5 Reasons to Consider Park Home Living

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Park Home

There are a lot of misconceptions about park home living. To dispel many of them and get those in-two minds clear about the realities of park home living, here are just five reasons why those already living in park homes are enjoying their lives too much to care about the stigma sometimes attached to being a park home resident.

Park Home

No stamp Duty

As explained in full detail via the GOV.UK website, stamp duty is an abbreviated term used to refer to stamp duty land tax, which is a specific type of tax in the UK. Stamp duty is applied to any residential property here in the UK which is bought or sold for £125,000.

Then, with the average house price currently (in 2016, that is) standing at £211,230 according to statistics provided as part of the official UK House Price Index featured on the Land Registry website, this suggests that in 2016 most home buyers who opt to purchase a bricks and mortar home can expect to be obliged to stump up for and pay stamp duty.

In contrast, and because stamp duty is a tax levied against properties which feature on the UK Land Registry, those looking to purchase a park home do not have to pay stamp duty. Further, this is true regardless of the value of the par home they choose to purchase.

Therefore, opting to purchase a park home over a standard build bricks and mortar property could save you thousands – quite literally.

Ease of Buying

The reason buying a bricks and mortar home can prove so complex and expensive is due directly to the fact that the land upon which it is built is sold along with it. This enables those buying bricks and mortar ‘dwellings’ to potentially extend, change or even knock a home down entirely and rebuild from the ground up. It also enables home owners to take out a mortgage in order to pay for the cost of their property as mortgages are secured against a property’s listing on the land registry.

Then, those who buy a park home stand to initially and instantly save thousands (and more likely tens of thousands) because park homes are bought without purchasing the land upon which they reside. Further, because no purchase of land is being made when buying a park home this makes the buying and selling transaction far more easily and swiftly done and negates having to fork out for many of the fees and estate agents costs charged in most cases in which a standard building is bought. Hence, park home buyers can move into and begin enjoying their new home far sooner and for far lesser than those who buy bricks and mortar properties.

That said, those purchasing a park home are still advised, at the very least (and this is especially true an important when buying a park home for the first time) to consult a solicitor. Whilst only a few solicitors here in the UK specialise in the purchase and sales of park homes, they do exist; Turbervilles Solicitors are perhaps one of the best known and as their website states: ‘one of very few firms that have expertise in advising on the legal aspects of buying a mobile home which is situated on a residential park.’ Consequently, it is worth speaking with them before you begin negotiating or enter into the purchase of a park home for the first time.

Affording a First Time Home

As already mentioned, the average cost of a bricks and mortar home within the UK currently stands at almost a quarter of a million pounds. Then, it doesn’t take a financial expert to realise that the age at which a UK citizen can expect to buy their first home is no longer the same age at which the average person here in the UK is beginning married or family life.

In fact, and as reported by the This Is Money website: ‘First-time buyers need to double their salary and more to borrow enough for an average starter home’ in 2016. This is especially true seen as the price of the average home in the UK shot up a staggering £11,000 in the month of May alone.

As the This Is Money article goes on to explain: ‘ With average first-time deposit of 17% that means [a] mortgage would have to be £175,000’. With the average salary of those between the ages of 16 and 24 in the UK currently a lowly £16,400, this translates to mean that those aged between 16 and 24 would need to earn an additional £22,517 every year to secure a mortgage on an average priced UK property.

Then, a park home is not only the best option for those hoping to buy or the first time, but in the average case purchasing a park home over a bricks and mortar property provides one of the only option for the average young person or family in 2016.

Low Maintenance Living

As explored in detail via Sell My Park Home and specifically their blog article: How Much Maintenance Does a Park Home Require?: ‘Generally speaking, [park homes provide] very low maintenance and energy efficient properties which are much easier to look after than their bricks and mortar alternatives’. This is in no small part due to the fact that park home residents do not own the land upon which their park home property is situated and instead most often live on a privately owned site, with the site owner taking responsibility for the general upkeep of all communal areas.

Hence, park home owners can enjoy living in spacious, clean, well maintained and far greener communities than many of those living in bricks and mortar houses. This reality in turn helps to nurture, create and keep park home site communities thriving and positive. After all, it is no secret or surprise that those who live within beautiful surroundings which feature green spaces and are not over looked by surrounding houses are generally far happier than those occupying densely built up and poorly maintained neighbourhoods.

Free Up the Equity Tied Up in Your Home upon Retirement

Finally, downsizing into a park home permits those entering retirement or newly retired a means of releasing the equity within their current property without having to re-mortgage or enter an equity release scheme that involves selling their home from beneath them and leaving their nearest and dearest, in many cases, with little if any inheritance.

Further, those who opt to sell up and relocate to a park home are instantly free of the troubles and time sapping reality of living within a big home with mobility challenging features and gardens that also need constant tending. What is more, because so many retired people realise this and are as such already living within park homes, this means that those moving into many of those operating across the UK can expect to move into a readymade community of likeminded individuals and neighbours, as well as into a ready furnished property.

If you are semi-retired, about to retire or already retired and looking to purchase a park home, to ensure you end up living in one that suits your needs as a retiree, it is worth searching for that perfect next home via a specialist site provider, such as Tingdene Parks. Tingdene Parks operate sites reserved exclusively for those looking for the perfect home in which to retire and begin enjoying their retirement without having to give up an active lifestyle or compromise their independence. To learn more, and whether you wish to live in the north, south, east or west, give the Tingdene Parks website a visit; the standard of their sites wherever you choose to live once retired and quality of their park home accommodations is some of the best provided in the UK – and only available to move into by those in semi or full retirement.