Parking at home -v- storage
After 26 years of living on a farm, we are throwing in the towel (we gave up actively farming about 4 years ago) and have finally found a buyer (we have an occupancy restriction on our house which has made life difficult). Finally we are going to move to
somewhere where there are facilities in walking distance, buses and footpaths. This will give us lots more time to go away in the caravan. However, we are now looking at properties and most don't seem able to accommodate a caravan as well as my little car,
his van (he's a builder as well) and our tow vehicle. Just wondering if anyone else has had this problem and whether we just go down the storage route for the caravan, which neither of us are particularly keen on as when we go away and come back from trips
I like to do things at my leisure. Comments welcome. Also we have heard about restrictive covenants which don't allow caravans to be parked on some properties. Are these actively enforced?
Comments
-
Well we love to have the van at home but while there is plenty of room the opening between the drive and garden is a few inches too short (between house and garage) so we use storage. However the night before and after a major trip we keep the van either
on the road or the drive, we live in a cull de sac so its easy enough, the neighbours don't seem to mind (or haven't said) as it's only for one night here and there and anyway one does the same with his van. So that is one possible way for you but I do feel
more apprehensive when the van is just parked out although I take all precautions. Hope this helps0 -
You must ,make sure that there is no covenant on the property banning parking of caravans; apparantly this is becoming more common on new builds. If you store your caravan at home you should also be aware that when it is not there is an advert for when
you are away and hence the property empty. However, it must be very convenient. I am fortunate that I can store mine only 10 minutes away. Legally you cannot park a caravan not attached to a tow car on a public road overnight unless it has rear and front
lights - odd but true - and I wonder if it is enforced.0 -
We live on a main road and although we have plenty of room to keep our caravan on the drive we choose to keep it in storage . We used to have motorhomes the first couple of which we kept on the drive , then one time we went away and when we returned the
local bobby had slipped a letter thru our letterbox to point out that he had noticed we were away which also meant anybody of a villainous nature would probably notice we werent at home too with some literature on security at home , but we decided to move
the van into storage , and thats what we have also done with caravan its more expensive but i prefer that there are no clues that we are away on hols cheers mrs bc
0 -
Security is always a bit of a concern. I keep my van on the drive but the OH's car is on it as well so when we are away there is always a vehicle parked outside the house. Additionally we are in a cul de sac so there is much less passing traffic.
0 -
We are very lucky and have it at home, if we ever moved house this would be high on our search list. It's so useful to nip into it for checking during winter or loading / unloading
and a second pantry.And an extra bedroom too of course.
0 -
We are also very lucky to be able to park/winter store our caravan but when we moved to the house 30 years ago the one thing we asked about was, was there any restriction on the parking of caravans in driveways. We can load and unload it at leisure which
can be a hassle if doing it in a storage compound. Added to that you can have your leisure battery on standby charge all the time.0 -
this is an issue that will polarise opinion....we have our van on the drive and much prefer this to our pals' situation where the van is stored only a couple of miles up the road bit the parking outside their house is so busy that even bringing the van back
for a couple of hours to load/unload is a real issue...we can do this at our liesure as well as having a 2nd house....larder, bedroom etc.....right here....
the security thing will be an issue for many....but, like the threads re 'immigrants' causing some to fret about going abroad, is what you (personally) make of it....
we spend plenty of time away from home, but have a good NW scheme and we always let the relvant folks know where we are..
however, we got burgled....
.....but, not from the 'clues' given by our MH as many folk believe....
we had been away for a few months in France and returned home with no problems.....so van in France, car on the drive...no problems
we had booked a cruise for a week or so after our return, so off we went in the car to Southampton, sailed to the Fjords and got a call on the second day to say we had been burgled....
so, van on the drive, car in Southampton.....burgled.
we could have been shopping locally in the car, anything......
so, anyone who has a car on the drive when they are 'at home' and the car disappears when they 'are away' (in the caravan, shopping anywhere) is just as vulnerable to anyone who is 'watching' your house....
a caravanner whose car disappears for a couple of weeks is as much a 'giveaway' as the caravan itself leaving the driveway.
0 -
If a restrictive covenant is in place and the builder is still developing the site, then almost certainly the builder will enforce the covenant. Otherwise, it will be down to your neighbours enforcing or persuading the developer to enforce. If that happens, you have a bigger issue regarding neighbours than just your caravan storage. Some covenants will allow storage behind the building line. Whatever you do, I would speak to the neighbours before parking a caravan on the property.
We've stored caravan and motorhomes on storage sites [CASSOA gold the last time] and currently up the side of the house - we put in a new drive with access from the road having obtained Local Authority permission. There's no right answer because it depends on the security of wherever the van is stored and whether your house is empty when you are away.
