There are so many things to consider.

For us renting is by far the cheaper option. We are spending 24 nights in France in June and a further 14 in September for £1600.

That includes 4 nights on board ferry in upgraded cabin & all meals.

To pay for the ferry alone would have cost us £800.

It doesn't take long to see why we rent.

If you have plenty of spare time & can explore the UK it may be worthwhile, you will need to work out all the pro's & cons including depreciation & maintenance.

Patka

hi pakta i was thinking more of a static caravan. regards john.

I suppose the main point to consider is if you'd mind going on holiday to the same place for years, and how often throughout the season would you use it? Apart from the initial cost of the caravan & equipping it you also have the ground rent, club passes etc to pay for. Some of the more popular parks in our area charge anything between £2,000 & £3000 a season. Once the caravan is 8 years old, you then have to remove them from sites.

hi helent this is beginning to look a very expensive idea.

John we looked into buy a static a few years ago but decided it wasn`t for us. One of the reasons why were that most sites only let you keep a caravan on for 15 years. If you wanted to sell it before you had to do it through them.

If you are wanting a second home somewhere then it is an excellent investment.

Go and have alook around at some of the sites and go and ask you will get a better idea then.

hi christine thanks for your good advice ,there is a lot to take on board.regards john.

I understand from a friend of mine who had a static caravan on Camping Albir in Benidorm that the yearly charges have gone up to £4000 per year plus water etc. I can not believe that many people who would want to go to Benidorm year after year could afford to pay that kind of rent after purchasing a van. I am a pensioner and certainly could not run to that, but usually enjoy three or four holidays a year. If you enjoy that kind of accomodation I would imagine that plenty of owners would be delighted to rent their van to you and seems to me the better option.

Dave

hi davidnewman9 £4000 a year plus, the owners of these camping sites are tacking the mickey out of people,disgusting. regards john

David I think the ones in Benidorm are where a lot of people live all year round. We had some friends who bought one in Albir and they lived there until they bought there apartment, I was also told that the site owners prefer it if someone lives there instead of renting hem out.

Sorry David you probably know that if your friend had one at Albir.

Yes Christine, Many live on the site all year round but £ 4000 per year or £80 a week is still a lot for ground rent, I have known several people who have lived in static vans for part of the year at Albir, while still maintaining a home in the Uk. Having said all that some sites in Skegness where I live are now £2500 for just part of the year. I could'nt afford even that. I ceratinly would'nt buy a caravan abroad because the site owners can do what they like with you as ids the case in Albir.

Dave

Yes the ground rent for a static is very costly and you would need to sub let to help pay the towards the costs.

Alot of caravan and camping sites are putting statics on as they can make more money. Only problem is less room for the tourers.

We looked into a static a few years ago but we opted for a folding camper instead, no storage costs and we only pay for the nights we stay on sites plus we can go where we want. Weather permitting of course.

All up I pay around £5k per year for my static in Normandy, I let the site rent it out for 8 weeks or so and that leaves me around £500 to find. Frequent Traveller tickets on EuroTunnel means we go almost when we want and stay as long as we want. We write off July and the first two weeks of August.

The site has a pool, bar, take away and shop but only about 100 statics so is quite small and very friendly.

It made sense to us at the time to do it - when the van finance pays off (counted it in the above) we will keep the van for another three years and then decide.

We have a touring van and use it VERY regularly we are off to France and Spain for 3 weeks in 13 days time this is our budget
there are 2 of us

Ferry £108 return
2500 miles at 38 miles to the gallon = approx £300
tolls for Autoroutes/Autopista approx £120
camping for 21 nights = £175 this includes electric and awning

Food and drink ?? we have allocated around £20-£30 a day

our average spend for a long week-end in the UK is around £120 for 3 nights and unless Mr Ryanair doesn't give us £1 flights then we are out at least (note at least ) every 4 weeks thanks to work or it would be more

renting a static on a seasonal basis is pouring money down the drain unless you can sub-let
and owning a static anywhere is a resource drain unless you get 100% occupancy whilst you are not there

and I do not understand people who buy a touring caravan then rent a seasonal pitch --WHY??? not a static in that case

I have had a static in Teesdale for 22years and although its a beautiful site and we spend a lot of time there we dont use it for our main holidays.
The rent is only £750 a year and it only went up this year from £600.
I have noticed the electric has risen considerably since last year and the calor gas has also risen in price.
We have central heating but if its cold enough for us to put it on I pack up and come home.
There are some very old vans on site and the owner just lets people keep them as long as they are in good condition.
I can recommend buying one if you get an owner like ours but I think they are very few and far between.