Where to start with a caravan business

[Teddy6677]

Would like to start some kind of caravan business of some sort. Being static or campervans just to help bring in some cash!! Does anyone have any experience and give any advice where to start off please?
I believe you don't need planning if you haven't got more than 5 static? Any help is much appreciated, thanks!

 

[f0ster]

I have had a caravan for many years travelling about the country and one of my customers who is a farmer has also branched out in to a caravan park and holiday chalets. his place is called mossyard and it overlooks the solway from the scotch side, he now has quite a large setup, the latest edition is 12 wooden 2 bedroom chalets all heated by one 200kw biomass boiler, and he also has parking for tourers. it depends on your area and what is available for the punters, don't know about planning but you will need to decide if you want to provide the caravans with hookup and mains water at each parking location, also what sort of power you want to provide to each parking location, some only provide 2A where as some can provide anything up to 16A, the price you can charge per night is usually reflected in the services you provide and of course location for the punters to go out site seeing etc, it has probably gone up a bit since we were touring but we were paying £20 per night for a site with lots of amenities where as a basic site with no hookup and a single tap for water and a shower block was about £5

 

[bjreroberts]

Search the Caravan & Motorhome and Caravan & Camping Club websites. They provide advise on the types of sites.

Simplest would be 5-6 pitches off a road planing track, with grass to the side for awnings. Post every other pitch with 2 electric hook ups and taps. Central location for bins and toilet emptying. £10-13 per pitch per night

 

[Jerry]

We have a 5 van CL site affiliated to the Caravan and Camper Club:

https://www.caravanclub.co.uk/

They will help you set up the site and get the required permissions. The members tend to be a decent sort and we dont get any hassle.

Our site was set up by my parents nearly 50 years ago now and still runs nicely.

You will need:
Electric Hook Up
Toilet
Shower
Dirty Water Facilities
Bins and Recycling point
Patience

Its nice to have but not necessary:
Hard standing (we dont, we are just grass but well drained so no real need)
Wifi (I have this and charge £1 per week per device for it)
Water to each Pitch (Dont have this, never really been asked for it.)

We typically are full school holidays and half term and then I guess average 2 or 3 a week off season. In fact we are full at the moment which is a little unusual.

Price is £15 per night all inc, extra £1 a night for an awning. Shower is 20p for 4 mins

If you go the CL route your name goes into their site directory and your phone will start to ring but it will be a slow build. When the new years comes my phone starts to ring for summer bookings, anything in peak season I take a non refundable deposit for at least 2 nights per week booking.

Many will pay by cheque still, I dont take cards.

Main work is cutting the grass on site and making sure the facilities are spotless, you will soon get a reputation for a bad site if you dont keep things tidy.

Also dont underestimate the time it takes to talk to the holiday makers. They will want to know about pubs, buses, shops, nature reserves, traffic, weather, etc etc etc.

But put a bit of effort in and they will come back, we have regulars that have been coming for many years in a row.

 

[multi power]

We have a 5 van CL site affiliated to the Caravan and Camper Club:

https://www.caravanclub.co.uk/

They will help you set up the site and get the required permissions. The members tend to be a decent sort and we dont get any hassle.

Our site was set up by my parents nearly 50 years ago now and still runs nicely.

You will need:
Electric Hook Up
Toilet
Shower
Dirty Water Facilities
Bins and Recycling point
Patience

Its nice to have but not necessary:
Hard standing (we dont, we are just grass but well drained so no real need)
Wifi (I have this and charge £1 per week per device for it)
Water to each Pitch (Dont have this, never really been asked for it.)

We typically are full school holidays and half term and then I guess average 2 or 3 a week off season. In fact we are full at the moment which is a little unusual.

Price is £15 per night all inc, extra £1 a night for an awning. Shower is 20p for 4 mins

If you go the CL route your name goes into their site directory and your phone will start to ring but it will be a slow build. When the new years comes my phone starts to ring for summer bookings, anything in peak season I take a non refundable deposit for at least 2 nights per week booking.

Many will pay by cheque still, I dont take cards.

Main work is cutting the grass on site and making sure the facilities are spotless, you will soon get a reputation for a bad site if you dont keep things tidy.

Also dont underestimate the time it takes to talk to the holiday makers. They will want to know about pubs, buses, shops, nature reserves, traffic, weather, etc etc etc.

But put a bit of effort in and they will come back, we have regulars that have been coming for many years in a row.

From a caravaners point of view the above is 100% correct