# Does anyone know anything about these houses?



## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

https://www.mobilheimbau.de/

Heike has the idea of living in one :surprise: not me, but her and Jürgen sometime in the future. I think they are crazy.


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

Depreciates but easy to heat.

Ray.


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## randonneur (Jan 25, 2007)

They are just like Park Homes in UK really. A Friend of our lives in one near Grantham, Lincolnshire, they have had it for many years and are still happy with it.


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## jhelm (Feb 9, 2008)

Pretty ugly


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## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

jhelm said:


> Pretty ugly


Thats what I thought, not a stick of wood to be seen and I hate the stuff they´ve made the furniture from, just like a caravan or motorhome . All so clinical looking.


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## H1-GBV (Feb 28, 2006)

raynipper said:


> Depreciates but easy to heat.
> 
> Ray.


Where do you get the "easy to heat" bit from?

We bought a mobile home some years ago for our boys to live in the garden: despite insulation, double glazing and radiator-central-heating it was hot in summer (heating off, obviously) and cool in winter, with large Calor-gas bills.

We are now looking to replace it with a granny annexe for us: I think a "temporary" structure would suffice [will we outlast its 30y lifetime?] and be quicker to erect, cheaper and not require planning consent. My good lady believes in bricks and mortar.

Gordon


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## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

Thats what I told her Gordon and especially as there seems to be so much glass.

She says its for sometime in the future so hopefully they will have come to their senses before then.:laugh:


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

Trouble is with park homes I think you are beholden to the will of the landowner and their rules regs and of course whatever they decide to charge you year on year and not always cheap to run.

We used to stay in a lovely pine lodge on Arran over Christmas and new year which had proper central heating and it was absloutely fantastic. Dead warm and cosy. I think it went on the market for £200k which I thought was a lot but you pay for the location. I would rather own the land though and have it plumbed in to the mains for gas and electric.

I would live in one. I would live in the van. Well I have.


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## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

barryd said:


> Trouble is with park homes I think you are beholden to the will of the landowner and their rules regs and of course whatever they decide to charge you year on year and not always cheap to run.
> 
> We used to stay in a lovely pine lodge on Arran over Christmas and new year which had proper central heating and it was absloutely fantastic. Dead warm and cosy. I think it went on the market for £200k which I thought was a lot but you pay for the location. I would rather own the land though and have it plumbed in to the mains for gas and electric.
> 
> I would live in one. I would live in the van. Well I have.


Some of us are a bit more choosy >


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## jhelm (Feb 9, 2008)

Do a search for modular homes in New Zealand just for fun, some really great designs.


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## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

I'm too busy looking for a camel :grin2:


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

H1-GBV said:


> Where do you get the "easy to heat" bit from?
> 
> We bought a mobile home some years ago for our boys to live in the garden: despite insulation, double glazing and radiator-central-heating it was hot in summer (heating off, obviously) and cool in winter, with large Calor-gas bills.
> 
> We are now looking to replace it with a granny annexe for us: I think a "temporary" structure would suffice [will we outlast its 30y lifetime?] and be quicker to erect, cheaper and not require planning consent. My good lady believes in bricks and mortar. Gordon


I must admit to never having owned one Gordon.
But all the times we have visited with friends and have been very warm and they say how comfortable they are in winter.

Ray.


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

I think that modern ones are very well insulated with modern materials. It surprises me that they are not made of timber in a country like Germany. Wood is one of the best, natural, insulators.

We did, at one time, consider living on one of the park home sites purely for the fact that there is no gardening or maintenance to do. If we could have found one where they were more spaced out we might have investigated further.


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## H1-GBV (Feb 28, 2006)

Fortunately we're lucky enough to have a large garden, so siting a mobile home is quite easy.

Unfortunately, we live outside the "allowed" development area for the village, so bricks and mortar can be more of a problem (and more expensive in the short term).

I have a Parish Councillor coming round tomorrow for an informal chat.

Gordon


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

Hmm, Gordon. I was a Parish Councillor for a while. They don't have a lot of power really. They can raise objections about a proposal as long as they are valid "planning" objections and not just moans. They can also support an application. 
Your best bet is to book an appointment with a planner at the Local Authority. They will tell you all the reasons why they like or do not like your plans. From memory, if the structure is "portable" like a mobile home or log cabin, and takes a service (like electricity) from the main house you are allowed to do it. I think they look on it as more of an extra accommodation.


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

I thought there had been a government directive relaxing planning rules recently.?

Ray.


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

They have ordered all the Local Councils to put in plans for a Local Development Framework. This is supposed to be drawn up and put to the general public for consultation. It has, of course, taken years to bring to fruition. Our Local Authority has still not finalised theirs. They are being punished by having to allow development where they would rather not have it (as in our case) because there is not definitive plan in place to allow them to refuse it. Once the plan is in place they have to have a supply of land to fulfill demand for the next five years which rolls over each year.


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## H1-GBV (Feb 28, 2006)

patp said:


> Our Local Authority has still not finalised theirs.


