Do you have a spare moment or two for some light reading while you relax on the threshold of your caravan? Then read on for a glimpse behind some of the headlines currently making UK caravanning news.
Buyers mis-sold holiday caravans as full-time homes
One of the questions we’re often asked is whether owners of static caravans bought as second or holiday homes can live there permanently all year round.
The answer inevitably depends on the particular local authority licensing held by the caravan park owners. Unless the park is specifically licensed for mobile homes that can be occupied 365 days a year then the answer to those buying a static holiday home is no, it cannot be occupied as your permanent address.
That fact was made painfully clear in a recent report by the BBC recently detailing the disappointments suffered by numerous correspondents who claim to have been cheated out of their life savings after being hoodwinked into buying a static caravan as a permanent – often retirement – home.
The official government website warns holiday homeowners that they could be forced to leave the site if they are living on one without the necessary licence and local authority planning permission. Nevertheless, the BBC estimates that “thousands” are living permanently on sites that are licensed only for holiday use.
Read our FAQs section and find out more about living permanently in a static home and the insurance implications here.
Plans for caravan park on medieval site refused
Yorkshire’s East Riding Council Planning Authority has turned down an application to develop a medieval monument as a 64-pitch caravan site, according to a report by the BBC last month.
Fort Paull – near Kingston-Upon-Hull – was built by the Tudor King Henry VIII as a fort and gun battery on the banks of the River Humber. The 10-acre site hosted a military museum until economic difficulties forced the owner, Brian Rushworth, to close it down in January 2020.
Mr Rushworth insisted that he had tried desperately to identify alternative uses for the site but had concluded that a caravan site would best preserve the monument and its surrounding environment.
The local council disagreed and rejected the planning application.
Riverside Caravan Park in Bleadon planning application
Meanwhile, North Somerset Council has been asked to consider an application to extend the permitted opening times for the Riverside Caravan Park in Bleadon, just to the south of Weston-Super-Mare.
In a story on the 9th of March the Western Mercury explained that the park is currently licensed for opening between March and December each year but must be closed to visitors during January and February.
The current planning application aims to lift that restriction so that the park’s 191 static caravan pitches and 61 touring pitches can be used throughout the year.
Greater support for drivers without off-road EV charging required
Do you tow your caravan with an Electric Vehicle (EV)? It is clearly the more environmentally friendly option but a story in Fleet News on the 26th of March echoed a plea for better help and support for all those who live in built-up areas where their only option is to park on the street.
The journal gave the example of the 75% of homes within the circumference of the M25 circular motorway that have no permanent EV charging point in the homes they occupy.
According to Fleet News, the solution lies in granting greater and more widespread ability for residents of those homes to access “cross-pavement” solutions that allow households to connect to a charger at home – while saving the local authorities any additional work in digging access trenches.