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My husband and I have had a motorhome, and then a couple of touring caravans over the last few years. However, we are now expecting our first child and thinking of going for a static instead, although we're still in two minds over whether to do this or get a different layout tourer.

We live in Winchester due to my husband's job, approximately 100 miles from our families in Bristol. We thought that having a static van somewhere between us and the family would be a nice bolthole to meet up and allow our parents to spend more time with their first grandchild when he or she makes their appearance early next year. Also, it means that I could go there to meet with family, even when hubby is away which is approximately 50% of weekends in the summer. Something I couldn't do at the mo as I can't tow our caravan on my licence (and wouldn't want to, even if I could!).

So, my question is, where would we start if we were to go down the static route? Do we look at parks with statics for sale? Or do we look to buy from a dealer and then site it afterwards? I've heard stories about people getting kicked off of sites when their static gets too old? It's all just a bit new and scary so any advice would be much appreciated!

Many thanks,

Sarah (and bump!)

Find your ideal park, with an available pitch that you are happy with, then find the caravan to put on it.  Most sites will want you to buy from them rather than from a dealer (they get commission on sales).

Do your homework - static ownership is EXPENSIVE (as a guide, ours cost £27,000, decking was £3,500 site fees are £2,800 a year, insurance around £300 a year, plus electricity bills of about £120 and gas at £56 per 47kg bottle), and if you get your choice of site wrong it can be very difficult (and costly!) to move.  But if it's right for you, and you get the choice right, it's a great lifestyle. 

Also remember that static caravans are money pits - most sites insist you sell only to them and they don't open their cheque-books wide!  We'd be lucky to get £10,000 for ours and it's only 5 years old.  Sites differ with age rules - we can keep a 'van on site as long as we like as long as it's in good condition and safe, some sites insist on 'vans being removed when they are 15 years old (10 year age limits are rare these days as caravan build quality is better).

There are dedicated forums on-line for static caravans - have a google and a good look round.