At the West Central Region Q&A with the CC last weekend, Cheshire Police sent a representative who was experienced in caravan crime - and other such mobile high vale assets, and he suggested that if in doubt, contact your Police HQ and seek its comments. His overall view was that you make it as hard as is reasonable, given you want to use the van, to deter a thief.
0 -
When we were looking for our final house purchase we only considered properties that had space for our motorhome. We also instructed the solicitor to check for any covenant restrictions on the property. The van sits behind locked double gates and a substantial
security post and aswell as an alarm is also fitted with a clutch claw. We also had an approved house alarm fitted. Obviously when we are away people will know but that includes our neighbours who keep an eye out for us. It is oh so convienient having it
at home. It was MOT day today, just jump in and take to garage. We have an EHU point on the side of the garage so fridge can be put on prior to travel and van vacuumed on return. Habitation service is done by an approved mobile engineer who comes to the house,
easy peasy.0 -
I have room for mine but choose not to store it at home as, when you go away, it's blatantly obvious there is likely to be no one home! My storage is a CASSOA gold site and is expensive but is five minutes away and has 24/365 access via a smart card. Handy
when we got back from France at 2am! Security cameras and a night watchman and he even helped me store the van in it's designated space.0 -
Restrictions in the deeds on p arking caravans are only enforceable by the party whose favour they are written in favour of. This is usually the builder to prevent problems in selling on houses later in the develo9ment and once they are sold they no longer care about it. If there is one in needs checking out but in most cases you do not need to worry.
It is possible that your caravan being away may be noticed by burglars but having been involved in insurance claims for many years I have not come accross it. Most burglaries are random so do not worry.
0 -
Restrictions in the deeds on p arking caravans are only enforceable by the party whose favour they are written in favour of. This is usually the builder to prevent problems in selling on houses later in the develo9ment and once they are sold they no longer
care about it. If there is one in needs checking out but in most cases you do not need to worry.It is possible that your caravan being away may be noticed by burglars but having been involved in insurance claims for many years I have not come accross it. Most burglaries are random so do not worry.
Correct! Our house was built about twenty years ago and there are these restrictive covenants imposed:
No caravans on drive although allowed if not visible from the road.
No washing of cars on drive or road!!
Garage to be used only for the storage of cars and no other purpose and no hydrocarbon fuels to be stored therein other than as contained in that vehicle.
I have a caravan on my drive as do two near neighbours, my garage is a woodworking workshop (as is my neighbour's) and most people wash their cars on their drives.
Fortunately, the original builder was bought out by a larger company 15 years ago and that larger company then went bust some time later. The covenants are therefore totally unenforceable and common sense prevails. We did speak to our neighbours, however,
before siting the van on the drive and none of them were the slightest bit bothered.0 -
Richardandros you need to check who the covenant is in favour of as only they can enforce it. If they are no longer there or would have no interest in enforcing it then it has no effect.
I think we're at cross purposes WW, that was exactly my point but realise I didn't make it explicit in my post that the covenant was in favour of the builder. That's why it's a
restrictive covenant applicable to the purchaser.As I said, the builder has long since disappeared which is why me and my neighbours can ignore what are now ridiculous restrictions
0 -
Thanks to everyone who took time and trouble to reply. Hopefully we have found a property that will accomodate all the vehicles at the front and also has a side entrance so that the caravan can go in the back garden. However, this will only work if our buyer finds a buyer quickly for their house. We shall sell even if we can't find somewhere suitable and either camp out in the caravan for a few weeks with the furniture in storage or go into rented accommodation (the final choice) Our buyers would be happy in princple if we kept the caravan back on our old farm, which will not be that far from where we plan on moving to. Its going to be a tough move, as on a farm you have lots more room to accumulate lots more junk and going down from 6 bedrooms to 3 is going to be a challenge so lots of trips to the recycling centre, charity shops and lots of stuff on Gumtree (OH starts to look worried everytime I take a picture of anything - he sayes I am not to take any pictures of him at the moment as he does'nt want to be put up for sale) It will also be a sad time as we designed and built this house but its time to move on and hopefully this time next year we will be spending alot more time out in the van, which is what we keep on thinking about as the end result.
0 -
We have a covenant that says we cant have the caravan at home on this house. The previous houses didnt have it so we had the van at home. We are now loooking to move and being able to have it at home is a 'must' requirement on the new house. Storage is a total pain and we have also lost a step off the storage so we will be glad to have her at home
On the moving front we have already done 25 trailer trips to tip in readiness,ebayed a load of stuff and still have tonnes more junk to sort but not got a buyer yet :-(
0
