Price of homes

Hello  Ed  hope  you  are well ......Is  there  a price list  of  park  homes ? and  does  the  siteing  fee  vary ? to  this  day  I  have  no  idea  what  the  price  of  my  Milton  Cottage  was..the  price  I  had  was  everything  included....no  breakdown  of  costs....thankyou  evergreen

I too would find the above of interest.

Also, just what are the average costs and fees associated with owning a Park Home?

Hi Evergreen, Rustyfrog

Now this is where I put my retired park owning hat on!

The answer to your question is yes, each manufacturer has their own ex. works price list. That is to say, the price of the home sitting in the factory yard.

This leads me to ask you guys a question, why would such a list be important? If you have ever bought a new home from a traditional bricks and mortar builder, would you ask for the breakdown of the price, as in price of land, cost of putting the services in, cost of transporting the materials, cost of the staff who were selling the properties?

The answer is of course not and I just can't see why so many people ask for these price lists. They are so confusing, especially without any knowledge of building costs. The cost of building a plot and putting the services in has escalated way beyond the price of inflation.

My house in Berkshire would probably cost me half of what I paid for it in many other parts of the country, but at the end of the day, any accommodation has a value of what another will pay for it in the location of their choice.

Whoops! Sorry. I always get carried away on that one!

Ed.

Hi Ed.

All your points have been noted, and I understand your reasoning regarding the difficulty of breaking down costs/

Traditional building, I can understand. Especially if the home is sat on freehold land. You pay your council tax, pay your utility bills direct etc.

Park homes seem to be a different matter.

Do you pay for gas, electricity direct or to the park owner?
Service charges?
Ground rent?
Other?

Is it expensive?
Does it vary greatly between parks?

Hello  Ed  I  respect  your  reply..but  I  feel  confusion  would  rein  if  people  comitted  to  bricks  and  morter, then  just  prior  to  signing  contracts  the  estate  agent told  you  the  price  ( house , stampduty , solicitors  fees  everything  included ).......it  is  a little  bit  like  blind  faith,....evergreen

Hi Evergreen

I'm not sure that I understand your reply.

The price that an Estate Agent advertises for a house is the turnkey price. You know when buying bricks and mortar that you are going to be addtionally charged stamp duty and solicitor's fees on top.

The price that an Estate Agent advertises a park home for, is also for the turnkey price. Fortunately, for us, there are no additional costs such as stamp duty or solicitor's fees.

If you feel it necessary to know the breakdown on the turnkey price of a park home, why does no one ask the breakdown costs of a traditional 'bricks and mortar' house? Because purchasers don't.

I still ask you the same question, which I haven't had an answer yet - why do you think it is important to know the ex. works price of a park home?

Ed.

Hi Rustyfrog

I'll try and answer your questions, but it is difficult. As you rightly suggest each park is different!

The only additional cost of living in a park home to a traditional 'bricks and mortar' property would be the ground rent. I think it would be a fair assumption to say that the average ground rent would be between £1,500 and £1,600 per year.Whilst I'm sure not affecting you, but in times of financial hardship, park home owners may apply to Housing Benefit to have their rent paid for them.

Part of this ground rent  would be offset by the lower banding a park home has for your Council Rates, which in the main are usually at Band A (the lowest), but with a few now in Band B.

In the park homes I have lived in, I have always experienced lower costs for heating and so you should make a saving there as well in comparison to a similar sized bungalow, but of course, we all use homes differently and this would depend upon how warm you personally like yours as well! However, the new modern park home is extremely well insulated.

Most of the newer parks will pay their utility bills direct to the Utility Companies, but there are a few who have to pay through the Park Owner, but there is strict legislation in how much the Park Owner is allowed to charge you for these services. If you are looking to purchase a park home on a park with piped LPG gas, it is a good idea to ask for a sample invoice in these quarterly charges to give you a rough idea of the amount to expect. You may not have the luxury of choosing your own gas supplier under these circumstances, as generally the contract for the supply of the tank or tanks is linked to the supply of the gas.

