Luxury Lodges - an investment option

If you hear somebody mention a mobile home, or caravan park, I imagine the picture you conjure up is far from the luxurious ilk of luxury lodge developments that are now populating some of the most beautiful parts of the country.

If you dream of a second home but buying abroad is just not your thing, a luxury wooden lodge could be the answer for you.

With prices as much as 50% cheaper than a regular build property, and often situated on developments with a host of fantastic facilities, these lodges can make the ideal base for your own family holiday or quiet get-away, but the rental potential is great, so it may be the ideal Buy-To-Let opportunity. With properties abroad becoming increasingly costly due to the strong Euro rate and increasing mortgage rates, the 7,500 wooden holiday homes currently in the UK are becoming a more and more attractive option. With leasehold prices starting from £60,000, ranging to the £200,000 mark, this is a great alternative.

Of course, if you are looking to invest in one of these properties rather than use it just for your own private use, you will be interested in the rental income potential. Depending on the season and the facilities provided, you can get a weekly rental income from £400-£3,500! Of course, it’s important to check with the site that sub-letting is allowed and you need to be aware that many sites only allow occupancy for 10 or 11 months of the year.

Lodges tend to come with electricity and water facilities in place and include the furniture. There will be extras to pay, such as an annual site fee, and cleaning and maintenance. But with many sites offering on-site restaurants, shops, spa, sports facilities, and swimming pool, your site fee really does pay for itself.

The lodges themselves are a long way from the archetypal image of a traditional mobile home park with rows of white caravans either side of a main track. You are more likely to find these luxurious wooden lodges secreted away amongst leafy glades, or by the lapping waters of a lake. Often with an outdoor deck, high quality interiors, and depending on your budget or requirements, often with a private hot tub on the deck.

So what are the pros and cons…

Pros…

• It’s a cheaper way to have a second home with excellent facilities in a great location
• No flights to book or commission rates on currency to pay
• Rental season of up to 35 weeks. 15 weeks longer than the overseas season
• High weekly rental income potential
• Great bolt hole if you and the property have a free weekend

Cons…

• Lodges can’t be a permanent residence
• Can’t be registered at Land Registry, although have 10 year building guarantee
• some parks have conditions around sub-letting and are only open 10 or 11 months of the year
• You can own up to a 100 year lease, depending what is left on the property, but you do not own the freehold

You can see some examples of luxury lodges by clicking in the following links.

www.tingdene.co.uk

www.lochnesshighlandlodges.co.uk

www.southlakelandparks.co.uk

www.hornseacaravanpark.co.uk

www.shorefield.co.uk

If you own a lodge, or have stayed in one, have any tips or ideas for us, we would love to hear your experiences. Please comment.

Kent Sea Poses Land-Grab Threat!

Picture this, a beautiful rustic clapboard cottage, bright and airy, located by the sea with endless views of the ocean. The sea dancing outside your window on a sunny summer’s day, or tucked up, cosy and warm on the sofa as the drama of a storm unfolds around you.

Living by the sea is a dream for so many of us, but the reality just may not live up to the fantasy, especially if your dream is lived out on the North Kent Coast.

Coastal erosion is a vicious and uncontrollable entity and I’m sure those of us who have seen images on the news of homes crumbling into the sea could not fail to be shocked by the desparation of those who own those homes. Can you imagine watching everything you own and have worked hard for being swallowed up by the waves?

Of course, coastal erosion patterns rely entirely on the composition of the coastline.  In Cornwall, your cliff-top idyll would be a lot safer, as the cliffs are made of hard granite rock and able to withstand the constant pounding of the Atlantic waves. In North Kent, the wave activity is much less, but the cliffs are made of much softer London clay and sandstone.

Kent has an action group that is working with government to put in place measures to help prevent coastal erosion, but of course, this is an ongoing battle, and one that is surely set to gather pace in line with global warming.

Have you been affected by the threat of coastal erosion?  Write and let us know.

A room with a view?

Revolving floors … 

Revolving buildings are not breaking news these days, despite them being an amazing display of architectural genius, but Dubai will be seeing something the likes of which has never been seen before!

Many cities across the world are the proud owners of revolving restaurants, attracting great numbers to experience this unique style of dining. The Skylon Towers at Niagra Falls, The New York Marriott, The Space Needle in Seattle and, until 1980 when it closed, the BT Tower in London.

But more recent years have seen a new development in this area of engineering, rotating apartment buildings!

360 Degree views … 

You really would have a room with a view if you were to purchase a home in the world’s first independently revolving building. The apartment building in the Brazilian city of Curitiba revolves independently, 360 degrees to the left, or right. Each of the eleven apartments occupies a whole floor of the building, and takes an hour to complete a rotation, activated by voice commands.

However, the world’s first moving building, an 80-storey tower with revolving floors giving a shifting shape, will be built in the rapidly developing Dubai.

Dubai’s Dynamic Tower … 

The Dynamic Tower design is made up of 80 pre-fabricated apartments which will spin independently of one another.  It’s the first building that rotates, moves, and changes shape. The building never looks the same, not once. The apartments would spin a full 360 degrees, at voice command, around a central column by means of 79 giant power-generating wind turbines located between each floor.

The apartments, which will take between one and three hours to make a complete rotation, will cost from $3.7m to $36m. So, if you want a different view every time you look out the window, you better start saving!