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Quote: Originally posted by JdDerek on 12/8/2014

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So does that make a static van on the back of a lorry a tourer

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A seasonal pitch basically comes down to a matter of personal choice often due to individual circumstances.

We have toured for the last 3 years but now have a 3yr old and 1 yr old which makes popping away for a short notice weekend a bit of a nightmare. We also don't keep the van at home (local storage) so again as the van isn't at home short notice get aways are hard.

With the kids been so young we tend to limit our breaks to a maximum of 2 hours drive away and often visit Hampshire (new forest) and Dorset. Next year we have decided to go for a seasonal in this area for the following reasons:

1 - My OH doesn't tow so she can pop down with the kids when I am working

2 - We will be able to get away a lot more at short notice and for short breaks

3 - We aren't tied to only going away on set dates and can therefore go at short notice if the weather is good

4- We can leave the van and awning set up so once we arrive its just plug in the EHU and we are done

5 - We can make the full use of a weekend as we can stay until Sunday evenings as we don't have to be off the pitch by a set time

Cost wise it probably won't work out cheaper than touring but if we make the use of it then the difference is minimal, especially when you factor in the fuel savings, etc. We are looking at a annual cost of £1500 for a pitch which includes electric and with no nightly charges.

We did look at a static but the cost put us off. The sites we looked at wanted around £3000-£3500 per year just for site fees and on top of this you needed to add on council tax, gas / electric and insurance. You are then also tied to one site and I worked out that the depreciation on a static was around £2000 per year. So for a static we worked out the annual costs (inc depreciation) was around £6000 per year which we felt was far too expensive. Even factoring in the depreciation on a touring van it is still going to be half of this cost with the flexability than you can move sites and also return to touring as and when you like.

As I can fully understand why a seasonal isn't everyones choice but for us it will suit our current lifestyle for a few years

Quote: Originally posted by LobeyDosser on 14/8/2014

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Well said Dazzer, but you don't pay Council Tax on a Static.
The only time you pay Council Tax on a van is when you are Full Timing in a Park Home.

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