HOLIDAY PARK SEEKS MORE PARK OPPORTUNITIES
LAKE DISTRICT HOLIDAY PARK SEEKS MORE PARK OPPORTUNITIES AS BUYING FOR INVESTMENT TREND CONTINUES APACE
As the trend for holiday home ownership as an investment opportunity continues, a privately owned Lake District park is predicting its best ever year and is actively seeking to buy more parks all over the North West.
Jimmy Stewart has owned and run Brigham Holiday Park at Cockermouth, on the edge of the National Park for the past five years, assisted by his wife Esther and daughter, Rebecca. In that time, he has built the park up to a five star standard, become a member of the BH&HPA and spent an estimated £1.5 million on new landscaping, infrastructure and stock at the park.
Jimmy said “Owners at Brigham, which is just thirteen miles from Keswick, are easily able to charge up to £600 per week in rental peak season, providing them with a valuable second income.
“We’ve seen a massive explosion in the holiday home as investment trend certainly since we took ownership of this park in 2014. But it’s really been since 2016 that it has taken off to a new level, with savings being worth very little in the bank and a couple of really good domestic summers and autumns boosting the staycation sector.”
Rebecca Stewart believes that price has never been more important in this sector: “As ever, it can be a question of how much investors want to pay and our prices are from a very affordable £39,999. This year we have more models on the park than ever before, and are embarking on a new PR and marketing campaign to promote the investment side. We’ve beefed up our website to fully explain the concept and what second income it can amount to. We keep it nice and simple with all rentals, changeover and maintenance handled by our in house team on the park, which has a full time warden too, along with gated entry.”
“We certainly don’t want to be complacent,” she added, “you could argue that Brexit uncertainty has done us a favour with older people nearing retirement wanting to put their money into something tangible that gives a return. This is indeed true but even if things change in the next few years, a holiday home is a fantastic lifestyle choice and our owners have a fully contracted lease of fifteen years here, which can easily be extended. This is longer than the industry regular. Our rates on the park are very affordable too.”
Summarising the current opportunities and challenges for park owners in this sector, Jimmy Stewart finished by saying: “Competition in the sector has become rife, with park owners
clamouring to acquire new parks as they come onto the market. It’s very much a seller’s market at the moment, and I would welcome anyone getting in touch who has a park to sell.
We do want to acquire more parks in the right locations as we have investment ready to make in them, to quickly bring them up to a higher standard. Many owners prefer to buy at a family run park rather than the big chains. We take great pride in the park, and are bringing many years of experience to bear.”
For further details on Brigham Holiday Park at Cockermouth, North Cumbria please call Jimmy Stewart on 01900 827 884, or check out the website at www.brighamholidaypark.co.uk
