Holiday park homes now cater to all tastes
ThAT pretty gite in France or that villa among the lush vineyards and olive groves of Tuscany are hard to resist.
Even so, a growing band has grown weary of overseas travel and is opting instead for a unit in one of Britain’s holiday parks. So, what’s the big attraction? ‘Owning a static caravan means we aren’t depleting the housing stock,’ says Marilyn Stevens, 65, a retired nurse from Worcester, whose family have enjoyed holidays at Mother Ivey’s Bay ( motheriveysbay.com) in North Cornwall since the Sixties.
‘It means we get on better with the local people because we bring money to the area and we can’t be blamed for putting up house prices.’
Marilyn can reel off a string of other reasons why she keeps returning to this family-focused site, which has its own beach.
‘It is a safe environment for youngsters,’ she says.
‘My children and now grandchildren have been able to play here with minimal supervision that wouldn’t have been possible if we’d bought in a town.’
The Stevens family has seen enormous changes in holiday park life over the past 50 years.
In the Sixties, washing facilities amounted to a water stand-pipe and a toilet block. Doing the washing-up meant ‘bucket and chuck it’. Today, the caravans are all double-glazed, with shower rooms, TVs and heating.
This doesn’t come cheap. A toprange place in a prime position can cost £80,000 and its licence agreement is for ten years. And then there are various fees to cover maintenance, rates and utilities, which amount to about £3,500 a year, says Marilyn.
When Christine Nelson, 60, decided to cut down on her work commitments as a music teacher in Stockport, she considered buying a little place in Spain.
But Brexit concerns, poor currency rates and the hassle of holidaying abroad put her off. Stamp duty applied to British second homes also made a weekend cottage here less attractive.
Then she visited Pure Leisure Group’s site at The Yealands in north Lancashire, where prices are around £69,995, and was so smitten she bought a two-bedroom lodge ( pure-leisure.co.uk).
‘The staff are welcoming — I can use the restaurant, bars and
leisure centre. I have made friends here, started running and joined the RSPB. It has changed my life,’ she says.
There are more than 210,000 park homes on 4,000 sites nationwide. At The Warren, in Abersoch, North Wales, some homes have iPhone-operated heating systems, flat- screen TVs, Italian kitchens and en- suite bathrooms with whirlpool spas ( haulfrynholiday homes.co.uk).
Watermark’s New England-style lodges on the gated Cotswold Water Park offer wind- surfing, cycling and cable skiing. Only 90 minutes from London, prices are from £ 640,000 ( watermark cotswolds.com).
Dream Lodge also specialises in top- end sites ( thedreamlodge
group. co. uk). Its latest, The Sanctuary, outside Newbury, is close to fishing ponds.
Its lodges have 40-year guarantees to cover their roofs and 20 for external walls.
They cost from £ 100,000 to £350,000, not including fees of £4,000 per annum.
‘In that particular area you won’t find a house for sale for under £1 million,’ says Simon Moir, the group’s managing director.