Back in the early days of the 60s and 70s, owning a holiday caravan/lodge was considered excellent value for money. To own a holiday caravan and spend weekends and annual holidays with the family in the countryside or on the coast was a retreat that most working families could afford and was immensely popular throughout the UK. Holidays abroad were considered an expensive luxury for a working class family of four and therefore only for the more affluent, particularly if you were travelling further than Europe.
The Package Holiday was introduced in the late 50's/early 60's which offered lots of sand, sea and Sangria on the sunny beaches of Spain, Portugal, Italy etc., A big attraction for the young, free and single but for a family of four - still very expensive. In the very early 60s return flights to Spain for a family of four would cost around £125.
The equivalent in todays money about £5,000.
An annual pitch fee for a static caravan back then was between £40 to £60
The equivalent in todays money an average of around £2,000
Today a Package Holiday for Four in one of the sunny European resorts is far cheaper pound for pound than it was back then.
A two-week package holiday for a family of four starts at around £3,000 to £4,000 all in.
But how do the costs compare to owning a holiday caravan/lodge ?
The costs of owning and running one today have changed dramatically !
The holiday caravan/lodge of today is, without question, far superior to those of the early days. Home from home luxury and comfort, double glazed, centrally heated, fully serviced and in most cases - a nice balcony. But it comes at a cost.
An average annual pitch fee including VAT is around £7,000. Rates, electricity, water, gas, insurance etc., another £1,500 per year. Annual transport costs from home to park average £600, totalling - around £9,000 per annum. A serious amount of money for an average working family. That is without the cost of buying the holiday caravan/lodge in the first place.
Speaking with a colleague he told me he had recently purchased a small two bedroom apartment in Spain for £65,000. The complex has a swimming pool, is about a fifteen minute walk from the beach and a five minute walk from restaurants, bars and shops. The complex was developed around twenty years ago and has been well maintained. His annual costs are considerably less than those of a holiday caravan/lodge. Community fees of around £350 per year, plus electricity, gas, water etc.
Flight costs today with minimum luggage can range between £100 to £200 per person return. On the face of it, it seems a far better investment than a holiday caravan/lodge in the UK particularly when you consider this property will increase in value rather than decrease like a holiday caravan/lodge. It seems the message here is loud and clear.
Pitch fees in the UK are too expensive and the ten year rule must certainly now be considered a thing of the past. Food for thought ! Make the most of your luxury holiday home.
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Published on 23 November 2023 By Jenny Blumsom