The perfect route to a park home
THINKING about buying a park home? There are so many operators in Britain that it is sometimes difficult to know where to start. So one way to sample what the industry has to offer is to attend one of the various park shows that are held around the country.
Next month the World of Park & Leisure Homes Show will be held at Stoneleigh Park in Warwickshire, while in September, the Holiday Park & Homes Show comes to beautiful Beaulieu in Hampshire.
At Stoneleigh Park from June 9 to 11, more than 50 homes from Britain’s leading manufacturers will be on display, so that visitors can inspect what they will be getting if they sign up to the park-home lifestyle.
One of the exhibitors will be Haulfryn, which has been selling homes in residential parks for more than 80 years. It now has 15 parks scattered across Kent, Surrey, Dorset, Hertfordshire, Hampshire and Berkshire. Prices start at £175,000 for a two-bedroom home at Dewlands Park in Dorset. At the other end of the scale, £400,000 will get you a two-bedroom home at Surrey Hills.
Countrywide Park Homes, which will also be exhibiting at Stoneleigh, lives up to its name by having a larger spread of residential parks.
It has sites in Cheshire, Berkshire, the Isle of Wight, Cambridgeshire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Yorkshire, Norfolk and Cumbria.
Prices start at £75,000 for a onebedroom bungalow at Tollerton Park in Nottinghamshire, rising to £324,995 for a two-bedroom bungalow at its Harvey’s Nurseries park in Berkshire.
In addition to wandering around the various homes, visitors can also talk to exhibitors about park-home insurance and financing, and discuss details about deckings and coatings for your new home.
Park-home manufacturer Tingdene will be displaying at Stoneleigh Park. At the show the company will launch a new version of its Hayden Classic, a 40ft by 20ft home which has vaulted ceilings, a contemporary kitchendiner, and a master bedroom that has a walk-in wardrobe and an en suite shower room. Tingdene will also be showcasing four of its other homes at the exhibition.
Tingdene has 12 designs for residential homes – which can be lived in all year round – and ten for holiday homes. Some of these can be viewed at its visitor centre in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire.
The indoor showroom has a permanent display of park homes, and visitors can use Tingdene’s locate-a-park service to find a site that best suits their needs.
Different parks have different licences, which determine how long you can stay in your park home each year. Residential parks have 12-month licences, so you can stay in your home all year if you wish. If it is your permanent address, you will be charged council tax.
Meanwhile, holiday parks have licences for a maximum of ten months because the homes have different construction standards – the park will close at some point during the year for at least two months.
The homes at these sites are holiday or second homes only, and not liable for council tax. But some holiday parks now have 12-month licences, which means that you can stay in your home whenever you want, as long as you’re not living there permanently.
Over this Bank Holiday weekend, three Hoburne sites – Cotswold in Gloucestershire, and Naish and Bashley in Hampshire – will be hosting open days to show off holiday homes in newly developed areas of the parks.
And Shorefield Holidays’ Merley Court Holiday Park in Dorset has just opened a brand-new spa, restaurant, bar and lounge, just in time for the holiday season.