Thanks to COVID grounding everyone, people in the UK took to holidaying closer to home and many holidaymakers weighed up the pros and cons of owning a static caravan.
Before I go any further though, I just want to make something clear: despite what social media and newspapers would have you believe, going on holiday in your own country is not a ‘staycation’. That’s called domestic tourism and quite different from a staycation, which simply means you stay at home and do activities within the area in which you live.
Holidaying in the UK is still a holiday, it’s just likely to be wetter weather than if you flew out too, say, the Maldives.
Now I’ve got that off my chest, I’ll go through some of the good things and bad things about owning a static caravan.
Pros of buying a static caravan
Less luggage – If you own your own static caravan, you can leave all your stuff there. There’s no need to lug huge suitcases full of everything you might need for a weekend or week away, it’ll all be there waiting for you.
This is especially useful if you’re an active family and you’ve bought a static caravan by the sea or hills.
Paddleboards, bikes, wet suits, backpacks, and hiking shoes can all be left in the caravan instead of taking up room in your permanent home.
It feels like having a second home – If you live in a town or city but yearn for a holiday home by the sea or in the countryside, then a static caravan can be your second home.
Because you’ll be able to stay there whenever you like (depending on site restrictions), you’ll get to know the area and therefore the best places to eat out, visit, etc, meaning you’ll feel at home in the town and less like a tourist.
You can add your personal touch – Just like your usual residence, you can add your own personal touches to your caravan. Whether you want to change the furniture, plant some flowers outside, or surround it with garden gnomes, you can do this.
You can rent it out (possibly) – Some sites will let you sub-let your static caravan. If you are allowed to do this and it’s something you’d like to do, you’ll potentially be able to recoup the ground rent and site fees, effectively making it a free holiday when you do use your caravan yourself.
Cons of buying a static caravan
Cost – Although the initial outlay when buying a static caravan doesn’t have to be hefty (although if you want to buy a luxury state-of-the-art caravan with all mod cons then this is perfectly possible), the ongoing costs aren’t cheap.
You’ve got ground rent and site fees to think about (which can increase each year), not to mention how much a static caravan goes down in value the older it is.
Speaking of a caravan’s depreciation, some caravan sites will make you get a new caravan after a set number of years. You may have to sell back to them at a huge loss or they’ll insist you give them a cut of whatever you sell it for.
You’re stuck in one place – Obviously, a static caravan is just that, static. It’s not moving anywhere, unlike those little caravans you see trundling down the motorway tied to the back of cars.
You may love the thought of getting to know a place and seeing it as your second home. Others may think there’s no point going on holiday to the same place a few times a year when there’s an entire world to explore.
Maintenance
As we all know, when we own something, it’s up to us to pay for any maintenance that needs to be done. As caravan sites aren’t always open over the winter, you’ll have to make sure the pipes don’t freeze while you’re not in them and you’ll also have to put down moisture traps to prevent the caravan from getting damp.
And although we said in the ‘pros’ section, one of the good things about owning a static caravan is that you can leave everything in it, it’ll be a good idea to bring the bedding home over winter to stop it getting damp.
As you can see, owning a static caravan has its advantages and disadvantages. It’s not really a cheap way of going on holiday and it’s certainly not an investment but it’s definitely a convenient way to have a holiday home and to get a change of scenery as often as you like.
Just don’t call it a ‘staycation’ though, unless your static caravan is sited in your back garden!
*This is a collaborative post.
