Considering the rent we pay for a holiday home, it might occur that these were quite expensive and quite out of a normal earner’s reach to buy one. Even though we might have had a little envy for the holiday home’s owner, as he has a good source of income renting it out plus he can make his own little hot tub holiday on a weekend at anytime for no cost at all.

Moreover, we have seen established holiday homes to rent, but hardly ever for sale. And even if we had such an opportunity: how could it be possible, to build a second house while we are still struggling to pay for the house we live in?

But in reality, we never expect the same size, functionality or location for a holiday home as for a home to live in. We don’t need infrastructure like public transportation, or the proximity to large companies who serve as mass employers in a holiday home and – as you know – location is one main factor for property prices.

A holiday home can be in a region far off everything and thus be much cheaper

As much as you like spending your holidays in a holiday home: the reason for the well-being is less a overwhelming luxury or opulence of the holiday cottage, but much more the feeling to get away from everyday life once in a while, to go on a little adventure, to spend some time in nature, swimming, trekking, mountain-biking, climbing, windsurfing or whatever you like to do to spend some time in nature. If you ever went camping in a tent, or a camping van, you will remember how much you liked that. The luxury of the accommodation is a topic if you book a holiday in a hotel, but not for a holiday in a holiday home. Considering prices for suitable building plots to buy or rent: Where these prices are cheapest, nature is often at its best, tranquillity, country life, far away from the hustle and bustle of the big cities. We will share some ideas about suitable building plots further below.

Inform yourself and do the math – building a holiday home is much cheaper than you originally thought

However, thinking of purchasing or building your own holiday home, you might have had average prices for a house in the UK in mind. That would be around £270,000. Completely unaffordable, of course, for most for a little purchase on the side.

To inform yourself about the real possibilities, please have a look at our section of large log cabins! What you see there are log cabins in the range from below £7,000 to about £25,000 with wall thicknesses of at least 58mm, mostly 70mm and up to 92mm, most of them very well suitable to be a perfect holiday home.

These are shell constructions, of course. They can be used as garden buildings, summer houses, to store things, like old furniture, games, gardening tools, be a little home in the garden during the summer, or whatever as  they are, but they also can be finished to be everything from a Kindergarten to an office space and, of course also holiday homes.

For electricity, water, waste water, insulation, and heating you might have to add something around £10,000 to £20,000 depending on your needs and the size of the log home. Anyway: If you add these numbers up, you will end up in a range of about £20,000 to £40,000 for a complete holiday home which is in a whole different category than the £270,000 you might originally have had in mind.

One example of a very affordable holiday home from our portfolio

Have a look at one of our most popular holiday homes, the large wooden summer house Leeds: Does it look good? Would every landowner in a quiet, natural area be proud to have it on his land? If you negotiate with a farmer, a forest-owner, or a local municipality: Use this picture to your favour. Not only will the land be more attractive with such a building on it, you might also hold out the prospect of paying holiday guests coming into the area if you intend to rent your holiday home out which is nowadays quite easily possible on the internet where well organized and highly frequented platforms make renting out holiday homes a piece of cake.

Let’s have another look at the summer house Leeds. Did you see that the price is even below £10,000? And what do you get for that? 30m² of space surrounded by solid 70mm planks of sturdy and tightly grained Northern Spruce. Divided into three rooms, one suitable for a toilet, one as a living room, and one as a bedroom. Under the nice gabled roof there is a lot of additional space for storage or as a sleeping floor.

Sitting in your living room filled with natural light, you will enjoy the view through the large floor to ceiling double-glazed panorama windows onto the nature outside. A covered deck allows for al fresco dining and sitting outside on hot summer evenings.

Do you enjoy hot tub holidays? This deck might be the perfect place to have one.

Beautiful holiday homes for prices of an average garden summer house

If this example makes you think of your own holiday home, please have a look at our section of large log cabins to find more jewels like the summerhouse Leeds. Would you like some storage outside for equipment, mountain-bikes, windsurf boards or others? Take a look at the Summerhouse With Shed Plymouth, for example!

You might also think about why you should by a house or build a stone-house for yourself and your family, spending something like £270,000, and having years of construction ahead, when it is easily possible to erect a wooden house, like a large log cabin, perfectly constructed, equipped with a five-year warranty in one or two weeks for just 10 to 20% of that sum. In this case, have a look at our Two Bedroom Log Cabin Holiday F, or at our „Lake House“ that even boasts 92mm wall thickness, making it even more sturdy and easy to insulate.

Where to find an affordable building plot for your holiday home

Surely, the plot to erect the holiday home on is another cost factor that has to be in the equation. We have hinted at some possibilities already. Farmers, forest-owners, municipalities in regions that have little choice but attracting tourism. And in these cases it must not always be the purchase of the plot, but long term rental- or leasing contracts for reasonable charges are also an option. After all, if the contract is not prolonged after 20 years, it is also possible to take such a log cabin apart and reassemble it somewhere else.

These options do require some convincing and some negotiation skills from your side, but they are usually the more affordable option compared with purchasing a fully developed plot suitable for a main house.

If you are already used to holidays in holiday homes, why not ask the landlords for options, suitable places and so forth?

Finally, camping-grounds often offer opportunities for long term stays. They are often situated in scenic locations and offer some infrastructure for their guests. Also, you might find an arrangement that allows the owner to rent out your holiday home to other guests while you are not there yourself thereby reducing your costs for the rent or even allowing for some income on the side.

For any questions, please contact us or call Oliver at 020 3807 0369!