Victims of alleged UK holiday park sales mis-selling share their stories with the media
£180,000 for a non-residential ‘retirement’ property
Mike Chesworth says he spent his life savings on what he believed was a small holiday park home he and his wife could retire to. The 59-year-old delivery driver from Lancashire says a Wyre Country Park salesperson told the couple they could live in the static home all year round when they paid £180,000 in 2019.
Mike told BBC Panorama that, instead of retiring, he has been forced back to work several days a week because the park only has a holiday licence – meaning he and his wife are not legally able to live in the unit permanently.
Mike told the BBC: "You spent a lot of time and effort looking to retire, and you work 30 or 40 years of your life to do it, only to find the dream you thought you were going to have is the perpetual nightmare that you can't seem to end.
"And it's just, it's heartbreaking. Absolutely heartbreaking."
The site’s owner, David Welch, denied misleading buyers and said the site’s sales agreements clearly stated it is a holiday park.
A holiday dream that led to crippling debt
Emma and James Richardson used a £25,000 inheritance left by Mrs Richardson’s mother as a deposit on a £110,000 caravan at Tattershall Lakes Park in Lincolnshire. Emma, 43, said: "I wanted to do something for the family. It was my way of being able to have them gain from me inheriting."
As well as funding family holidays, the Cleethorpes couple say a Tattershall Lakes salesperson assured them they would earn enough from letting out the caravan to cover monthly finance repayments of £1,269.
Instead, they said they were soon "haemorrhaging money" and falling behind on the costs.
“We had months where we were taking £1,200 in rental costs, but we would only receive £200 of that because of linen charges, (visitor) passes, cleaning fees,” said James, 46. The Richardsons said they could not keep up with the finance payments and had to sell the caravan back to the park for a token sum.
“We were so far short of what we were sold. We lost, over a period of two years, in excess of £50,000, which has just crippled us. I'm still paying credit cards off now. We've lost that inheritance that our parents worked all their lives for.”
Park operator Away Resorts denied that any promises were made about rental returns. A spokesperson said the company was clear with caravan owners that "there are no guarantees" about subletting income.
Couple hit by illness faces huge losses
Andrew and Sue Dawson bought a static caravan at Parkdean Resorts’ Skipsea Sands Resort for £62,400 in 2022, planning retirement holidays with their children and grandchildren.
In February 2024, Andrew was diagnosed with terminal cancer. The couple decided to sell the caravan as they got their affairs in order.
The official Parkdean Resorts website states that “buying a holiday home isn't considered a financial investment, as holiday homes depreciate in value with age."
However, Andrew says a salesperson told him this was not really the case and that caravans "pretty much hold their value".
Parkdean’s final offer to buy back the Dawsons’ caravan was £16,000, which they said left them devastated.
Andrew described his dealings with the park as: "dreadful. The amount of money we've lost and the way we’ve been treated, in my opinion is very underhanded and lacking in transparency."
The 59-year-old also reported "a complete lack of empathy, really, knowing my condition, knowing why were selling – that we didn't really have a lot of choice. We feel they let us down very badly."
A Parkdean Resorts spokesperson said the company was "aware of and sympathetic to Andrew’s situation."
European Consumer Claims
Approximately 365,000 people in the UK own holiday park caravans, and a further 100,000 own static homes – a total similar to the number of British timeshare owners.
"We believe that this abuse has been going on for many years, and that there are significant numbers of victims like the people whose stories are published here," says Greg Wilson, CEO of European Consumer Claims (ECC). "We appeal to anyone who believes they were mis-sold, or otherwise treated unfairly by a holiday park in the UK, to come forward and share their experiences with us.
"If the law has been transgressed, we can assist."
If you have faced similar issues – whether it’s being told you could live on a holiday-licenced park, being given unrealistic rental income expectations, or feeling pressured or misled during the sales process – get in touch with our team of specialist advisers.
ECC and their associated specialist consumer solicitor firms are here to help.
