A shore investment
A South West holiday lodge could provide a useful income too
WITH these long hot days, there’s nothing more alluring than the South West for a seaside break.
Yet if you think a coastal bolthole is too expensive, think again — especially if you are willing to consider a park home.
These days park home sites have far better facilities than before, at super locations across prime South West areas.
If you want a little income, too, you could be in business: the British Holiday & Home Parks Association calculates that 50 per cent of Britons have at least one holiday in their lives on a park site.
When it comes to the South West, there’s no shortage of parks and thanks to their growing popularity — both with buyers and renters — many of the best ones have undergone multi-million pound facelifts.
Ladram Bay Holiday Park near Exmouth and Budleigh Salterton in Devon, for example, which recently won an eco- friendly award from botanist David Bellamy — has seen the planting of hundreds of native trees, shrubs and flowers in the past year.
The park, with its own private beach, has also refurbished its Seaview Shack cafe offering residents views of the bay.
Ladram Bay offers a sub-letting scheme providing some property owners with an income potential of £4,535 over five weeks at the height of summer — an example of how park homes can be an investment as well as a holiday home ( ladrambay.co.uk).
There have been plenty of other improvements across the South West. At Warren Farm Holiday Centre at Brean in Somerset, there is a new playground.
‘We’re known as a child friendly park and people purposefully book plots near the play areas,’ explains director Mike Harris ( warren-farm.co.uk).
Further west in Cornwall, where bricks and mortar holiday homes fetch stellar prices, well-located parks at key spots such as Newquay, Falmouth and St Ives provide affordable alternatives.
The Retreats at Padstow Holiday Park, North Cornwall, for example is selling a 40ft by 20ft park home for £ 120,000 ( padstowholiday
park.co.uk). Meanwhile at Coast View Holiday Park at Devon’s beautiful village of Shaldon, the entire site has been modernised. Facilities include an indoor pool with a toddlers’ pool, too.
And a spa and beauty room are being installed as part of a fitness suite scheduled to open next year, close to a new bar and restaurant ( southwestholidayparks.co.uk).
If you are buying a park home in the South West, bear in mind some basics. First, most holiday parks allow only ten months per year occupancy: many, therefore, shut for at least two months annually, so check the terms.
Second, choose a park that not only suits your needs, with easy access for friends and family, but also might well attract a good income if you let it out, too.
THIRD, budget wisely. Homes can cost from as little as £15,000 up to well over £ 200,000 depending on age, location, size and specification: check those advertised on Rightmove and Zoopla for a guide.
In addition you will have to pay each year for pitch fees, utility charges and insurance — the latter is especially important if you let out the property.
Finally, remember that tax rules have recently changed. For a park home to be considered a Furnished Holiday Letting — the most favourable tax status if you let out — it must be available for rental at least 210 days per year and occupied for at least 105 days.
There’s one more calculation you need to factor in, too: the savings on holidays that you’ll make if you buy a park home in one of the country’s most desirable tourist spots.