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Not all Brown Envelopes are nasty ones:
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Newspaper Article
Going
mobile to enjoy taste of high
Life
...
The
mobile home may be denounced by some as a glorified caravan but investing in an
alternative abode can seriously free up your cash. Katherine Davison visits
a park in
North Hykeham
and wonders
why more of us aren’t jumping on
the bandwagon...
SHE
vowed she would never set foot inside one but now Brenda Purves is quite frankly
mad about mobile homes.
Brenda (61) had never
even considered swapping bricks and mortar for an alternative way of living
until her husband Tony (60) fell across the concept quite by chance.
While working as a
delivery driver Tony delivered a three-piece suite to a woman in a mobile home.
“He said it was like being in a bungalow but I could not believe it,” said
Brenda. But she was secretly intrigued and when the couple were invited to take
a look for themselves they jumped at the chance. “I was impressed,” said
Brenda. “It was absolutely gorgeous and that was that.” And so three years
ago the couple moved from
Cornwall
— selling their property for £97,000
and buying a second hand mobile home at
Beckhead
Park
,
North Hykeham
, for just £35,000. They reckon
their home is worth double that now and say it was the best move they ever made.
The park, run and
owned by Malcolm, Barbara, John and Susie Carlisle, offers them a peaceful
atmosphere — it caters for adults only and does not allow dogs. But for Brenda
the style of living suits her just fine.
Their two-bedroom
mobile home has a remarkably large living room as well as a dining room,
bathroom and kitchen. “This is fairly central for us. It is two and a half
hours from our middle son, two hours from our youngest son and our eldest is
still in
Cornwall
,” said Brenda. “It has freed
up our capital. When we sold the bungalow we had money left over and we have
still got money in the bank. “This is a nice, quiet place.” Tony said: “My
brother used to have a caravan in Maidenhead and all you associate caravans with
is going on holiday But there is central heating in here and we would recommend
it to people of any age group really” After the one-off cost of the price of
the home, Brenda and Tony must pay £26.19 a week site rental which includes
water. They must also pay council tax although it is the lowest rate. The
electricity is metered and Brenda and Tony say it’s a situation that suits
them well. “We pay as we go really and we have worked out that our electricity
costs us about £1 a day and we have a tumble-dryer and electric cooker,” said
Tony
An added bonus of
mobile living is that the homes normally come fully furnished and ready
to live in.
In another part of the park, mobile home inhabitant Ray Morris (64) sits down to
play a tune on his keyboard. Ray moved to the park after being made redundant
just over a year ago and hasn’t looked back. He likes the fact that his home
hasn’t got stairs and is happy it’s compact. “It’s easier than living in
a house and it’s cheap to heat and cheap to run,” he said. Before moving to
the park he lived in a three-bedroom terrace in
Lincoln
. But he sold his property for £90,000
and bought the mobile home for around £40,000. He’s happy he made the
decision. He likes the community spirit that pervades the park. “You are
living in a very friendly community of like-minded people you meet more people
than you do in a terraced house,” he said. “I am more settled now because I
have got a bit of money behind me. When you have not got a pension behind you it
can be a bit worrying.” But now Ray is able to make the most of his money “I
have just been to the
Caribbean
—that’s something I would never
have been able to consider before,” he said.
John Carlisle (29), one of the partners in charge of running the park, said in
today’s market Ray’s home might be worth as much as £57,500. “Mobile
homes hold their price indefinitely if they are maintained,” he said. And
while those wishing to purchase a mobile home are not eligible for a mortgage
there are financial deals that offer a mortgage type compromise. There are 52
mobile homes on the site and only three empty plots right now, two of which have
already been sold. “People are choosing to retire here after selling their
homes,” said John. “You can spend half the money on a nice park home and you
have somewhere with lower maintenance and cheaper to run.” A mobile home at
the top end of the market could set you back £100,000 while new ones could cost
anything from £50,000 to £75,000.
John, who also helps to hand-make mobile homes on the park site, said planning
permission needed to be obtained for new mobile homes and park operators needed
a site licence from the local authority. But for those purchasing a mobile home
things couldn’t be much easier “There are no legal fees, just an agreement
with the park owner. You just pay a rent for the land,” said John. If an owner
comes to sell their mobile home they must pay 10 per cent commission to the park
owners — a condition that applies nationwide.
And interest is so high that John and his partners are building more mobile
homes from scratch. The timber-made mobiles have an aggregate coating on the
outside and a steel roof. “They are very labour-intensive. “We do a proper
job and it’s really traditional craftsmanship — each one is different as
well,” said John.
It’s no wonder the
craze for a mobile way of living has begun.
For
more information on
Beckhead
Park
or the ‘hand-crafted mobile homes made by the
Carlisle
family call (01522) 681838.
Lincolnshire
Echo –
Saturday 24 January 2005
.
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