Buying a static caravan or lodge is a big decision, and most people only do it once or twice in their lives. That puts you at a disadvantage: the person on the other side of the table does it every week.

The fix is simple. Ask better questions, and ask them early.

Below are the twelve we think matter most. Take this list to any park you visit — including ours. A good park will answer all of them without hesitating. If someone gets vague, that tells you something too.

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1. Is there an age limit on the holiday homes?

Many parks make you remove or replace your caravan once it reaches a certain age — often fifteen or twenty years. Some will let you stay on if you buy a newer model from them.

Ask what the limit is, ask what happens when you reach it, and ask for the answer in writing. This single question changes the long-term cost of ownership more than almost anything else.

2. Who else owns here?

You’re not just buying a holiday home, you’re joining a park. Ask who your neighbours would be — families, couples, retired owners, or a mix. Ask how long people tend to stay.

A park where owners have been in place for years is usually a park worth being on.

3. What’s included in the site fee — and what isn’t?

Rates, water, insurance, gas and electricity, waste, grass cutting, winterising. Some parks bundle several of these in; others charge everything separately.

Ask for a full list of the annual costs of ownership, not just the headline fee. The gap between the two can be considerable.

4. How long is the season?

Some parks open for ten months, some eleven, some a full twelve. If you want your holiday home available in January, you need to know before you buy, not after.

5. New or pre-owned — which is right for me?

A brand-new lodge gives you the latest spec, full insulation and a warranty. A well-kept pre-owned caravan gets you onto the park for a fraction of the price, often with decking and furnishings already in place.

Tell the park honestly how you’ll use it and what you want to spend. Anyone worth buying from will point you at the right one rather than the dearest one.

6. What is the subletting policy?

This one is worth thinking about carefully, because it cuts both ways.

If you want to rent your caravan out to cover costs, you need a park that permits it. If you want a quiet park where you recognise your neighbours, you want one that doesn’t. Neither is wrong — but you should know which kind of park you’re standing on before you hand over a deposit.

7. What happens when I want to sell?

Ask whether you can sell privately or only through the park, what commission the park takes, and whether they offer part exchange.

Nobody enjoys asking about the exit when they’re excited about the arrival. Ask anyway.

8. Who actually owns and runs this park?

Is it a family business, a small group, or a large corporate operator? Will you deal with the same people in five years?

There’s no single right answer, but it shapes your experience enormously — from how quickly a leaking tap gets fixed to how decisions get made about the park’s future.

9. What warranty and aftercare comes with it?

Ask what’s covered and for how long, who you call when something goes wrong, and how quickly things get sorted in practice.

Ask about the practical side of the park too — grounds and roads, winter access, and the annual gas safety check. These are the things you’ll never think about again once you know they’re handled properly.

10. Am I buying this pitch?

Confirm the exact plot. Then go and stand on it.

Which way does it face? Where’s the sun at four in the afternoon? What’s the outlook, the drainage, the slope? Where do the neighbours’ windows point? Is there space for decking?

Photographs flatten everything. Ten minutes standing on the actual pitch will tell you more than an hour in an office.

11. What’s the total price, all in?

Ask for one figure that includes the holiday home, siting, connection to services, delivery, steps or decking, skirting, and VAT.

Then ask what isn’t in it. That’s the question that saves people money.

12. What are the day-to-day rules?

Pets, visitors, parking, gas supply, decking specifications, what you can and can’t do to the outside of your home, whether you can leave a car on site over winter.

None of these are dramatic on their own. Together they decide whether the park suits how you actually want to use it.

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How we answer these at Hanley Parks

We’d rather you asked us all twelve than found out later.

For what it’s worth, here’s where we stand across our parks: no age limits on holiday homes, owners-only with no commercial letting, and genuinely dog friendly. Season lengths and site fees vary from park to park, so ask us about the one you’re interested in and we’ll give you the figures and a full breakdown of what a year there costs.

We’re a family-run group with parks across the North of England and the Scottish Borders — from the edge of the Lake District at Violet Bank in Cockermouth and the Yorkshire Dales at Ingmire near Sedbergh, to the Fylde coast at Primrose Bank, Meadfoot and Whalley Villa, up to Blackadder in the Scottish Borders and out to Stanhope in Weardale.

Different parks suit different people. Some owners want fells and forest tracks, some want the coast twenty minutes from the pitch, and some want somewhere quiet enough to hear nothing at all. Tell us how you want to spend your weekends and we’ll tell you honestly which of ours fits — and which doesn’t.

Come up, walk the park, stand on a pitch, and ask us the difficult ones.

07722298889

Hanley Caravan & Lodge Parks — hanleycaravans.co.uk

Ask everything. Then enjoy the view. 🍃