In July of 2007, the invoice for the 2008 sites fees dropped through my letter box. I must admit to not looking forward to this arrival, as the fees for 2007 were a whopping £4,700. This was for a season that lasted from the 1st March to the middle of November. For 2008, South Lakeland Parks (the site owner) had succeeded in getting approval from the Parks Authority to extend the season to the middle of January, in effect making the close season just 6 weeks in length.
The accompanying letter to the invoice assured me that I would be "delighted" that SLP had succeeded in extending the season. I for one was certainly not excited at the prospect of spending weekends in the Lake District in the middle of winter, keeping my lodge warm with very expensive bottled gas and also paying to keep my house in Wigan warm as well. Furthermore, SLP had increased the site fees by almost £1,000 assuring me that this represented excellent value for money.
Well I for one (and I am not alone) do not think this represents excellent value for money. Firstly, I believe that £4,700 pa is excessive to start with. I have looked at the fees for other sites and they range from £2,000 pa to £3,500 pa. Secondly, the increase also included a 4.4% rise for inflation. This figure is based on the June 2007 figure for RPI. The CPI figure for June 2007 was about 2%. The difference between the two is due to increased mortgage payments. As far as I am aware, mortgage based inflation has nothing to do with holiday homes. This 4.4% was also applied to the new fee and not the fee for 2007.
I and many others have asked for a detailed breakdown of the fees and the proposed increase. 3 months later we are still awaiting a reply. We all have had several letters from SLP, but nothing of substance.
Kevin