The cost of a park home compares very favourably, and many people who buy a park home find that the sale of a larger family house provides sufficient cash to buy a luxurious, modern park home with enough funds left over to provide financial security in their retirement. As to the actual costs of buying a park home, these of course vary according to the park home model chosen and the market value of the land on which the home is situated - precisely the same factors which influence the price of a conventional house

Loans for park home purchase are available from a small number of national finance companies that specialise in park home finance. Park home loans are available as both fixed rate and variable rate schemes and with repayment periods of up to 25 years. The lenders in park home market are by and large specialists in park home lending with many years experience of lending for the purchase of park homes and are able to help you with the entire buying process.

The Mobile Homes Act 1983 made important changes in the way the law applies to mobile home sites. The Act applies to privately owned licensed sites, and to sites owned by local authorities. The Act, which replaces sections 1 to 6 of the Mobile Homes Act 1975, came into force on 20 May 1983. It introduced important new rules about security of tenure, the sale of mobile homes and other details of agreements between site owners and residents. New park home factsheet publications providing key information and basic guidance to park home owners about commonly raised issues concerning park home sites  have been issued by  the Department for Communities and Local Government.You can obtain copies  by visiting the Government's website at www.communities.gov.uk.

Yes, you should only buy a park home on a licensed park home park. The protection offered by the Mobile Homes Act 1983 (Amended 2006) applies to licensed mobile home residential parks - and is not available to holiday parks. There are also important differences between a residential park home, which is designed and built for year round residential living, and a caravan holiday home, which is constructed to different standards to reflect its use as leisure accommodation. So in your own interests, and to safeguard the value of your investment in a park home, always ensure that your prospective mobile home park has a local authority site licence for park home residential (not holiday) use.

Unlike conventional homes residential park homes can be regarded as modular housing, which is scaleable to create park homes of differing lengths and widths. The only real difference is the method of construction of a park home and that they come fully furnished. Other than this, a modern park home resembles in every way an attractively designed traditionally built bungalow with a pitched roof; once inside, there is nothing to suggest that you are anywhere other than in a fully equipped and luxurious modern dwelling. In modern park homes there will be good-sized living areas and a separate kitchen, built-in cupboards and wardrobes, one, two or three bedrooms and fitted bathroom. Central heating and double-glazing are installed as standard in park homes, and so is carpeting throughout.

Park home fees are charges raised by the park operator to cover the upkeep and maintenance of the parks shared amenities and facilities. These park home fees vary up and down the country depending on the location of the park. Increases in fees can only be made in accordance with the requirements of the Mobile Homes Act 1983 (Amended 2006).

The Mobile Homes Act 1983 (Amended 2006) gives owners of park homes security of tenure - and that is probably its single most important safeguard. It also gives the owner of the park home the right to sell the park home on the park, and the right to leave the park home to certain members of the family.

The social benefits of park home living are those most readily appreciated by many. Park home residential parks are very much communities where no-one need suffer the sense of isolation so often felt by people in retirement - especially those who move away from familiar surroundings. Individual privacy is, of course, respected, as it would be anywhere. However, most park home owners are retired or semi-retired and do enjoy being drawn into the activities, committees, clubs and other social opportunities which develop as a result of initiatives by residents themselves.  Park home developments are semi-sheltered environments often with a resident owner or manager to provide additional security. Many park home park owners invest heavily in creating carefully landscaped and well laid-out surroundings with plenty of pathways, sitting-out areas and other facilities for park home residents to enjoy. Parks making exceptional efforts to improve and protect the natural environment can earn a David Bellamy Conservation Award through a scheme run in conjunction with BH&HPA.

Yes: about 80% of park home owners are in or near retirement - although some park home developments do have a higher proportion of couples where one or both go out to work on a full-time or part-time basis. In future we may well see an increase in the number of  younger couples opting for residential park home life. For the present, however, they mostly benefit indirectly through the release of lower-cost housing onto the market when elderly couples sell up and move into park homes. There are currently an estimated 200,000 people living on home parks, representing some 96,000 park homes.

Some park home developments allow domestic pets, although many don't. Often park home owners who are new to a park are allowed to bring existing pets, but they cannot be replaced when the animal 'passes away'.  It is always best to check with the park owner before purchasing a park home and, of course, pet owners should always ensure that their pet does not cause annoyance to other residents.

Built on a steel chassis, a park home is timber framed and provided with a tough and durable weatherproof exterior, plus a textured finish, styled to resemble traditional render. All Wessex Park homes are constructed to British Standard BS 3632 (2005) and particular attention is paid to achieving a high level of insulation - often with park homes having an equal or superior value to cavity wall buildings. This keeps heat loss from the park home and future energy bills to a minimum. Park homes, in common with other forms of modular housing, are designed for easy maintenance, and owners are therefore unlikely to be faced with the sudden high repair bills to their park home that are a common feature of bricks-and-mortar.

It's not so much 'how' the park home is built as 'where' which makes the main difference. Like many types of modular housing, park homes are constructed under carefully controlled workshop conditions, before being thoroughly checked and transported to the residential park. Here the park home is sited on a concrete base and connected to all mains services such as electricity, drainage and sometimes mains gas. In theory, these prefabricated park homes can be disconnected and taken by a low-loader to another location - but in practice most park homes stay throughout their lives on the original plot.
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Modular housing like modern Park Homes is extremely robust and longwearing. Properly maintained, prefabricated park homes should easily last for up to 50 years and beyond.

All new Wessex park homes are covered by the Gold Shield 10 years warranty scheme.

Your park home can be manufactured from a traditional “stucco” texture, a log cladding, or a log effect canexel.

We understand what an important decision the purchase of a park home is, and therefore we gladly offer customers the opportunity to see where their park home is manufactured, and care and attention that goes into each and every park home we build.

Your Wessex park home will include all furniture as standard although you can deduct this should you wish.

Our dedicated design team spend many hours space planning and designing all of our park homes to ensure the park homes meet the needs of a wide range of customers.  However, we recognise that sometimes small changes may be required to our park home to suit individual customer requirements and where practical these can be accommodated.

Our website offers a unique park home show home finder service where you can locate show homes in your area or the area you are interested in.