Smart Feeder - Light sensor values

[jess1merlin]

Friends of ours have recently sold their bungalow and moved to a park home in north devon. It looks really nice and has allowed them to retire early which they needed to do due to stress at work, however I was wondering if it is a good idea in the long term or not.

I know you have to pay a site fee each month and band A council tax but I think I have read somewhere that if you sell park homes the site owners normally take a fee of 10% of the sale price which seems quite a lot to me. Also do these homes hold their value?

We are not thinking of doing this just yet but in the present climate anything is possible!!

[Snowy]

Not sure about the resale pros and cons, although compared to a house they are not a good investment. My friend has just moved into one. You are not allowed to use them as a permanent address, so no mail deliveries allowed, and no telephone land line. You also have to move out for 4 weeks per year!

[C&T]

Don't know a lot about them, but think it does depend on the age of the home. They don't last forever as I understand it, and then need to be replaced?

 

Not a reason not to go ahead I wouldn't have thought - just something to consider I guess! No point buying one thinking that is it, and then finding out you have to replace it within a few years!

[Olly]

The planning permission for these is often on the basis that they are not going to become permanent residences, so as said above, there is often a condition that you cannot occupy for 52 weeks of the year, and that you cannot have phone lines etc.

 

Often there will be a condition that you can only buy or sell them through the site owners. The restrictions may make them hard to sell particularly in a falling market.

[craftyhunnypie]

better with bricks & mortar if you can afford it. You can only usually occupy a Park type home for 40 something weeks of the year. Yes, they usually take a percentage should you sell it & I also think that you have to renew your home after so many years. There are usually lots of rules & regulations - the big one being no pets.

Better buying a brick built house - that will all be yours!

 

Emma.x

[WitchHazel]

It depends what sort of park you are moving into.

Usually, the land is owned by the Park Owner, and although you own the park home. From some points of view, it is the same as any other property - it's your permanent home, you do have a phone, there is no need to move out for four weeks a year or anything like that.

However, there are a number of things to be aware of, and there are a number of unscrupulour park owners out there.

 

Firstly, your Park Owner has the right to veto any sale that you want to make; they can also impose limits on what you can do to your home. They can also insist that your home is replaced at some point (which is not a bad thing per se, as it prevents deliapidated homes on the site).

 

There have been a number of cases in the media recently where unscrupulous park home owners have effectively rediced the value of the home to nil, so that they can force people off the site, put a new van on, and then sell it again. This was highlighted some months ago on BBC Radio 4's Face the Facts programme http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007vd4t

 

Even if you have a decent park owner, there is no guarantee that they will retain the site for the whole of the time you are on there,

 

My in laws owned a park hone for many years and were very happy with the park, with the park owner and everything, they were very lucky.

 

If you google "Park homes radio 4" then this will bring up links to the programme, but also to commentary on the specific laws/lack of protection that people face,. and what (If anything) is being done about it.

[Charlottechicken]

A retired colleague of mine bought one and lives there permanently. She and her husband have no children so are not worried about leaving an estate, and also sold an expensive house so freed up a lot of equity, whilst gaining fabulous views etc. They have a phone line too, and it is basically the same as living in a leasehold property, although there are other legalities to take into consideration. Their house was so big it arrived on two lorries, half on each, and was zipped together on site, then a brick wall is added around the bottom to hide the utilities and the foundations etc. They also have a nice little garden and picket fence around the outside.

[Snowy]

The one my friend moved to has a spa, pool and gym on site for the use of residents! Again she is retired and is single so was looking for ease of maintenance and closeness to family rather than financial investment. She has an allotment very close by to indulge her need to garden and keep chickens!

[Tiggy]

my Dad has lived in a Park Home for 5 years, it was the best thing he ever did, his site is for permenant residence, so no probs with post, its really well insulated very little council tax, he does pay a little bit in ground rent but not much. If he sells it the site owners do not take a %, I think it really depends on the contract you have with the site owners. Dad is really happy living close to freinds, having very little maintence to do, low utility bills and no garden (he chose this)

 

He does not have to move offf the site at all, there is no clause to renew the home at any time and he can keep small pet if he wants cats & dogs, not sure about chickens but it would prob be ok if he had chosen to have a garden

[Seagazer]

My Dad and his wife have lived in various park homes for about 15 years now. They've moved around a bit to various different sites. I have to say that most of their homes have been very nice and spacious though there always seem to be lots of rules and regulations.

 

The trouble is now that they have a park owner who keeps hoicking up the bills etc. My Dad would rather be in a 'proper' house of bricks and mortars. He has said that he wishes he'd not moved out of his bungalow.

[jess1merlin]

It seems to me you need to read the small print very carefully when purchasing a park home, I know they did not have to use a solicitor for the transaction. I just wonder what happens if the park is sold to another owner who decides to put up the price of the land rent and the cost of the water and electric. I think I would be a bit concerned in the long term

[Seagazer]

It seems to me you need to read the small print very carefully when purchasing a park home, I know they did not have to use a solicitor for the transaction. I just wonder what happens if the park is sold to another owner who decides to put up the price of the land rent and the cost of the water and electric. I think I would be a bit concerned in the long term

 

This is what has happened to my Dad in the past, it was very worrying for them. On the plus side they have always managed to sell their places.

[abwsco]

My Dad lived on a park home for 6 years and it worked really well for him. We've just started the journey of sorting out his estate and discovered that the home can only be sold through the park owners and they charge 15% + vat Another option is that they may make an offer to buy it off us as it is in a prime spot but the owner wasn't there yesterday so don't know for sure yet.

 

What was a surprise was the fact that without even looking inside the van they do think we can put it up for sale at what Dad paid for it.

[jess1merlin]

I am sorry about your dad Anne, I know it can be quite stressful sorting out an estate. I think there seem to good and bad points to park homes and I suppose that if your dad was happy there that was the main thing. Most of them appear to have a good community spirt which a lot of older people like and it makes them feel more secure.

Hope you soon have everything sorted.

[abwsco]

Thanks Sue.

 

He was lucky in that he didn't like gardening but his neighbours on either side did so he always had immaculate gradens to look at plus they mowed his grass so his garden was tidy for them-lol