WHY LIFE CAN BE EASIER IN A PARK HOME
Bella Brodie reports
If you’re finding life a little bit hard work as you hurtle towards retirement or semi-retirement, then park home living might offer up a tempting way to make your life a lot easier.
As we start to develop a few health problems here and there – arthritic knees and hands come to mind, and we might be slightly past our peak for running marathons, the way we manage our activities and energy may become more important than ever. Of course, there are always exceptions, and there are plenty of 60-something triathlon competitors, cyclists and gym regulars who wouldn’t dream of slowing down any time soon. However, the majority of us, despite wanting to keep active, may be starting to feel a tiny bit creaky running into this stage of our lives.
TAILORED TO YOUR LIFESTYLE
So, why could life in a park home be the perfect answer? There are many reasons, but buying a park home gives you the opportunity to tailor your home to fit the way you live, or more importantly, the way you aspire to live in the future.
If you have irritations and inconveniences in your current brick-and-mortar location, making a move gives you a chance to banish those banes of your life for good. You can leave those pesky noisy neighbours behind, others nipping into your parking place or blocking your drive, and you won’t find any children bouncing balls relentlessly nearby.
Maybe your boiler is unreliable or you’re fed up with clearing out your fireplace and finding it more of a chore keeping on top of the garden? All those things can change in a more manageable property. If you move to a park with campervan storage, that may open up a whole new way of enjoying your spare time exploring the UK, safe in the knowledge that your home is safe and secure on a park where neighbours and the park owners or park security will prevent any issues. Buying a park home is about much more than the home – it’s an audit of your lifestyle that could change it for the better in a plethora of ways.
HELP AT HAND
Talking of help being at hand, being part of a residential park community means you’ll probably have a pool of neighbours who are pretty knowledgeable professionals, so if you need anything fixing, watering, cooking, bandaging up or a find yourself in need of bit of technical help with your PC or tuning your TV, there’ll probably be someone at hand with the perfect skill set to match, happy to step in for the price of a cuppa. Of course, park owners are often great fonts of knowledge, too, and will know reliable tradesmen in the area if needed or may have a maintenance team on board to help with minor issues externally.
If there’s an issue with your home after you’ve moved in, they’ll also get in touch with the manufacturer to help get it sorted – after all, whatever the home there are bound to be a few snagging items. Thinking ahead, if you ever can’t drive in the future due to injury, lack of confidence or for any other reason, then most parks have bus-stops and good transport links nearby, and you can still buy groceries and other goods online and have them delivered – that’s no different on a park.
“buying a park home gives you the opportunity to tailor your home to fit the way you live”+
ENERGY SAVING
Thanks to the cost-of-living crisis, folks no longer yawn the minute the phrase energy saving is mentioned, as most of us have had to start keeping a close eye on our heating costs and energy consumption.
The good news is that park homes are remarkably cost-effective to heat and run, and with very little maintenance required. So not only is that energy saving in the traditional sense, but less maintenance means less hassle from a DIY perspective, and less personal energy spent on chores, as they are also more manageable to clean. If you’ve downsized and had a good clear out you’ll waste less time looking for things, and you may also have had an opportunity to shed a few responsibilities in the move if you’ve changed area. It might be an opportunity to assess that you’ve served enough time on committees or organising others, and sit back to let the next generation take the strain. Basically, you can enjoy life at your own pace, and that will help you manage your energy better so you don’t strain yourself physically and mentally, and start enjoying a more enjoyable, less pressurised lifestyle. Self-care is an important part of the mix in retirement.
FAMILY AND FOUR-LEGGED FRIENDS
Many parks have dog walking areas, or are the perfect size for a potter with your pooch, so you’ll be able to take your pet with you, park permitting. They’ll probably also make a few friends on their regular walks. As for family, they’ll probably be pleased to know you’re settled in a home that you should be able to live independently in well into your dotage without too much worry, so if you’re concerned about being a burden later on, a park home move could mitigate that. For those who love their family but don’t feel the need to have them stay too often or for too long, then downsizing may also reset things neatly too, although park homes can actually be pretty spacious!
MENTALLY AND FISCALLY REFRESHING
Finally, with your lifestyle future-proofed, you will most likely have reduced your day-to-day costs and might have released a bit of equity that you can use to make your life easier and more enjoyable. That’s another reason why many park home residents say that the park home lifestyle is like being on holiday every day, and that’s got to be good for mental and physical well-being! So, although you may still feel fairly spritely despite the odd ache and pain, by making the switch to the park home lifestyle early enough, you could be enjoying a whole raft of benefits that might make your life easier and more enjoyable. If that’s not good enough reason to make the switch, what is?
