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Contact information
Address

The Estate Office, Peniarth, Llanegryn, Tywyn, Gwynedd, Wales, LL36 9UD

Email

www@peniarth.com

Phone

+44 (0) 1654 710 101

Fax

+44 (0) 1654 710 103

Buying your First Holiday Home

Here are a few suggestions intended only to help you start your search.

Buying your first Holiday Home is a major decision which benefits from having a clear idea of your objectives

The following are a few pointers which I have learned from visitors to our Park over the past 60 years. I hope that you will find them helpful in choosing the perfect Holiday Park that is right just for you.

Please if you have a suggestion which you think could be helpfully added here it would be very welcome

First identify a location:

Before you do anything you need to choose a specific area you would like to buy into. Then from the list of Parks and facilities in that area draw up a short list of initially say three or four Parks. Before doing any further research ring round some other parks in the area to get an idea of average costs, including rents, rates, rubbish collection, water, gas, electricity, vat, and any hidden charges like penalty charges on leaving!

Visit your short-listed sites: Armed with this information allocate half a day to visit, inspect and discuss each park on your list

Experience the place:

Mark them out of 5. Take a rug, thermos of tea/coffee and sit down in the chosen caravan park - see what happens. Look for signs of litter, the condition of the existing caravans and their surrounding areas. Are the natives friendly or rude, young, middle-aged or elderly, and is the site relaxed or noisy.


Ask the Park owner a few questions:

  • Are the Rules strictly enforced? 
  • Is sub-letting allowed? 
  • What months is the Park open?
  • Are pets allowed? 
  • Cats, Dogs or other species? 
  • What are the conditions relating to their numbers, barking, on a lead rules etc.
  • What is the average length of time that caravan owners stay on this park - 5, 10, 15 years?
  • At what age are the caravans required to be updated (changed for a new one)
  • Does the Park have any free facilities like wifi, golf, swimming, fishing, tennis available to owners
  • How strong is the mobile reception and which providers are available
  • How fast and what type of wifi is available - fast, slow, limited or fibre and is unrestricted Smart TV streaming allowed?
  • "What is the best feature of their Park?  -  what is their mission statement?"  What awards have they won or hold?

And when you finally choose a Park make sure that all parties agree the Terms and Conditions in writing

In a nutshell:
Choose the location of the Park first
Only then choose the plot on that Park that is right for you
And finally look for a static to put on it so that the internal layout and windows maximise the benefit of its position

The two most common mistakes we have found prospective static owners make, is to buy their Holiday home first, and then look for a Park that will take them.  Or, they buy from an enthusiastic salesman at a show and are then unable to put their newly acquired dream home onto “the pitch by the 'pool” that they thought that they were going to be on, or that the windows face the wrong way!

These are my personal thoughts and only meant to help you start your search.  Enjoy the adventure and the new dimension that the right holiday home in the right part of the country can give you - for many years to come.     

William