Buying a holiday home in a holiday park or static caravan park is a big and exciting decision. When you own your own holiday home you have the option to pack up your bags and go on a mini-break whenever you want! Who doesn’t want to be able to do that?
Holiday homes are great for families or groups of friends who like to get together and enjoy some UK sun. Static holiday homes are a great alternative to foreign holidays and over the course of owning one you’ll probably find that you save money compared to expensive foreign holidays.
But when searching for the perfect holiday home to call your own, one question will appear in front of you time and time again. Should you buy a brand new holiday home or is it better to buy a pre-loved, second hand home instead.
Many first time holiday home buyers wrestle with this dilemma which is why we’ve put this handy article together that highlights the pros and cons of both preloved and brand new holiday homes.
The advantages of buying brand new holiday homes
Staycations and holiday parks are becoming more and more popular in the UK. This means there’s no better time to purchase a holiday home. With new parks and properties being built on a daily basis first time buyers shouldn’t have any difficulty finding a brand new home to call their own.
Purchasing a holiday home straight off the production line (metaphorically speaking obviously) can give homeowners’ a lot of benefits that people who purchase second hand homes just can’t enjoy. We’ve listed those benefits below:
New holiday homes have lower maintenance costs
When you buy a holiday home the first thing you want to do is go and spend a week in it. You want to enjoy it as soon as possible. But if you buy a second hand home you might find it needs a bit of work doing on it that could mean your holiday home isn’t immediately usable. Nightmare.
Moving into a brand new holiday home means you can waltz straight in when you get the keys. As the property is new there’ll be no up-front maintenance costs or D.I.Y issues you need to solve. This is a huge bonus for anyone who just wants to enjoy a week in the sun.
Naturally as time moves on and you begin to live in your holiday home regularly issues will occur. But these will happen over time and you can deal with them as they arise. Buying a new holiday home also increases its longevity which means you can enjoy your home-away-from-home for longer than people who buy second hand.
They’re better insulated
The UK can be a cold place. Even in the summer we can be prone to cold snaps or rainy weather. That’s why you want to make sure your holiday homes have the best insulation money can buy and your best way of guaranteeing that is by buying a brand new home.
You can be confident that any new home will be built with industry leading materials and tools which means you don’t need to spend time, money and energy retro-fitting a second hand holiday home with 21st century insulation. You can just enjoy your holiday home whenever you want, come rain or shine.
They can be built to your specifications
New holiday homes are built using cutting edge materials and contemporary designs. They can even be built to your specifications which means you can make your dream holiday home a reality, with no compromises.
For the extra investment a new, bespoke home entails, you can rest easy knowing you’ll be walking into the holiday home of your dreams in no time at all and with no extra added work on your part.
You’ll get all the latest mod-cons
Wifi, USB plug sockets in the walls, Alexa compatible lighting. These might seem like fancy gadgets but they’re becoming the norm for most households in the UK. Older, second hand holiday homes aren’t going to come with these amazing modcons but a brand new holiday home will. So if you want all the luxury and accessibility of the 21st century in your holiday home then buying a new one is the way to go.
The advantages of a pre-loved, second hand holiday home
From some people the thought of buying a new holiday home doesn’t fill them with joy. They want to buy a place with a bit of character, a story and somewhere they can add their own mark to an already colourful building.
For people like this a pre-loved, second hand home is probably the best way to go when searching for a holiday home. There are lots of advantages to buying a second hand holiday home that goes beyond just the price. We’ve listed them below:
Pre-loved homes are cheaper than new holiday homes
This one is pretty self explanatory and should go without saying but we’ll mention it anyway. Pre-loved, second hand homes are going to be markedly cheaper than new ones. This means savvy holiday home shoppers can get more bang for their buck if they buy second hand.
This means the money you’ll save buying second hand can be used for any maintenance issues or redecorating you’d like to do. Speaking of that…
They can be a fixer-uppers dream
For some people they just want to purchase a holiday home and walk straight in. For others though, the thought of doing some D.I.Y fills them with glee. Many people who buy second hand holiday homes are looking for a project as well as a place to vacation. For these people a holiday home is the perfect fixer-upper.
Whether it’s painting, decorating or carpentry, fixing up a holiday home can be a great joy for people who want to put their own stamp on their holiday home. Fixing up your second home yourself can actually save you money too so if you want to be thrifty you can do most of the work yourself and get a great holiday home a lot cheaper than one you’d buy new.
The money you save on the property can get you a nicer location
When it comes to purchasing a property, location is everything. A postcode can add an extra £100,000 to the cost of a house and the same logic can be applied to holiday parks and holiday homes.
If you want to buy a holiday home in a very desirable area like Devon or Cornwall you’re going to have to pay a significant amount for it. That is unless you buy your home second hand. You can offset some of the costs associated with buying in a desirable area by buying second hand.
This means you could grab a holiday home in Cornwall, Suffolk or Berkshire with a budget that might not stretch to a new build holiday home in those areas.
You can go bigger
For the price of a brand new, 2 bed holiday home you could get a 4 bed, pre-loved mansion. It goes without saying that your money will go further on a second hand home so if you’re looking for a lot of space, or maybe you’ve got a large family or friendship group, then going preloved might be the best way of fitting everyone under one roof.
Holiday homes come in all different shapes and sizes so it’s worth shopping around the preloved, second hand market to see how far your money can stretch. Hot tub anyone?
It’s worth noting that if you’re stretching your budget and trying to get the biggest home possible for the smallest amount you might need to do some considerable work to the property. That being said, if the thought of rolling your sleeves up for a DIY project fills you with glee then this shouldn’t be a barrier at all.
Are you looking to purchase a holiday home? Encore Parcs can help
If you’re currently researching holiday homes, Encore Parcs would be happy to help you. We own holiday parks across the UK and have new and preloved homes available to suit anyone’s budget along with properties to rent too.
If you’d like some advice on purchasing a home or would like to arrange a viewing at one of our parks you can contact us here.
