Buying Advice: Find a holiday park that suits you

Define your ideal holiday...… and then you can find a holiday park that suits you. How to pick the best location for your tastes – and ways to consider financial planning for the purchase of a holiday home.

As we enter our second year with the pause button firmly pushed on the allure of foreign holidays for most people, the ideal of buying a holiday home becomes ever more appealing. But where do you start? And how would you begin to choose the best location for you?

We suggest you start by taking a close look at the activities you enjoy, as a couple or as a family, when you are on holiday. The idea is to replicate, as much as possible, your holiday preferences, in one area of Britain.

Now take a look at areas of the UK in which there is a good selection of the things that interest you. You are now beginning to narrow down your ideal location. Instantly, you will see the benefit of buying a holiday home in a place in which you are going to enjoy spending time.

 
Above left: Whitehill Country Park, Devon. Above right: Kelling Heath, Norfolk

The region

Whichever region of the country ticks the most interest boxes for you, online exploration is your next move. And then go and explore for yourself. It won’t take you long to see the benefits of owning a holiday pad there.

The parks

Now look at parks in that region and see which ones align with your tastes. Amid walking regions, perhaps. Close to a coast. Close to a lake. A park with its own beach (there are a few!) Or maybe close to a golf course. Then look at the facilities on the parks. You may find one that has its own golf course. Playgrounds are hugely important; if you have children, pick a park with something they’ll love every time they visit. Swimming pool? Gym? Restaurant-bar? Or none of these. Maybe you like to spend your leisure time in a quiet, get-away-from-it-all location.

The money

Now look at holiday home ownership another way. A financial way. What would you spend, each year, on holidays abroad? To illustrate this idea, we are going to have to play with hypothesis. We’ll pick a figure based on one two week summer holiday plus a week (a half-term, perhaps) and a couple of long-weekend city breaks. Obviously, there is a huge amount of variance, but a holiday schedule like that could easily come to £10,000.

So, over a 10-year period, you’d be spending £100,000. That buys you a very nice lodge holiday home. If your annual holidays abroad spend is half of that, at £5,000, and you project that figure forward over 10 years, you also get a sum of money that is well sufficient to buy a holiday home.

Oaklands Park, Cornwall

Whatever your personal financial calculations, you can see how the purchase of a holiday home can equate to holiday spend in other arenas. Not that we are in any way suggesting none of us will want to go abroad for the next five or 10 years, but the safe current assumption is that flights, airports, crowds and all that goes with it will not be very appealing for some time to come.

So, you buy your holiday home in 2021. You spend five holiday weeks in it. Plus bank holidays. Plus many weekends. You can already see the immense value. And it’s your home from home; for the foreseeable future you’ll regard it as your safe haven amid a world thrown into coronavirus chaos, and it’s still your pride and joy for many years to come.

Planning ahead

How many years can you keep a holiday home on a park? That depends on the park. Most parks place a limit on the number of years that you can keep a holiday home on the park. Commonly, it’s 15, sometimes 20, occasionally less – and for lodges (which are more expensive than caravan holiday homes), it can be up to 50 years. The number of specified years is referred to as the park’s licence agreement. The number of years of your pitch agreement is the number in which you can plan ahead to save for its replacement.

If you’re interested in buying a holiday home, or you already have one and want inspiration on how to get the most from your home, then Park and Holiday Home Inspiration magazine is for you. Better still you can download a copy right now, just click here to get the latest copy of Park and Holiday Home Inspiration magazine.

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