From first look to your own keys
The steps
Step 1: Look around online
Compare the six lodges, find their plots on the site plan, and add up the running costs.
Step 2: Book a viewing
Free, any day, by appointment. Walk the lane, step inside the lodges and ask about anything.
Step 3: Choose your lodge and plot
Pick one of the six lodges for sale, or choose a free plot and a lodge from any maker.
Step 4: Read the agreement first
Before you reserve, ask for the 99-year licence agreement and the park rules, read them, and take advice if you want it. Check the pitch fee, how it changes each year, and the resale commission. They set out what happens at the end of the term.
Step 5: Reserve it
To reserve a lodge, the park asks for a deposit of £2,000, which becomes non-refundable after 14 days. Ask Alex for the written reservation terms before you pay.
Step 6: Sign and pay
You sign the licence agreement and pay for the lodge. The price includes VAT and everything that makes the lodge ready to use: transport and siting, connections (including connecting the bottled gas), testing, steps, skirting, decking, a driveway. Changing any of these may cost extra.
Step 7: Handover
You get the keys to a lodge that is sited, connected and ready. Then the season is yours.
Questions to ask any park
Whether you buy here or elsewhere, get these answers in writing first.
- How long is the licence, and what happens at the end of it?
- What is the pitch fee, what does it cover, and how does it change each year?
- Is VAT included in the price, and what exactly is included?
- What commission does the park charge when you sell, and must it approve the buyer?
- Can you let the lodge? On what terms, and who handles changeovers?
- What must you insure, and with whom?
- Can you read the licence agreement and the park rules before you pay a deposit?
Come and stand on the plot
Photos only go so far. Walk the lane, step inside the lodges and ask Alex anything. Viewings are free.