I have no experience re buying a caravan but I live at the seaside and there has been a bit of a to-do at one of the nearby sites because owners who want to sell their vans are required to sell it back to the site owner's at the site owner's valuation. This means that not only can they not sell it on directly to someone but there seems to be some evidence that the site owner has been only prepared to re-purchase at a relatively low valuation and then have been selling on to the next purchaser at a much higher price.

This means that they have been making quite a profit out of re-sales and owners have had to either accept what the site owner has been prepared to pay or to not sell it at all. The site owner has tried to justify this on the grounds that a) they need to be able to vet all prospective purchasers and b) they need to be able to cover their costs involved in re-selling the van!

Also, there was an incident of a site owner deciding that some of the older vans on their site were now getting shabby and lowering the tone of a site that they wanted to take more upmarket. It turned out that the covenents attached to the agreements with van owners meant that thery could insist that owners either bought newer replacement vans from the site owners or else could be 'evicted' and had to remove their vans and find a new site to park them!

So I would suggest that before buying a static van that you check carefully what conditions, if any, are attached to the agreement with the site owner. And in particular, make sure that you know what you are agreeing to in the event of you ever wanting to sell it at a later date.

SM

We have had a static for 25years and are very lucky our site owner is easy going.
He doesnt have an age limit on vans but they obviously have to be in good condition.
When we sold our last van 5 years ago we sold it to friends on site but all payments have to go via the owner.
We just told him how much we wanted and he added a bit on for re sitting
He also charges a reasonable rent of £850 a year which is excellent as its a beautiful site with spectacular views.
If you buy a caravan I would ask if there is an age limit,how long the season is for and if you have to sell it back to him.
We can only let our van to family and site owners that allow letting seem to be more expensive.
There are dedicated caravan forums which if you read will give you an idea of sites that have pitfalls.