Property has long been considered a wise investment and, with interest rates remaining painfully low, it is increasingly something that is appealing to a wider demographic.  

Whilst traditional buy-to-let is still popular, investing in low maintenance holiday property, such as a lodge on a holiday park, is a trend that seems to be growing in popularity at an exponential rate.  Some holiday parks are claiming that the rise in popularity has seen lodge sales double year-on-year since 2010 and their values increase by 100% in the last 5 years.  What’s more, several holiday parks have started to offer guaranteed return on investment – one such park in Rutland is offering a guaranteed 7% return for the first 3 years, which is highly favourable next to many ISAs, buy-to-let returns and savings accounts.

According to the 2011 Census, 1.6 million people living in England and Wales have a second home in the country that they use for a month or more each year – that’s 2.8% of the population.  

Patrick Chambers, Sales Director at Quick Move Properties, the UK’s largest independent property part exchange company, says the holiday let market is a growing one: “We’ve seen significant growth in the number of people buying holiday properties in the last year or so.  Property can be a favourable investment, especially with the low interest rates currently being offered on savings accounts, and people like the idea of being able to use the property for their own holidays and leisure time as well.   

“Some of our customers have inherited a property and want to invest the profit from its sale into a more manageable property, some may be downsizing from a large family home and want to buy both a smaller residential property and an investment property, and others are buying a holiday home mainly for personal use, but like the idea of generating a bit of extra income when they’re not using it.

“A large proportion of our customers are looking to invest in a holiday lodge on a designated leisure or holiday park.   On-site facilities are a fantastic draw for both the home owners and prospective holiday let customers, and additional services such as cleaning, property maintenance and holiday let marketing are available on many parks.  You know your property will be well looked after when you’re not on-site, and that makes for a great, low-hassle holiday let investment.

“A competitive return and a holiday property that you and your family can use in your leisure time is a fantastic combination that is proving hugely attractive to a wide range of people.”

Part exchange: If you have a second home, former investment property or inherited property that you’d like to sell in order to buy a low-maintenance holiday home, you might want to consider property part exchange.   You can find out more about how part exchange could take the time and hassle out of the selling and buying process here.

Quick Move Properties is the UK’s largest property part exchange company.  Established in 1998, the company has purchased over 5,000 properties with a value of £725 million.  If you’ve inherited a property that you’d be interested in part exchanging for a holiday property, or are looking to downsize in order to invest in a leisure or holiday home visit Quick Move Properties or call 01793 840917 to find out how Quick Move Properties could offer a quick, risk-free and hassle-free service.