A grandmother has told how she was driven to despair after losing more than £40,000 on her caravan in less than a year.
Lynda Newman, 66, bought the mobile home for £76,000 at Seal Bay Resort, Selsey, in 2022, hoping it would become her safe haven following a stressful divorce.
But brief calm turned to chaos when Ms Newman quickly found herself blighted by high utility costs, ‘overflowing’ sewage pipes and ‘extreme noise’ coming from the nearby pub, claiming boozy revellers would start fights and urinate in her garden.
Eventually, after a ‘long dispute’ with the caravan company over her complaints, the business allegedly offered Ms Newman just £36,000 to buy back the property – £40,000 less than she paid them less than a year prior.
The grandmother is the latest in a string of people across the UK to tell about their mobile home hell – with many claiming they lost their life savings by investing in a caravan through a site company.
On Monday, Londoner Craig Edwards – who was Ms Newman’s neighbour at Seal Bay Resort – told how he lost £20,000 in the space of 14 months after being forced to sell his caravan due the ‘unbearable’ noise and antisocial behaviour coming from the nearby Viking Pub.
Last week, Grandmother Kim Graham revealed how she lost a huge chunk of her life savings after spending £57,000 on a mobile home – only to have to sell it for a £42,000 loss after being diagnosed with breast cancer.
And now Ms Newman, of Norfolk, has claimed she lost tens of thousands of pounds on her purchase, despite only staying at the site for a total of five weekends.
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Speaking to , Ms Newman said: ‘It was a grim period of my life. Having gone through a very stressful divorce, I wanted a peaceful and fun place where I could have my grandchildren to stay.
‘Unfortunately I 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.
‘I stayed approximately five weekends at the site in total and on each and every occasion there was a problem.
‘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 claimed she was initially urged to upgrade to a different caravan, which would allow her to move to a quieter pitch away from the noisy pub – but this would have involved additional costs.
‘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 12-18 months. The site fees continue to rise yearly together with other utility costs,’ she said.
The grandmother also claimed the park suffered from overcrowding and activities for children were overpriced.
has contacted Cove/Seal Bay for comment.
Average prices for a caravan start at around £14,995 for a pre-owned model and £29,995 for a new one at various sites across the UK.
Prospective buyers can secure their holiday home with an up-front deposit of 10 per cent of the caravan’s finance. New holiday homes are available from £449.75 per month subject to terms and conditions.
However, once campers have their name on the deeds, other problems can arise.
Michael Garbutt told he had an ‘awful’ experience trying to renovate his £30,000 caravan.
He said: ‘We wanted a wooden veranda building around side and front of caravan, my friend who’s a joiner quoted us £2500, but the owner of park said they have a company who must do it and it cost me £5000 […].
‘Then we had to go through the owner to insure caravan and then buy gas bottles off him.
‘After many problems […] we decided to sell after two years so I put for sale signs up in windows and a lady came offered me £26,000 for the caravan.
‘But the owner came told me to take the signs down saying we can’t sell it to the lady as we have to go through him.
‘He even threatened me to take the caravan and put it on the road outside the park.
‘Eventually we were that stressed […] by owner we sold it back to him for £8000.
‘Once you buy you are totally in the site owners hands […]. I will never buy another static in my lifetime.’
Many despairing buyers have told of losing tens of thousands of pounds when selling their caravan back to the site owner, due to the property’s depleting value.
Some even claimed that after buying back the caravan for a significantly reduced price, the company then went on to sell it again for much more.
Lisa Webb, Which? Consumer Law Expert, told : ‘We’ve previously found that dodgy sales tactics are rife in the caravan park industry, and we’ve heard of countless people who have said they were misled about the terms of their purchase, and have ended up thousands of pounds out of pocket as a result.
‘Buying a holiday home or caravan should be an exciting time, but as with any large purchase, it’s crucial you take the time to do your research.
‘If something sounds too good to be true it usually is, so interrogate any spurious claims like promises of guaranteed rental income from your property, or promises that a holiday home can be resided in full time.
‘You should also be aware that caravans will usually decline in value after purchase.
‘Before signing on the dotted line, make sure you fully understand your contract, including any additional fees you may be expected to pay.’
When purchasing a static caravan through a caravan park company, buyers are commonly required to pay an initial fee – known as a ‘pitch fee’.
The fee is decided by the company and is for the keeping of your home on the their site.
Caravan owners are not allowed to keep a caravan without it being fully insured, which can cost thousands.
When owning a caravan on a holiday park site, you are commonly required to go through the company for utilities and are not allowed to buy your own, Mr Goodwill explained.
The businessman claimed that this allows the company to buy gas and electricity themselves, before charging you more for a profit.
Much like gas and electricity charges, site companies sometimes insist that cleaning services are organised through them, so they can charge you more and make a profit.
One caravan owner, Fred, told that buying a static caravan without considering the extra costs is a ‘mistake’ for buyers.
‘Our caravan cost £165,000 but this seemed ok over the 30-year period offered.
‘The sale came with no site fees for Year 1 and the salesman confirmed that future site fees could be more than covered by renting the lodge out for the main school holiday weeks through them.
‘In fact although the site were renting the lodge out for over £1k per week our receipt after ‘costs’ was more like £200 per week. On top of this spiralling site fees plus Council Tax, insurance, utilities etc. are running at over £10k a year.
‘We are struggling with the total yearly costs but the ‘depreciation’ over the first couple of years is supposedly about £100k!
‘Worst mistake ever!’