PITCH BATTLE..

Caravan owners say rent change forcing them out

OWNERS at a caravan site say they feel like they are being “forced out” following changes in how their rent is charged.

Caravan owners at the Ballyhalbert Holiday Park in Co Down are convinced they are deliberately being edged out by the new measures so that new caravans can be brought in.

While they accept there has been a small increase in the fees this year, they are more concerned that the park owners have moved the annual payment date from January 31, 2022, to December 1, 2021, and removed the option for them to pay in instalments.

Now some caravan owners are saying the move means they will be unable to afford the site fees, as it will have to be paid in a lump sum rather than over the course of a number of months.

One owner said: “This year the holiday park has brought forward the date that we are meant to pay site rental fees by two months and removed the option to pay through direct debit, which we have always done in the past.

“With this coming at the start of December, most of the families on the park will have to make the choice of keeping their caravan and suffering hardship over Christmas, or give them up and lose something that we have been investing in for years.

“We are convinced that this is all just a way of them getting people off of the site so they can make money on our caravans.

“The site will buy them off owners for a very low price and then sell them on for multiples of what they paid for them, and owners have very little choice in the matter.”

Lifestyle Homes Northern Ireland who manage the holiday park have declined to comment.

OUT OF REACH Ballyhalbert van owners fear they will have to sell up