Angry caravan-owners at Tattershall Lakes in legal action after 'rip-off' claims

They are seeking compensation from parks for “unfair” increases in annual pitch fees and “misleading” claims about the value of static caravans at the time they bought them.

A couple from Cleethorpes and a woman from Sheffield say owning a caravan at Tattershall Lakes left them more than £50,000 out of pocket.

Members of the Holiday Park Action Group (HPAG) across the country are launching the legal proceedings at the High Court with a view to the law being changed in what is currently an unregulated sector.

The action follows an investigation by BBC TV, which revealed how people lost their life savings, inheritance money and pension pots when the caravans, or holiday homes, they had bought reduced substantially in value.

One typical case at another venue in Lincolnshire – Watermill Leisure Park at Market Rasen – saw a 65-year-old woman pay almost £30,000 for a static caravan.

But the annual pitch fee shot up from £2,795 in 2022 to £4,100 last year. She realised she could no longer afford to keep the caravan, but when she tried to sell it back to the park owners, they said it was too old and would fetch only £5,000 on the open market.

James and Emma Richardson, of Cleethorpes, told the BBC they bought a £110,000 caravan at Tattershall Lakes, putting down a £25,000 deposit and entering a finance agreement to pay for the rest.

They hoped to sub-let it to family and friends, but soon found that costs and agreement repayments outweighed their income.

However, when they decided to cut their losses and sell the caravan back, the park refused their offer. So instead, they had to fork out £20,000 and hand over the caravan to be released from the third-party finance agreement.

"Over two years, we lost more than £50,000, which has just crippled us,” James told the BBC.

Meanwhile, Sally Nicholls, from Sheffield, bought a £69,000 caravan at Tattershall Lakes. But when she sold it three years later, she received only £15,000 for it.

HPAG, which has 70,000 members in a Facebook group, hopes the legal action will lead to the creation of statutory regulations that govern how holiday parks behave and protect consumers from “unfair commercial practices”.

It claims most caravans are currently sold at “significantly marked-up prices”, which lead to “substantial losses” if buyers later decide to sell. And it questions whether pitch fee rises are fair and enforceable.

High Court judges are being asked to give a ruling based on a small number of identified test cases.

The owners of the holiday parks insist that comprehensive information is given to all caravan buyers when “clear and readily understood” contracts are drawn up.

Away Resorts, which runs Tattershall Lakes, said it provides detailed terms and conditions to ensure that buyers know the potential risks of caravan ownership, and stressed that there are no guarantees about the success of sub-letting income.

Watermill Leisure Park said its policies are fair and transparent. It was never under any obligation to buy back a caravan but always offered a price that was a fair reflection of its value to the park at the time.