UK House buying terminology...Help.

[TarHeelBrit]

So my wife and I were looking at houses for sale over there and were looking for a single level bungalow because stairs are not good for my hip. I have a question which I hope the learned members here can help us with.

What the heck is a "holiday home"? Is it something we can live in 365? Is it in the grounds of a Butlins type thing? Are there HOA (Home Owners Association, residents association rules and fees) To be honest the market has got bloody confusing since I left 14 years ago.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Malc & Debbi.

 

[Countryman]

Holiday homes and park homes often have restrictions on how many months a year they can be used to prevent permanent residence.

Can be on a "butlins" type park. Will come with a set of rules and regs.

This is/was a sector with a bad rep.


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[TarHeelBrit]

Holiday homes and park homes often have restrictions on how many months a year they can be used to prevent permanent residence.

Can be on a "butlins" type park. Will come with a set of rules and regs.

This is/was a sector with a bad rep.


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Thank you Sir much appreciated. I'm not in the market for a "few months a year" home.

 

[woof]

That sounds about right. Its no help to you, but I've just sold my house, & will be getting a bungalow, we are planning for the future !.

Rob

 

[neoaliphant]

On the other hand some perfectly habitable homes might be described as holiday homes just because of search engine wording/ marketing. It could be a small home is a picturesque/holiday destination area.

A lot of bungalows are found in towns that are catered to retired people, like Wells in somerset.

Also some UK estate agents/financial advisers will only be able to advise UK residents, it would be worth having someone in UK who can research for you, take photos etc.

Also house prices have such geographical fluctuation, some prices here can double just by moving 5 miles.

I just sold a flat and bought a house last year so my estate agent seems like a second home....

 

[British Red]

Yep, "holiday home" can mean just what it says - a normal home a family buy for holidays. If it is on an "holiday estate" or "holiday park", there will probably be restrictions as Countryman observes, i its just a bungalow on a normal street, there probably won't as neoaliphant notes. E-mail the estate agent to ask is the best bet.

 

[Countryman]

It can do. My "Holiday Home" is a villa in Corfu but in the UK market context if you Google "Holiday Home" it first brings you up Park Homes what might be historically better known as Caravan Parks.

"Single story holiday home"



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[slowworm]

Yes, you want to know if it's just pure marketing speak, i.e. a normal home that's being marketed at people as a 2nd home to use for holidays or if it actually has a planning restriction that means it cannot be lived in all year round. Shape a size often has nothing to do with it - I've seen a decent sized house on several acres of land that's had an 11 month holiday restriction.

The reason why these planning restrictions are made is that the local council will not allocate extra resources to things like schools, hospitals etc if the house is purely for holiday use.

 

[demographic]

From what I've seen of houses in Normandy, "Holiday home" means a house that's so badly insulated that nobody in their right mind would spend a winter inside it unless they have money to burn.

 

[TarHeelBrit]

Thanks for the help everyone much appreciated. We're looking to settle in Devon and have been using Exeter as a central point for our searches. So anything that has "holiday park' in the listing I should just keep looking.

We really do appreciate the help, thanks!!
Malc & Debbi.

 

[British Red]

Malc,

Exeter is my old home and one or two of the guys who frequent "the other place" still live there. I'm sure we can tell you waht areas are good and bad

Red

 

[Tengu]

Dont go to Burnthouse...

I nearly bought a holiday chalet on a park near Dartmouth a few years back. (A brick thing rather than a caravan such as Im currently renting) it went at auction for £15k.

Some holiday homes have an 11 month residency.

 

[Countryman]

Malc can I suggest you look at Rightmove and Zoopla. Two big property search engines in the UK. I've done what you are doing now looking in Greece and NZ. Finding decent search sites is a big leg up. Plenty on here to help you mate, now the nights have drawn in.


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[British Red]

Dont forget Primelocation - my favourite search engine for property

http://www.primelocation.com/

 

[TarHeelBrit]

That sounds about right. Its no help to you, but I've just sold my house, & will be getting a bungalow, we are planning for the future !.

Rob

Forward planning there's nothing wrong with that mate.
We're not getting back home til the end of next Feb but we've been planning this for months from short listed hotels looing at rental home prices to getting a storage unit for our stuff to planning every step of the journey. I even have PDF's of RDU - IAD - LHR the three airports we are going through, Hell I've even looked up the cost and times of trains from London to Exeter.

Malc can I suggest you look at Rightmove and Zoopla. Two big property search engines in the UK. I've done what you are doing now looking in Greece and NZ. Finding decent search sites is a big leg up. Plenty on here to help you mate, now the nights have drawn in.


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Zoopla?? Hmm didn't know about that one, thanks. So now we have two more search engines to try. Thanks again.

Dont forget Primelocation - my favourite search engine for property

http://www.primelocation.com/

Nice one, thanks. I didn't know about that one. we've been using Rightmove. :You_Rock_

 

[Bindle]

Don't buy a holiday home, just buy a house/flat whatever. The term holiday home can cause problems. Remember too, that in some areas there is no reduction in Council Tax (which is a tax levied on everyone to pay for services in a local area), but in other areas there may be, this is especially true in the South West of the UK. Cornwall and Devon I believe do not offer a subsidy for a second home, but Somerset do. It can be a significant amount to pay out on top of everything else.

 

[Bindle]

Oh, and don't chuckle or stare open mouthed when the Realtor (or 'Knobhead Estate Agent' as we refer to them over here) turns out to pimply seventeen year old in a shiney suit and acne who thinks he is Donald Trump and believes he could sell snow to Eskimos.

 

[woof]

Oh, and don't chuckle or stare open mouthed when the Realtor (or 'Knobhead Estate Agent' as we refer to them over here) turns out to pimply seventeen year old in a shiney suit and acne who thinks he is Donald Trump and believes he could sell snow to Eskimos.

Lol, this is so true !. Having sold & brought 3 times in the last 2yrs. When we were putting ours on the market in june & asking agents to come round, the 12yr old they sent spent 20 minutes sat outside the wrong house waiting for us to turn up, when I knocked on his window & told which house we were, he did the assessment, telling us how good he was, then later when he posted out the details to us sent them to the wrong address !.
2 female agents have been very good(and attractive !) but some of the young lads....

Rob

 

[slowworm]

When you find somewhere check anything important yourself, for example room dimensions. That may sound obvious but in theory agents are not allowed to misdescribe properties but in practice no one enforces the rules so it's best to double check yourself.

 

[TarHeelBrit]

Oh, and don't chuckle or stare open mouthed when the Realtor (or 'Knobhead Estate Agent' as we refer to them over here) turns out to pimply seventeen year old in a shiney suit and acne who thinks he is Donald Trump and believes he could sell snow to Eskimos.

Oh great an Estate Agent who is young enough to be our kid. Well junior is in for a rude awakening if the little dweeb tries to fob us off with something we don't just so he gets a commission.