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Check whether your ground rent includes Water Rates.  We had statics for nearly 20 years on two sites (not at the same time!)  One included water rates in the ground rent and the other didn't.  Your insurance will depend on whether you go for "new for old" or market value.  If you can only keep it on the site for 5 years, it is likely you will get nothing back at the end - unless you then buy a much newer van from them.  I had a brand new van in 2001  and got back about 20% of the cost after 7 years, in spite of the fact that it had never been let out and was in excellent condition.

Having said all that, we loved our statics and only gave them up because my mother developed Dementia and we couldn't leave her so the van wasn't getting used.

Quote: Originally posted by Ronni54 on 24/7/2011

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Check whether your ground rent includes Water Rates.  We had statics for nearly 20 years on two sites (not at the same time!)  One included water rates in the ground rent and the other didn't.  Your insurance will depend on whether you go for "new for old" or market value.  If you can only keep it on the site for 5 years, it is likely you will get nothing back at the end - unless you then buy a much newer van from them.  I had a brand new van in 2001  and got back about 20% of the cost after 7 years, in spite of the fact that it had never been let out and was in excellent condition.

Having said all that, we loved our statics and only gave them up because my mother developed Dementia and we couldn't leave her so the van wasn't getting used.

 

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A friend of mine has got one and loves it, they chose a park 1 hour from home so it's near enough for weekends & minimises diesel costs.

On the minus side though my inlaws had one & got fed up of going to the same place and they also lost 7k in 2 years on the value of the van, they've now got a tourer that's sited so they have the option of moving it & will hardly lose any £££.

Quote: Originally posted by Esther1 on 26/7/2011

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A friend of mine has got one and loves it, they chose a park 1 hour from home so it's near enough for weekends & minimises diesel costs.

On the minus side though my inlaws had one & got fed up of going to the same place and they also lost 7k in 2 years on the value of the van, they've now got a tourer that's sited so they have the option of moving it & will hardly lose any £££.

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We've just bought a static near Filey but only a smallish site with no facilities(60 vans) we didn't want a site with everything on because that's when the prices are high.Our Ground rent and rates are £1400 per year(10 month season) no Comm Tax

Electric runs on average £300 Gas 3 Bottles average £55 apiece for year

Insurance (New for Old) on a £38.000 van cost £280

£2145 thereabouts total

hi, we own a static in France, on the Vendee - and consider it a great 'use' of our money (as opposed to an investement, which it certainly isnt!), to give you an idea of cost

annual fees 2100 euros (to include all facilities, 3 pools, fishing pond, grass cutting, water etc) van can be occupied 12 months of the year ( a couple of people virtually live there!! - though i wouldnt do full time myself!)

electricity around 90 euros per year

gas 30 euros per cylinder - lasts around 4 weeks (plus!!)

insurance - new for new - 90 euros per year (through a french company - we originally insured through uk company at 3 x that amount!)

the site allows you to bring your own van on site or you can buy from the site, or from owners currently on site, we bought a vsn in uk and had it shipped out.  a 5 year old van in great condition for around £12k. it has held its value (and we have added some extras, decking, outside utility with washer/fridge freezer etc) and next doors recently sold for £14k and ours is newer, better and bigger, so if we sold we would get ALL our money back we have invested (we get asked if we ever sell to give people first option quite regularly) inc the cost of decking/utility etc, so unlike many sites in the uk AND because we didnt buy a brand new van, when we sell there is a chance we may get most of our money back.

no age restrictions so long as its tidy and washed once a year !!! there are some vans on that must be more than 20+ years old!!!

pitch size around 200 sq m's -

vans can be rented out (we dont rent ours though)

downsides -

cant use it every weekend - though doubt if we would anyway - we live by the seaside already and rarely use our beach hut!!! wife works in a school so we go every school holiday - when we dont use it the inlaws do, so i suppose in total it gets used around 12-14 weeks per year. it takes 12 hours door to door to get there and back at £200 inc ferries, though its only 40 miles from Nantes airport if we fly/hire etc

and the million euro question, would i recommend it - YES !!! but its not cheap, you could prob get 2/3 weeks away in a different location every year for what we pay, even more if you have a tourer, but it suits us - all i need to do is get the wife to join me in retirement and then we can spend even more time in the van!