I can't think of any other costs, that you are likely to incur, save that you may choose to live on a very sociable park and the purchase of wine in bulk might be a good idea!!

Ed.

Hello  Ed  thankyou  for  your  reply.  the  reason  I  would  like  the  seperate  costs  is for  one  I  would  know  how much  my  home  was  to  buy ......then  plus  the  cost  to site..hence my  total  cost , I  cant  see  anything  wrong  in  that...if  I  buy  bricks  and  morter.......I  know  the  cost  of  the  house....then  I  know  the  cost  of  the  legal  fees..hence  the  full  price....I  dont  buy  the  house  blind  then  get  the  full  price  from  the  solicitor...........  regards  evergreen

Hi Evergreen,

I've been following your post with great interest and I really think you are totally missing the Editors point.

Firstly, just to satisfy my own curiostity, why is it so important for you to know how much it cost to site your home?

Secondly, if you were to buy a brick built house, would you ask the estate agent how much it cost to put the house on the land?  I would really like to see their reaction if you did!  As its exactly the same principle of you asking a park owner how much it cost to put a park home on their land.

Thirdly, what about the cost of the legal fees to buy a park home?  I know it isn't a legal requirement to use a solicitor here, but surely, only a fool wouldn't use one when you are spending such a lot of money.

Smurfy

First of all, thanks ed. for your breakdown of estimated costs of running a park home.

I think I, along with Evergreen, must be missing the point!

I understand that the actual unit has a value attached.
I also understand that the provision of a base and supply of services by the park owner also has a cost.

My difficulty is, that for instance my house, if when up for sale, is sold together with its "plot" and all the other bits that go with it, because I own the lot.

If I sold my ficticious park home, surely I can only sell the actual unit, as the base, services, plus the land it all sits on, is owned by the park owner, and therefore has no value to me. Nor can it be included in the asking price. So how much is my park home?

Therefore I do find the unit cost interesting, as I can then see where my hard earned has been spent!

I'm with you Evergreen!

Hello..Of  cause  you  wouldnt  ask if you bought a house about  land cost>>>>> not  a new build, it is advertised  at  a price, you either  accept  the  price  or  you  haggle  a figure, but !! at  least  you  have  a price....oh  and  by new build  I  mean  when  you purchase  land  then  have  your  home  built,..............all  Im  asking  is  why ? park  homes dont  advertise  a  price, so  that when  you  buy  one  you  know  its  true  value......................surely  if  theres a question.........theres  always  an  answer...I  feel  but  I  could  be  wrong  the  answer  lies  in  the  common  ground  between site  owner  and  home  seller.............sorry  smurfy  but  I  found  your  reply  patronising.................evergreen

Hi Ed,

       Our residential site has 75 units receiving electricity via the site owners fuse box.The other 20 units,which

were added to the site at a much later date,have their own direct supply.
When our Resident's Committee put it to the site owner that we would all like to have our own direct
supply,and with it the right to choose which company's electric we wanted,plus the benefits this
brings,,e.g., reductions for having gas and electric from the same supplier,compensation payments in the
event of power cuts, he said he had looked into it,and it would cost in the region of £50000, which would have
to be met by the homeowners involved.

      Most of the newer homes are much further away from the road and must have cost a packet to get their electric supply put into place. As an ex-site owner yourself,would you say our multi-millionaire owner is being
perfectly reasonable,or is there anything in Park Home legislation that could compel him to pay his share.

                                            Thanks Ed                              Ganddad

PS.
     My new hosepipe has arrived at last. Pity it's never hardly stopped raining since I ordered it 10 days ago.

             Sorry folks, it's all my fault.

Hi Granddad

Nowadays when a park owner builds a new park, they have the option to lay the electricity themselves, in which case they then have the burden of having to read the meters and preparing and sending out all the invoices. They could also approach the Electricity Company to do the work, in which case the residents are billed direct by the Board, or whoever they opt to buy their electricity from. However, when I first started in this business the options weren't there, hence a two tier systems on some parks like yours.

