Chivenor Park: everything you need to know

The pitch fee is £400 a month including VAT (£4,800 a year). It goes up each year in line with CPI inflation. It covers the park's standard services; rates, bottled gas, water and electricity are extra.

On top of that, local authority rates are about £200 a month and Wi-Fi is £29 a month. Electricity, water and bottled gas depend on how much you use the lodge, and insurance (through Leisuredays) on the lodge. Our running-cost estimator starts with the park's figures and lets you add your own.

Every price includes VAT, transport and siting of the lodge, connection to the park's services (including connecting the bottled gas to the lodge), testing and certification, steps up to the front and rear doors, skirting around the base, decking and a driveway for the lodge. Changing any of these may cost extra.

Every lodge comes fully furnished, and appliances vary by maker.

To reserve a lodge, the park asks for a £2,000 deposit, which becomes non-refundable after 14 days.

Ask Alex for the written reservation terms before you pay.

No council tax: a holiday lodge is not anyone's main home. Owners pay local authority rates instead, about £200 a month.

Stamp duty is a tax on buying land and property. With a lodge you buy the home but not the land it stands on, so we understand stamp duty does not apply. Please check both with your own adviser.

No. The park does not offer finance or part-exchange.

Every new lodge comes with a 99-year licence agreement. It lets you keep your lodge on its pitch while you keep to the agreement and pay the pitch fee.

There is no age rule for lodges on the park. Ask for the licence agreement and park rules before you reserve. They set out what happens at the end of the term.

No. You buy the lodge, and the licence gives you the right to keep it on its plot (the park calls it a pitch). The land stays the park's.

The pitch is the plot your lodge stands on, with its concrete base. The park looks after the base and the connections to the park's services. You look after your lodge and the pitch around it.

No. Chivenor Park is for holidays, so your lodge cannot be your main home. You need a main home elsewhere, in the UK or abroad, and the park may ask to see proof of it.

Within the season, there is no limit on how often you come or how long you stay on holiday.

Please do not buy one to make money. A holiday lodge is something you buy to enjoy. Like a car, it usually loses value over time, most of all in the first few years. You may let it through Sykes, but any letting income depends on bookings and is never guaranteed.

Yes. You let it through Sykes Holiday Cottages, who handle the bookings. Sykes charge 18% to 22% commission, depending on how much you use the lodge yourself, plus cleaning.

Any income depends on bookings and is never guaranteed, and the lodge stays a holiday home: you still need a main home elsewhere. Ask Alex about any park conditions.

The park is open from 1 March to 31 January: 11 months of the year. It closes for the whole of February.

Yes. Up to two dogs and one cat per lodge. The Tarka Trail runs right next to the park. Dogs of breeds banned under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 are not allowed.

Yes. Family and friends can use your lodge when you are not there.

Being retired does not change the rule: you need a main home elsewhere. Within the season you can come as often, and stay as long, as you like on holiday.

Yes, your main home can be abroad. The park may ask about it, for example whether you own or rent it and how much time you spend there.

Yes, and please do. Viewings are free. Book one online, call 0800 999 8484 (freephone), or call or WhatsApp Alex on 07746 562302.

Any day, by appointment. Alex usually replies the same day.

Yes. Six plots have a lodge for sale, and every other plot is free for a lodge of your choice, apart from plot 10 (not available) and plot 23 (sold). On your viewing you can walk round the plots you like.

Yes. If none of the six suits you, the park can site a lodge from any maker on a plot of your choice.

Ask Alex about the maker's warranty for each lodge.

BS 3632 is the British Standard for park homes. It sets higher levels of insulation, heating and glazing, so the lodge stays warmer in the cooler months.

At Chivenor it only describes how the lodge is built. You may still use it for holidays only.

Yes. Tell the park when you decide to sell. When the sale completes, the park charges a resale commission, as set out in your licence agreement.

Ask Alex for the figure before you reserve.

You can sell your lodge and buy another on the park; there is no part-exchange. Alex can explain how it works.

Yes. An outside supplier connects each lodge that wants it, for up to 8 devices, at £29 a month. The park pays for the installation when you buy.

There is an electric gate at the entrance. You are responsible for your own lodge and its contents, so you need insurance: owners insure through Leisuredays, with comprehensive cover.

Yes. Decking comes with every lodge for sale. Alex can arrange decking or a shed for you. The cost depends on the size.

Saunton Sands is about 4.5 miles by road and Croyde Beach about 7.2. Braunton village is under 2 miles away. These are approximate road distances from the park's map pin.