefits agency, do a course in hotel management at your local college

[pussnboots]

I live in a Park Home and it's fabulous. If the site is residential you do not have to leave at all, only holiday homes have a short stay rule. We pay full council tax the same as anyone else. The site we are on has an indoor swimming pool, fishing lake, club house, and are all free to use for family and friends. I highly recommend it.

http://www.hambletoncp.co.uk/

[susanxx]

I have just returned to bricks and mortar after 5 years in a park home/ mobile home or whatever some people want to call them. I would not recommend this move even though some people love them and even believe they are down sizing and more cost effective. They are not. I have moved to a substantial detached bungalow, with large garden and yet am nearly a £1000 per year better off even though my rates are dearer. Insurance is limited to about 5 companies and weeks before I left I was told by my car insurer that I was not insured as some insurers are will not insure people who live in caravans despite my insistance that it was residential and my permanent home. The rules of the site are determined by the site owner and they can vary greatly, some horror stories about a site owner in my neck of the woods(Lancashire north west area) are dreadful. The yearly site fees are now £135 per month and are increased by the RPI each year and yet the owner can increase this to cover 'maintenance'. Some take pets but on their death you cannot replace yet you could sell to someone with a pet. Some do not have mains gas so it it either LPG, which you may have to purchase from the owner at a greatly inflated cost, or bottled gas that can cost you over £100 per week. You may also have to buy your electricity from the owner and although he cannot charge more than he buys it for it means you cannot access dual fuel discounts from suppliers, plus if there is an outage you cannot contact the electricity supplier yourself it is all done through the site owner who may not be happy at being contacted in the middle of the night. Do remember that park homes are made of plywood, the wall thickness is no more than 5 inches so keeping them warm and cosy is costly. Due to mould and damp of these buildings there are many vents in the home which cause many drafts. My home was a model made by Stately, on my site there were 50 homes , mostly Stately, and everyone of them had suffered severe rotting issues and the 10 year warranty isn't worh the proverbial. Indeed every home on the site has had wood issues and it is a very young site, some even had problems after only a couple of years. Sorry to go on a bit but I thought I had done my research(nearly 2 years) yet I was stung very badly. And don't forget, when you sell the owner gets 10% of the pruchase price. Don't do it you will regret it and it will cost you dear in money and health.