Antisocial revellers,’ ‘overflowing sewage’ and ‘excessively high’ running costs cause owners to sell their dream caravans at devastating losses.
£46k loss in one year
Norfolk pensioner Lynda Newman paid £76,000 for a static caravan at Selsey’s Seal Bay Resort on the South coast in 2022. 66 year old Lynda was hoping her property would provide a stress free retreat after her divorce.
Reality quickly hit home when the grandmother discovered that the utility costs were far higher than than she expected. She encountered issues with the caravan quality, sewage, and rowdy customers from the nearby pub.
“I stayed approximately five weekends at the site in total and on each and every occasion there was a problem,” Newman told the Daily Mail. “Fights and extreme noise from The Viking, leaking pipes, cracks, doors locking, sewerage pipes overflowing, and to top it, people were coming out of the pub and urinating in our gardens.”
Ms Newman was offered an expensive upgrade to a caravan further away from the pub but she preferred to sell up and leave the park altogether.
“During the time of trying to sell the caravan, I was aware of many other people facing similar problems. It appears that people generally only stay for 12 to 18 months. The site fees continue to rise yearly together with other utility costs.”
Lynda also noted that the park was overcrowded and children’s activities were ‘overpriced.’
Following a drawn out dispute with the caravan company, they allegedly offered Lynda a mere £36,000 to buy back the caravan. A £40,000 depreciation in under 12 months. That figure excludes the other associated costs.
Altogether, Ms Newman lost “£46,000 in less than a year. The noise from the pub, faults with the caravan and mis-selling were all part of the misery.”
Londoner loses £20k in 14 months
Football manager Craig Edwards, a neighbour of Lynda Newman at Seal Bay Resort also cited the “unbearable’ noise and antisocial behaviour coming from the nearby Viking Pub.” as a major factor in why his family felt forced to sell up. Other reasons given to the Daily Mail were: Spiralling maintenance costs, ‘dodgy’ letting agents, and ‘suffocating’ park bureaucracy.
59 year old Craig paid £66,000 for his unit at the Selsey based holiday park in the summer of 2021, looking for a quiet, tranquil holiday destination for the family to retreat to, away from their busy London life.
Edwards claims that he was told that The Viking pub opposite his caravan was a ‘quiet village bar.’ His experience of The Viking echoed that of Lynda Newman, however, when a late night bar from the other end of Seal Bay was moved to become part of the pub.
Edwards family’s memory of The Viking was far from quiet.
‘It became unbearable with loud music up to 3am, anti social behaviour, fights, swearing, urinating and vomiting in the car park and even our garden.
‘Upon complaining we were offered a move that would cost us £8k or to accept their offer of £46k just over a year after purchasing it for £66k.
‘In the end we very begrudgingly accepted as it became so unbearable we wasn’t going to the camp at all.’
‘We just wanted somewhere we could escape for the weekend and have peace and quiet.
‘It was horrendous. Obviously we couldn’t sit out on the decking. We couldn’t even watch a film because of the noise, bang, bang, bang. You could hardly sleep.’
Craig accepted the offer of just £46,000 after complaining about the noise to Seal Bay Resort. A £20,000 depreciation in the 14 months his family had owned the caravan.
Expert comment
“Many holiday park sales staff are veterans of the timeshare industry,” observes Greg Wilson, CEO of European Consumer Claims (ECC). “The sales tactics and cynicism being reported to our outreach team certainly has a lot in common with timeshare companies in the 1990s. Unlike timeshare however, holiday parks and static home sales operations do not have tailored legislation to prevent consumer abuse.”
“We are currently assisting customers of rogue holiday park operators to claim financial compensation where they have been victims of unfair practices. Examples of these are: being overcharged for onsite services that they have no choice in using; being forced to upgrade their caravan or remove it from the site; not being allowed to resell their caravans unless it is through the park (at an often huge loss) and even health and safety issues.
“If you have had a negative experience with a holiday park or static home, please do get in touch. Your situation might seem hopeless, but in many cases our experts can help.”
