Has anyone got one moved? What are the prices? Do they just drop them off in front of your house? Will they drive into a field?

Also any tips for living in one / setting one up, what to look for when buying etc? Its for a building project accommodation rather than to let out.

We’re looking to move ours as we’re being kicked off the site next year along with a load of others. Price varies by distance, but easily looking for a couple of grand for a short hop. To take it off site the ‘caravan park’ want £500, then we’ll have the move, then re-siting fee. Better than giving the robbing barstewards more money. – It’s just hit 20 years and the site have just told all the older vans, no matter how good, to get off or upgrade.

We’ll probably hiss off the local Welsh and buy a holiday home as it’s a way better investment than splashing £50k on a tin box. This is so against what I believe we should do.

It will be cold/expensive to run in winter, but fine from April to October – we go to ours most weekends. You’ll need mains drainage for the loo.

A mate has just had a two part (bolt together) place delivered.
It needed to go up a reasonably good track to get to the final location and this was done with a big tractor – so I assume the lorry would only go to the gate off the road.

Will they drive into a field?

The delivery lorry? No. (Highly unlikely, anyway). They will unload on a hard surface, but it’ll need to be reasonably level and long enough to take the length of the truck + the length of the caravan – realistically the road if you haven’t got a carpark.

Most caravans these days are wide enough that they need an escort vehicle for the transport (=£+)

To move it across a field, you’d need a tractor or a chunky 4×4 to pull it, and unless the ground is bone-hard (and you’re feeling bold) you’ll also need plates for it to roll on to get it to its final location. (The wheels are tiny and will easily sink into the ground.)

If buying one, make sure that the chassis isn’t rusty – sometimes the drawbar moves without the caravan!

(My father used to site them on the caravan park opposite our farm.)

Hmm good info thanks. I was expecting ~ grand for a move ~ 40miles. I would hook it up myself don’t need someone to level, connect a shit pipe and electric.

Might have to consider a different form of accommodation if moving one is going to be so expensive.

I can move it about in the field alright it is the space to unload that’s hard standing.

Have you considered hiring if you only need it temporarily.

I recently looked in to this, assuming buying a £10k one and selling it on afterwards, with the costs and hassle of buying/moving/sale/removal the break even point for buying one Vs hire was about 5 months

I write this sitting in bed in a static caravan sited on the front garden whilst the house is being almost completely rebuilt.

£500 to deliver and site, which although part of the deal, is ‘the price’ apparently. Quite a big one – 35×12 ft, dropped off the back of an articulated trailer then a small tractor pulled/pushed it onto the front garden. We’ve still got a working toilet indoors, so haven’t had to properly plumb the toilet which would be a bit of a ball ache – it just has a bucket under the drop for the occasional late night piss. Otherwise our van consumer unit is connected via armoured cable to the house consumer unit, likewise water and sink/shower waste goes to/from the house. Propane tank for the cooker and shower – although we’re using an air fryer rather than the oven.

It’s pretty nice – this one is almost identical to ours https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/265988068614 with double glazing that doesn’t seem to do much. I’d say the older/cheaper ones were starting to look pretty tired, but this one is fine for a few months. In fact we’re idly considering whether we can hide it behind some wood cladding in the back garden as a guest house/office/etc when the building’s done. As above – sites seem to kick off vans approaching 20 years old, so there are plenty of decent ones knocking around.

Doesn’t really feel much different to a compact bungalow….as long as you keep it warm. Gets cold very quickly as it has a lot of venting, and you do need to keep an eye on the condensation when it’s cold, as the outer walls seem pretty poorly insulated. So it does need the heating on when you probably wouldn’t have it on in a house. Heats up quickly though as the rooms are relatively small. It is remarkably watertight so far fingers crossed.

assuming buying a £10k one

I would not be spending 10k on one for sure! Load much much cheaper than that.

@branes good info

£500 to deliver and site,

That sounds ok, where about from? by which I men what kind of time / distance from your house?

I’d agree with everything tillydog says above about maneuvers on soft ground, you’ll need plates, or wait for a two week frost 🙂.
Buy a dehumidifier.
Accept large heating bills.
Fit a woodburner, I wish I knew then what I know now.
Fight mould as soon as it appears, usually at the corners and creeping inwards.

I wad in one for a year and a half while building, and timed it perfectly to get the hard winter of 09 -10, and the ridiculous cold of 10 – 11.
Everything froze that Christmas, no way of fighting it, and we had to bale to my folks for a couple of weeks.

That said, it wad great. Being on site while building is a huge plus.
It saved us a load of rent money which could go into the build.
Van was £2100, £350 delivery for about 40 miles, and sold it for £1900 after.

£500 to deliver and site,

That sounds ok, where about from? by which I men what kind of time / distance from your house?

Bought from these people https://www.worcestershirecaravansales.com/ which is about an hour away. Well worth a visit there btw if you’re anywhere near – they have loads there, probably over 100 I reckon from £2k ish to 30, so you get a good idea of what’s available even if you do get one privately – you’ll spend a lot of time travelling looking at the other ex-self build ones.

Levelling etc looked pretty simple – just jacking up and then supporting on slabs+breeze blocks. They did say that DIY on flat ground you can put support in then let the tyres down as a really quick dirty hack. The bit that would be tricky on your own would be the tractor + plates + manouevring into place, they are pretty big and quite fragile I reckon in transit – they were really careful getting it off the trailer and in. Everything inside that could be was taped down/fixed shut etc in transit.

+1 on everything bedmaker says btw – have a dehumidifier going on occasionally here too just in case, as it did start feeling very damp a few weeks ago when the rains+colder weather came.

Two big advantages from my pov – living on site is a major plus for decision making, and slightly less pressure time-wise than renting. Our build has already slipped a month or so, I don’t think it will any more but even so it’s a bit more relaxing knowing that we’ve got the static for as long as it takes.

£500 is miraculously cheap for transport. I can understand if the distances are small and it’s part of a package with the sale. Our last lot of 4 were just under £3k each for transport. A long way though – Hull to the West Highlands. They needed 2 men, 2 vehicles and a police convoy for part of it! Delivery was excellent on a tight site – we’ve used them before and will again.

There are plenty of caravan transport companies around so just get phoning. Where are you based?

What to look for. -structural integrity, internal walls and where the damp is. Ours are very well insulated, centrally heated and trace heating on the water underneath to keep them running all winter.

Just porting in here, but anyone know a site in NW England that will accept older vans – we’ve found two and are on a waiting list. The van is way too good to scrap (don’t get me started) – apparently they go to Ireland then shipped to Eastern Europe.

PS posted earlier… OP should get a good van for not too much. Ours is 20 years old, double glaized, etc, so he will get a really comfy spot.

ur last lot of 4 were just under £3k each for transport. A long way though Hull to the West Highlands.

More good information thanks. I am dorset based but have seen several good vans in mid and west wales ~ 4hr drive. So not as far but a big cost is always either end so would not expect 50% of that more like 2/3 or so the cost.