I recall from Cabby's Brexit Facts thread that we share the same MP, so presumably you are also in Breckland. Certainly this story is familiar!

My friend is coming round to do a job and I shall tap his thoughts on a granny annexe.

Unfortunately, our neighbour was denied planning permission because of objections from the Parish, despite support from us.

When we placed the mobile home in the garden, we had complaints raised with Breckland but we had pre-empted this by getting written permission to use it for family accommodation. As mentioned earlier, our son had facilities provided from within the house and the "mobile" had wheels (although they wouldn't pass any MOT!).

Our current thoughts would be for a more independent home and certainly sitting on the ground. Plenty of units seem to fit that brief but finding exactly what we want will require time and effort. Bricks and mortar would allow us to design everything for ourselves.

Gordon


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

We are allowed to build extensions up to a certain square footage with no planning permission needed. You will need to follow Building Control regulations. That is what was relaxed a little while ago. The regulations should all be available on line somewhere as to how big the extension has to be before you need planning approval. Might be worded as "permitted development" or similar?


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

There always was a "Permitted Development" as a percentage of the building that had been there since year dot as I remember from the 80s.

Ray.


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

Yes, Ray, but it was increased quite a lot. It can now be quite a substantial extension I believe. There are criteria attached about neighbour nuisance etc though.


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

If you wanted to buy or rent some land off a farmer say for example in the UK and stick a static on it or a pine lodge of some description and live in it is it possible? Preferably something with mains electricity, plumbing etc.


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

barryd said:


> If you wanted to buy or rent some land off a farmer say for example in the UK and stick a static on it or a pine lodge of some description and live in it is it possible? Preferably something with mains electricity, plumbing etc.


Only until someone complained and then it would have to be demolished. Unless you called it "A Place of Worship" and then get away with it.

Ray.


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

barryd said:


> If you wanted to buy or rent some land off a farmer say for example in the UK and stick a static on it or a pine lodge of some description and live in it is it possible? Preferably something with mains electricity, plumbing etc.


I think the only way you would get away with it is if you were employed by the farm in question. I think that farmers are allowed to house their employees. A farm near here seems to have two managers as they have recently been granted permission for a second manager's house. I am pretty sure that those houses come with an "agricultural restriction", though, when they are sold, which means they can only be occupied by people engaged in agriculture.

I wonder if we would get away with "night watchman" or "crow scarer"


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## H1-GBV (Feb 28, 2006)

patp said:


> I think the only way you would get away with it is if you were employed by the farm in question.


However, it's not as simple as you may think. My next-door neighbour ploughed a couple of his 13acres, planted trees and set up as a tree nursery. However he was refused bricks and mortar: only a mobile home with a "duration of your life" clause was allowed.

Another neighbour used his land for poly-tunnels and eventually built a very nice 4-bed house. However, it came with an agricultural restriction and selling it was quite problematic.

Gordon


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

As I understand it you have to submit accounts, now, to prove that the business is a viable one before they will even consider letting you build on agricultural land. Years ago my brother just started breeding rabbits for the meat market and they let him build a bungalow! All changed now as too many people did what he did and gave up the "business" as soon as they got planning approved.


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## greygit (Apr 15, 2007)

Back to the original question yes they are ok to live in. When we decided to move to Spain we thought we would live in our mobile home until we decided were we would live, on the coast or inland. 
We had central heating fitted and this summer an extra aircon unit was added and we still have not decided were we will move to so we will probably stay here for a while as it's very cosy here in our mobile home.

I should add we have recently bought another motorhome so we can explore Spain and Portugal now from our southern habitation point.:grin2:


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## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

greygit said:


> Back to the original question yes they are ok to live in. When we decided to move to Spain we thought we would live in our mobile home until we decided were we would live, on the coast or inland.
> We had central heating fitted and this summer an extra aircon unit was added and we still have not decided were we will move to so we will probably stay here for a while as it's very cosy here in our mobile home.
> 
> I should add we have recently bought another motorhome so we can explore Spain and Portugal now from our southern habitation point.:grin2:


Thanks Gitty, any chance of a photo of it? Doesn't get as cold in Spain as in the Rheinland though :frown2:


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## greygit (Apr 15, 2007)

Jan, if you go to the La Quinta Bella campsite page ( better on facebook) there four Casas for sale with loads of photos.

Re cold, believe me these mobile homes are well insulated and with central heating very cosy.
I think the site is the main deciding factor.:smile2:


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## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

greygit said:


> Jan, if you go to the La Quinta Bella campsite page ( better on facebook) there four Casas for sale with loads of photos.


No idea how to do that on facebook :frown2:


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

There's a search box at the top. You would normally put a person's name in it but you can put the name of the site in and that should bring up their "page" with all the photos.


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## greygit (Apr 15, 2007)

JanHank said:


> No idea how to do that on facebook :frown2:


Sorry Jan I would send a link to the site but I haven't a clue how to that on a tablet. If you search for La Quinta Bella Camping you should find the site ok or as already been said do a search in Farcebook you should find the casas ok.


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