To me it is a no brainer starting afresh and that is to contract the Electricity Board to do the work.

If the residents on your park voted in favour of changing to a direct supply, the park owner would simply divide the cost between the residents. This may also include extras such as the digging of the trenches and making good the road and repairing any landscaping which may have been in the way. There would also be the cost of the meters on the individual plots and who would pay to reinstate all the gardens?

The only advantage the Park Owner would have in allowing this direct supply would be not having to read the meters and send out the bills, so I can't see why he should be compelled to pay any share. There is no other advantage for him, or her.

As I have just received a quotation from EDF for the supply of electricity to our land in Norfolk for 98 lodges and a country club of around £128,000. I naturally think that £50,000 for 75 plots isn't a bad price. I am just wondering if that was a good guess.

Hope that puts things into a little perspective.

Ed.

Hello Ed,
             Thanks for your helpful comments and insight. Much appreciated

 I suppose it's one of those things that you might take away and consider before arriving at a final decision,that is, if the site owner remembers to tell you,which ours didn't,

We probably missed a few more snippets of info at the point of sale, because,only having literally days to find another home, following the burning to the ground by arsonists of our first choice, at Barnt Green,we had been at panic stations for about a fortnight,our house having already been sold.

The only shreds of comfort we gleaned from that experience were that the arson took place before we had put pen to paper,and also that the purps. are now doing between 12 and 14 years at Her Majesty's pleasure.

                    Thanks again Ed.        Granddad

PS  It's just stopped raining.       Yippee!!      

parkinsider..........the  value  of  something  and  the  price  of  something  are  completly  different.....something  is  only  worth  what  price  is  offered...................oh  by  the  way  why  do  you  make  everything  into  a  proclamation.......I  have  never  witnessed  so  many  exclamation  marks...it  makes  you  come  across  as  very  pompous..evergreen

Hello  Ed  hope  you  are well ......Is  there  a price list  of  park  homes ? and  does  the  siteing  fee  vary ? to  this  day  I  have  no  idea  what  the  price  of  my  Milton  Cottage  was..the  price  I  had  was  everything  included....no  breakdown  of  costs....thankyou  evergreen

-evergreen

I dont know the price of your Milton Cottage either, and there were 3 sizes 40', 36' and I think 32' (or 34'). Each would have been different. We have the Milton Cottage, not from new - it is 11 years old and we paid just under £80k, 8 months ago. Ex works I reckon it would have cot £70k, maybe £75k tops, then it needed transportation (£2k maybe depending how far to deliver) and siting (around £3k say).  The top fee on our site is £107 per month.

In June 2010 we looked at a park being redeveloped in Wiltshire. Units were on sale from £140k. The unit at that price I would say would cost £85k maybe ex works. The pitch fee was either £139 or £149 per month.
Another site we looked at nearer home had a new unit. Initial asking price was £140k, but 3 months later it was just £100k. Monthly pitch fee £135.

Like houses, you are going to pay for location, as in different parts of the country, general location of the site itself, and location of individual homes on a site.

One needs to think of the park owner having a business and needs to make a profit or else its not worth him/her investing. Sites of 35/40 units can be worth £1million or more, the bigger the site the bigger the investment needed. Ok some people may have an odd million or two hanging about (dont know any personally) but most park owners will have to borrow money I suspect - a mortgage. Now a mortgage on a £1million, attracts a lot of interest from its lender.  I can understand that monthly pitch fees alone cannot pay for the development of a site and individual pitches, plus the maintenance of the park, insurance etc etc, and pay back interest and make a profit, so funds have to be raised elsewhere. Hence, you find a unit costing say £80k ex works, can cost double that or more sited. The there is the up to 10% that site owners can get from a seller of a unit.

If all of this means a park owner can drive around in a Merc/Jag whatever, and live in a big house, so what. His choice, just as my choice was to downsize and have a more simple straightforward life. I wouldnt like to have the pressures like others have.