Why choose to purchase a holiday home instead of a holiday property?

1. Care for the local community

Recent discussions around the ‘Airbnb effect’ suggest that an abundance of short-term rental properties are contributing to a shortage of housing, and an increase in rent prices (Arch Daily). This has caused worries around the possible gentrification of beloved areas in the UK, like Woolacombe, North Devon.

David Whitelock, Estate Agent from Sensible Move, shared his view:

“Here at Sensible Move, we are finding that the demand for second homes in North Devon has increased significantly, and this is affecting the local community.

A caravan-style holiday home or lodge can be a positive solution for the local community, as it provides an alternative to traditional second homes.”

With the increase of second homes in this area, it’s possible that tourism could be reduced to only certain times of the year, with the town becoming unusually quiet the rest of the time, ultimately resulting in a negative effect for the local economy.

Nevertheless, there are ways to own a holiday home that have minimal impact on the local community. Choosing to own a caravan or lodge at a holiday park such as Cleavewood allows you to enjoy flexible holidays throughout the 12-month season, without buying up potential residential homes in the local area.

As result, many local councils have already implemented a 100% council tax premium (double the standard rate). North Devon are set to implement this from April 2025.

2. Lower cost without compromise

Holiday caravans and lodges are often much more affordable than purchasing a traditional bricks-and-mortar holiday property – not just through the cost of the holiday home itself, but also saving on annual running costs:

• No stamp duty to pay
• No legal fees
• No solicitor involvement needed
• No council tax to pay

As an owner at Cleavewood Leisure Park, you will own the holiday home outright. There is then a licence agreement that accompanies the purchase, giving the owner the legal right to occupy their chosen plot.

All you pay each year is:

• Annual site fees of either £4,995 or £6,541 (depending on the size of the holiday home owned.  Prices correct as of the 2024 season)
• Gas and Electric (all homes have individual meters)
• Holiday Home Insurance (we do insist all our owners have insurance)

Saving money doesn’t mean you have to compromise on quality or luxury, though. Our fantastic range of fully furnished holiday homes for sale at Cleavewood Leisure Park offer stylish and comfortable interiors, with plenty of storage and modern appliances.

Just take a look at this stunning lodge, part of our Grand range:

3. Income tax and security

With the recent change in the FHL (furnished holiday letting) tax regime, hundreds of thousands of holiday property owners are now having to pay more tax on their rental income. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s decision to scrap the FHL regime was implemented with the intention of freeing up more properties for residential housing, by making the holiday home rental market less attractive to owners, many of which have been negatively impacted by these changes (The Guardian).

However, owning a caravan or lodge at a holiday park offers the option to earn through subletting your holiday home, without having to pay an extortionate amount of income tax. Plus, here at Cleavewood, we offer a fully managed and super flexible letting service  

In essence, it’s a “key turn” service - as an owner, we would ask you to complete a date sheet at the beginning of each year to mark off the dates when you would like to make your holiday home available for hire, and then we do all the rest. This includes:

• Marketing
• Money handling
• Customer Service
• Pre-arrival calls
• Check ins
• Check outs
• Key handling
• House keeping
• Bed linen and towels hire and laundry
• A high level of maintenance whilst the home is signed over to our care

So, subletting a holiday home as opposed to renting out a private holiday property is not only more cost effective, but also comes with more security.