The next major calendar event for park home manufacturers to exhibit their homes will be the Southern Motorhome Show at Newbury on the 20-22nd May. Throughout the year park home manufacturers appear to collectively decide which events they will attend. The Newbury Southern Motorhome Show has become a mainstay in their calendar. There is an obvious affiliation between motorhome hobbyists and park home living which is why the manufacturers of residential park homes tend to be drawn towards such events.

Parklands of Lincoln will not be attending the show for the simple reason that in the overwhelming number of cases, local, prospective buyers who visit the Newbury show have desires to live within that region. For those in the early stages of researching, I can’t help but think that this is short sighted. Often the justification for wanting to live close by is wanting to be near to friends and family, or an instinctive comfort to stick with ‘what we know’.

The reality is, retirement provides a golden opportunity to press the reset button and live the life that you want without outside influences such as work, which are often the reasons people settle in their original location in the first place.

Fundamental to living the life that you want [and somewhat tragically] are finances. Money can’t buy happiness, but it does provide opportunities. In the case of retirement, it provides opportunities to do more of the things that you would like, more holidays for example and above all, the opportunity to relax and not worry about the state of one’s finances.

For most retired/retiring people, their home is their biggest asset and downsizing can release equity, which in a lot of cases means it holds the key to offering a desired lifestyle.

If downsizing and releasing equity is a key motivation for moving, then it would be reckless not to have an open mind about where to move to next as park home prices vary considerably up and down the country. Average UK house prices (which can often correlate with park home prices) are calculated currently at £197000*, average house prices in Waddington, Lincolnshire are £165248**. That disparity is further extended when comparing house prices exclusively with the South East.

It’s fully understandable that for some, the prospect of moving to an area with no friends or family is a daunting one, but it is easy to underestimate the community and friendly nature of park home developments, which help to facilitate new strong and lasting friendships.

Of course, everybody has their own personal needs and wants from a new park home, development and location, but a good piece of advice to take away from this article, is to keep as open mind as possible in the initial stages of where you want to live. Consider and visit places you’ve never considered before and you may find that it takes you on a more exciting, adventurous and plentiful path.

* source hometrack.co.uk, February 2016

** rightmove.co.uk, February 2016