Is moving to static caravan a good idea?

[Amateur bob]

Good afternoon, i am currently looking into building a house on the farm i have planning etc passed and will look to apply for a self build mortgage in a couple of months time, im currently living in a rented accommodation but its getting sold so ill need to move out soon, 

 

we have a static caravan on the farm where the house is being built i was thinking we could move in there while we build and avoid paying rent somewhere else, is this a good idea?

 

i was reading somewhere that i might not be able to get a mortgage if i was living in a static as its not classed as a permanent adress, does anyone know if this is true?

 

thanks

[Crofter]

I'm not sure why that should matter. The site can be an address, where else is your builder going to send his bills 🤷‍♂️.

 

It's very common to live on site in a static, not only are you saving rent, you're also saving commuting time. And it's dead easy to do on site meetings with people (trades, suppliers, building control etc) if you live there 🙂

[Jilly]

Doesn’t make sense. You can prove lower outgoings. 

[G and J]

Each lender has their own criteria.  Viewed from outside they will often seem strange and illogical but they’re likely there because of weird historical problems or mortgage fraud, both attempted and successful.  
 

I deal with peeps who struggle to prove identity and address and it really can be difficult to get round, so I can see that being a problem.  
 

If the potential, future mortgage you mention is to help you build I’d suggest opening a dialogue with a good broker pronto.  You may find such a discussion illuminating, and that may well inform decisions on actions to take now that will make things easier later. 

[joe90]

Living in a Static has advantages, I did but on my own mostly, it also depends on whether any family can “cope” with it (not all can). 

[Amateur bob]

ive a wife and son whos 4 so not a huge family, were you in the static when you applied for the mortgage?

[Amateur bob]

13 hours ago, G and J said:

Each lender has their own criteria.  Viewed from outside they will often seem strange and illogical but they’re likely there because of weird historical problems or mortgage fraud, both attempted and successful.  
 

I deal with peeps who struggle to prove identity and address and it really can be difficult to get round, so I can see that being a problem.  
 

If the potential, future mortgage you mention is to help you build I’d suggest opening a dialogue with a good broker pronto.  You may find such a discussion illuminating, and that may well inform decisions on actions to take now that will make things easier later. 

i own the farm the static will be situated on wold that help my case? i could just use the farm name as the adress, theres currently no house on this farm until i get one built

[Amateur bob]

13 hours ago, Jilly said:

Doesn’t make sense. You can prove lower outgoings. 

yes i though it might actually help me borrow more but just checking the residence angle

[Amateur bob]

14 hours ago, Crofter said:

I'm not sure why that should matter. The site can be an address, where else is your builder going to send his bills 🤷‍♂️.

 

It's very common to live on site in a static, not only are you saving rent, you're also saving commuting time. And it's dead easy to do on site meetings with people (trades, suppliers, building control etc) if you live there 🙂

we have a house on another farm where my parents stay perhaps i could claim this as my permanant residence, i wouldnt want charged with mortgage fraud though, if i could get the static classed as permanant residence how would i go about this?

 

[kandgmitchell]

When we got planning approval for the plot we applied to have the site named and added to the postal address database. Our static, for all intents and purposes became that address. We got added to the council tax database as a caravan on site and had our bins delivered. We altered all our identitification to the site address, driving licences, bank details etc etc leaving out the caravan bit. As far as the outside world is concerned, we live at a property in the village known as xyz, Abc Lane. The only other database to query things was the electoral registration officer. When we applied to join the electoral register she actually queried whether the house was complete or were we still in the caravan. When we explained the house was nearly complete but we hadn't moved in yet, the entry came back "caravan at xyz".

 

Why wouldn't you use the site as your permanent residence if you are living there? It hasn't caused us any problems so far. The only effective change when we move in is the valuation officer will no doubt move us from Band A to a much higher one and the Council will drop "caravan at" from the description, oh and the position of the letterbox will change but that is about it.

[G and J]

16 hours ago, Jilly said:

Doesn’t make sense. You can prove lower outgoings. 

Don’t assume that logic that is self evident to us mortals applies to underwriters.  It’s a bit like tax law, there will always have been a reason but it’s so buried in history you could never second guess it. 

[G and J]

21 minutes ago, kandgmitchell said:

When we got planning approval for the plot we applied to have the site named and added to the postal address database. Our static, for all intents and purposes became that address. We got added to the council tax database as a caravan on site and had our bins delivered. We altered all our identitification to the site address, driving licences, bank details etc etc leaving out the caravan bit. As far as the outside world is concerned, we live at a property in the village known as xyz, Abc Lane. The only other database to query things was the electoral registration officer. When we applied to join the electoral register she actually queried whether the house was complete or were we still in the caravan. When we explained the house was nearly complete but we hadn't moved in yet, the entry came back "caravan at xyz".

 

Why wouldn't you use the site as your permanent residence if you are living there? It hasn't caused us any problems so far. The only effective change when we move in is the valuation officer will no doubt move us from Band A to a much higher one and the Council will drop "caravan at" from the description, oh and the position of the letterbox will change but that is about it.

Sounds an excellent plan. 
 

However, if, @Amateur bob, you went this route there still may be quirks in lending criteria that you might benefit from checking out sooner rather than later.  
 

