Static caravans

[ryansrs1]

Would buying a static caravan(s) and letting them out be a possable bussiness/income avenue?? Suppose simular to buying property and letting them out but on a smaller scale?

Does anyone here do this and able to give me some info.

Cheers

 

[gregs2769]

i hear its a good income - best way to find out is see how much a week will cost in your selected locations then x it by number of weeks you can expect to fill it say 30 and then compare that to the cost and cost of ownership of said static. If over 5 years your turning a profit then its a no brainier

 

[MrsPWN]

My brother looked into this a few years back. The problem he found was most sites don't allow occupation 52 weeks of the year, many close for at least a month (usually a winter month.) I have friends that live in a static and they also have a home in Bulgaria where they spend Dec and Jan to get round this.

 

[TotallySport]

They close for a few months to avoid paying council tax.

 

[Bruceflea]

My mum owns one and the site she is on only closes over December, however you can still use your van as far as i am aware. apparently the reason for this is to drain them and also make sure the pipes don't burst during the snow (if there is any).

i'd say that it is possible to make a good income doing this. the site my mum's is on must have about a good few hundred vans which pay £100.00 per month rent. the site owners also let campers using tents pay to use the facilities so will be generating additional income through this. in addition to rental charged for using the site, they sell static vans.

have you though about buying the vans and then selling them but then charging rent on a monthly basis to have them on your site as mentioned above?

 

[David Griffiths]

It must be possible to make a profit from letting static vans as so many people do it. But they are a significant investment in the first place and on some sites have to be renewed every five years or so.

As with any holiday rental, the issue is finding the customers. An agency will do this, but of course that eats in to the profits

 

Location will play role too, I guess...

 

[vvaannmmaann]

Planning permission will be your first hurdle.
http://www.joalleisure.com/mobile-home-planning-considerations.html

 

[Beachcomber]

The real trick is location - and not just it's location with regard to local facilities / tourist sites.

A bog standard site with basic shower block facilities will have cheaper ground rent but also less appeal to families.

A pitch on a well organised site with shop, pool, club etc. will cost more but in turn attract a higher rental.

Around here the average yearly ground rent is around £6 - 7k pa.

There are some specialist web sites / magazines out there that can provide a good source for research.
The trick seems to be to buy one caravan, use the income from that to buy another, use the income from 2 to buy 2 more, then 4 then 8 etc. until you have a good variety of cavavan sites and sizes - this is when the good money starts rolling in.

.......many close for at least a month (usually a winter month.)

This is a good time to get all the maintenance sorted, gas / elec certs etc.

 

[Bri]

Ironically I was looking at some on the weekend, many second hand ones for sale, however the leases on its pitch were coming to and end, ie 2011,2016 etc and not renewable? I suppose the idea there is to transport the van to another location.

Every park apparently is different now, the one I was looking on, the council have got savvy about it and require you to have a post code that you pay council tax on before you reside in one. Their logic dictates that the number of people who have gone to them to be rehoused because the storms have wrecked their vans have increased.

 

[ryansrs1]

Many thanks for the replys.

Though i have to point out that im looking at buying several static caravans over time not actualy own/build a site. But in time it could be an idea depending on cost. Just looking into things at mo.

Ill do a bit more googling on this to find some websites and magazines.

As for maintenance, do the sites look after the caravans (at a cost i presume) or would it require someone to go and do the work and cleaning?

Cheers

 

[Bri]

As for maintenance, do the sites look after the caravans (at a cost i presume) or would it require someone to go and do the work and cleaning?

Cheers

The area around the van and general site maintenance comes under the lease usually, this may differ from site to site. However all other comes under you and some sites provide it for an extra charge.

 

[vvaannmmaann]

According to this,there seem to be a lot for sale.
http://uk.businessesforsale.com/uk/search/Camping-and-Caravan-Parks-for-sale
Keep doing your homework perhaps.

 

If you are looking to finance the caravans, you will fin this difficult to arrange (other than through the site-owner).

The reason they are difficult to finance is that the site-owner has unhealthy degree of control over all aspects of caravan ownership, from maintenance (perhaps a good thing) to reasale and renewal, which is of course a point to consider however you intend paying...

 

[Emcar Vending]

We did this for a few years on a Haven Site. The site had great facilities and entertainment.

We used their scheme to handle the cleaning and bookings and for the first few years made some money as well as having a couple of 'free' holidays. Gradually the costs increased to the point where we weren't making enough to cover the costs so sold the van for what we could get.

The issues I see with the idea are.

Getting good customers. Bad customers can wreck your van in a very short space of time. Sadly, many will steal from you. We had a coffee table go walkabout. Using an agency can help with getting customers but you may lose the ability to vet who goes into your van(s)

Cleaning. The van(s) will need to be cleaned between lets. With more people taking short breaks, Mon - Fri and Fri - Mon, this can be a lot of cleaning. If the van is local to you then doing it yourself will save money but if it's some distance away travelling can soon add up the costs or you have to find somebody reliable to do it for you and that adds to costs.

Emergencies. Your customers won't care how far away you are. They will ring you at 8 in the evening to say a bulb has gone out and expect it to be fixed that night. Can you handle it when things go wrong or your cleaner quits without notice the day before you are going to jet off to the Bahamas.

It is possible to make money from the idea but it's certainly not the easy money it appears to be.

 

[leemason]

One of the big problems is that site fees can be very high. If you want a good location on a good site the site fees will swallow up a lot of you income. I would check these out and also as mentioned the number of weeks per year that the site itself is open as this can vary a lot.

If you are interested in making money from this sort of market can I suggest that you look into caravan and motorhome storage. I know this is off at a bit of a tangent but I know from experience that good caravan and motorhome storage can be difficult to come by especially on the South East.

 

[ryansrs1]

Thanks for all the replies, much appreciated.

LEEMASON-When you say "caravan and motorhome storage",what do you mean by this-a place to keep them??

Cheers

 

[leemason]

Thanks for all the replies, much appreciated.

LEEMASON-When you say "caravan and motorhome storage",what do you mean by this-a place to keep them??

Cheers

Yes indeed. If you can get some land and get planning permission to have caravan and motorhome storage then this can be a great business. Minimum input in the long term with very good returns. To give an example we are charged £500pa (inc. VAT). The storage that we are in was opened about 3 years ago and is already full and expanding into adjacent land. There are probably 200-300 caravans and motorhomes stored at this locations and capacity for probably up to 500!

 

[papverpoppies]

We did this when I was younger, and you really need to have a high letting ratio to make money.

Site fees, which vary the more popular the site the more you pay.
Fees to have the van cleaned on change over days.
As already stated some people trash vans, and then the following booking cannot use it.
Stuff being stolen is incredible so every time you replace things it ALL adds up.
Towing a van off a site (if the site has an age stipulation) and many do, is very expensive.
Ground rates.
Water Rates
However the site charges for electricity usage.
You would need a good solid 4 months bookings to just cover that - maybe more.

Some sites even make you buy your next caravan from them (so be careful) when choosing your location/site if you go ahead.

Once purchased they depreciate in value rapidly, and the second hand market will give you very little for them, as most sites do not want them.

Do they still make most of them in Lincolnshire, I remember a huge place there making them in the 1000s when caravaning was the staple British holiday.

The OP is correct about storage for smaller caravans and motor homes, there is money in that if you have the space.

Poppy xx