Holiday caravan rentals

[Malh001]

Due to the current climate, credit crunch, more expensive air fare, etc, etc. I reckon more people will look for holidays at home rather than abroad.

For this reason I'm currently looking into buying holiday caravans/chalets for rental and was wondering if anyone had any experience of this market?

What are the site fees like, what % of the year are they let for and what the average charge is the rental per week?

Any information would be gratefully received.

[Malh001]

Hi,

I read that people were still going abroad but i was thinking further ahead as i feel that airfares in particular and travel in general is going to get alot more expensive.

You're right about the park owners though, judging by what cars they drive around in this area!

[Malh001]

Good points, i will bear them in mind.

[scotal]

Bear in mnd that the Static van will be a depreciating asset, and that some parks will, I believe, not allow vans of above a given age to remain on site, ergo you are going to have to look at replacing it.
I dont think these things are cheap.......

[richardxjr]

Back of fag packet calcs;
New van, sited, 25-65k, 10 year life. If 35k van, thats 3.5k/yr depreciation
6% bank interest on that 35k = £2k
Site fees 2.5k
Costs before cleaning, maintenance, marketing, % to park owner etc etc = £8k

Rentals 6 school hol weeks x500/week 3k
Easter + 2 half terms = 4weeks x400 1.6k
Off-peak 30 weeks let x200 6k that allows for 4 weeks park closure (most operate only 11 months) plus a further 8 weeks not let / your own use.
Income £10.6k

Not a brilliant investment IMO.

Now, camper vans for hire (which don't depreciate much & no site fees) that should work out better. For example: http://www.isleofwightcampers.co.uk

Edited by richardxjr on Thursday 7th August 18:01

[Malh001]

The caravans i've been looking at are older and probably at the bottom end of the market, 15-20K, so maybe only have a few years life in them. I know alot of sites also don't like older caravans, so i'll have to check that out.

Maybe chalets are a better option?

Thanks for all the info.

[StevieBee]

Camping is where the growth is at the moment.

[wizzbilly]

its a very in depth place to bee if you decide to go ahead please make sure you do your resarch , i seam to remember someone telling me they bought a static caravan , in th small print etc there was something about the van could only be sold back to the site after the few years they had to use it , they offerd next to naff all for it and basicly you have your nuts in a vice because you cant move the caravan but you cant continue to use it because of its age so only thing you can realy do is sell it back to the park owner for penuts , maybe some sites are diffrent thats just what i have been told as am going into simlar sort of thing myself

[GPSS]

A caravan is a depreciating asset, it os only the plots which have a possibility to appreciate. The best way to make money is buy land then if you can get planning persission for caravan usage. Check out the caravaner's websites. I think you are right though that holidays abroad will become mega expensive. Once the airlines stop flying to all the regional airports is France, Spain etc there are going to be some extremely cheap holiday properties available.

[CHIEF]

On my buddys site, vans regurely go for between 6 and 10 grand, in fact there is one on the site at the moment for 8950, fees are 1200 a year and with gas and electric no more than 1600 quid.

The big thing is getting permission off the site owners, an idea is to approach the owners and offer them a percentage of the rental (say 20%)

Obviously on a smaller site rents will be less, no more than 250 a week high season and maybe better doing it at 200 a week initially, then there is the additional wear and tear plus if it is a business your insurance will be high i would imagine, you dont want some numpty burning your van to the ground.

People do it though and make a few quid.

go for it

[Malh001]

CHIEF said:

On my buddys site, vans regurely go for between 6 and 10 grand, in fact there is one on the site at the moment for 8950, fees are 1200 a year and with gas and electric no more than 1600 quid.

The big thing is getting permission off the site owners, an idea is to approach the owners and offer them a percentage of the rental (say 20%)

Obviously on a smaller site rents will be less, no more than 250 a week high season and maybe better doing it at 200 a week initially, then there is the additional wear and tear plus if it is a business your insurance will be high i would imagine, you dont want some numpty burning your van to the ground.

People do it though and make a few quid.

go for it

Thats the market and price i was thinking of. There are quite a few sites around here.

A good point regarding the site owner and a % of the rental, i should imagine most of them would want a cut.

Edited by Malh001 on Monday 11th August 12:48