An example is that some self build mortgages dislike lending in a plot that’s already owned.  With then you have to arrange the mortgage, do the next stage of work with your own money and only then will they advance funds.  Appears bonkers from my armchair but it is what it is. 

[Amateur bob]

2 hours ago, kandgmitchell said:

When we got planning approval for the plot we applied to have the site named and added to the postal address database. Our static, for all intents and purposes became that address. We got added to the council tax database as a caravan on site and had our bins delivered. We altered all our identitification to the site address, driving licences, bank details etc etc leaving out the caravan bit. As far as the outside world is concerned, we live at a property in the village known as xyz, Abc Lane. The only other database to query things was the electoral registration officer. When we applied to join the electoral register she actually queried whether the house was complete or were we still in the caravan. When we explained the house was nearly complete but we hadn't moved in yet, the entry came back "caravan at xyz".

 

Why wouldn't you use the site as your permanent residence if you are living there? It hasn't caused us any problems so far. The only effective change when we move in is the valuation officer will no doubt move us from Band A to a much higher one and the Council will drop "caravan at" from the description, oh and the position of the letterbox will change but that is about it.

ah interesting, i should mabye try and register the plot then is this easy enough? ive not actually applied officially for planning or anything to have the static caravan there it was used for sleeping etc at lambing time and i simply rigged it up to the farm electrics and water, does this confuse matters me moving into it full time?

[Amateur bob]

2 hours ago, G and J said:

Sounds an excellent plan. 
 

However, if, @Amateur bob, you went this route there still may be quirks in lending criteria that you might benefit from checking out sooner rather than later.  
 

An example is that some self build mortgages dislike lending in a plot that’s already owned.  With then you have to arrange the mortgage, do the next stage of work with your own money and only then will they advance funds.  Appears bonkers from my armchair but it is what it is. 

is that true? first id heard of this surely its less risky to lend to a selfbuilder that owns their plot outright?

[joe90]

4 minutes ago, Amateur bob said:

is that true?

Unless you ask you won’t know, get in touch with a few brokers and see what’s on offer.

[SteamyTea]

23 hours ago, joe90 said:

Living in a Static has advantages

One big advantage over a dynamic one is that the crockery does not get broken.

[kandgmitchell]

We didn't apply for specific planning permission for the static caravan as we were relying on Class A of Part 4 of the the Permitted Development regulations as being a building/movable structure required temporarily in connection with operations on land (i.e the approved house build). Patently the Council agreed with this as they charge us minimum council tax and have registered us here to vote.

[CADjockey]

On 09/07/2024 at 17:29, Amateur bob said:

Good afternoon, i am currently looking into building a house on the farm i have planning etc passed and will look to apply for a self build mortgage in a couple of months time, im currently living in a rented accommodation but its getting sold so ill need to move out soon, 

 

we have a static caravan on the farm where the house is being built i was thinking we could move in there while we build and avoid paying rent somewhere else, is this a good idea?

 

i was reading somewhere that i might not be able to get a mortgage if i was living in a static as its not classed as a permanent adress, does anyone know if this is true?

 

thanks

 

In my case the answer to this is "Only if one or other of you want's to end up under the patio!" We rented a small house nearby and filled it to bursting for 20months during the main demolition and build, even that was ever-so confining, especially as eldest came up to doing her GCSEs this summer. Good luck if camping appeals to you! Seriously though lots of people do it... but with the criminal justice sytem as it is they may not have made it to court yet... 😆

 

[G and J]

25 minutes ago, CADjockey said:

 

In my case the answer to this is "Only if one or other of you want's to end up under the patio!" We rented a small house nearby and filled it to bursting for 20months during the main demolition and build, even that was ever-so confining, especially as eldest came up to doing her GCSEs this summer. Good luck if camping appeals to you! Seriously though lots of people do it... but with the criminal justice sytem as it is they may not have made it to court yet... 😆

 

When we were planning our build in ‘90 we were gleefully told that the divorce rate amongst self builders was circa 80%.   😕

[CADjockey]

5 minutes ago, G and J said:

When we were planning our build in ‘90 we were gleefully told that the divorce rate amongst self builders was circa 80%.   😕

My wife and I joked beforehand that we had catered for that eventuality in our build budget.
Somehow we seem to have made it through in one piece, but now it's paid for she may have other plans... 🫣 

[G and J]

58 minutes ago, CADjockey said:

My wife and I joked beforehand that we had catered for that eventuality in our build budget.
Somehow we seem to have made it through in one piece, but now it's paid for she may have other plans... 🫣 

Our plans include a gym/workshop at the bottom of our garden.  An essential mental health component (for both of us).  

[CADjockey]

Our garden is mainly intact after the rebuild, I jokingly said it was the best kept building site in the country because we came over every weekend 
to mow, weed and maintain the garden during the build. That's our mental health component, but we may seek to build a small gym, we have future
planned for it in how the house and garage are sited, as well as over speccing the GSHP for an additional room supply and header ready to connect.
I said one of us may have been under the patio, I really meant in the compost heap 🤣

[G and J]

21 minutes ago, CADjockey said:

I really meant in the compost heap

I admire your green credentials.