CL Price Rises

Although the owner says a £1 price rise next year the cost of energy for all of us is very unpredictable and I can see big price and spending adjustments coming along. If the predicted price rises are correct and adjustments haven't yet been for other factors eg shortages due to the Ukraine war we're all in for  income drops.

So to be honest we'll all be affected by price changes and unfortunately they're not going to be good for any of us. (If our home energy bill goes up as predicted when our fixed rate ends we will be several hundred pounds out of pocket each month.  )

The attitude of farmers down here - where the peaks and troughs of visitor numbers are so seasonal - is that recouping those installation costs is a lot easier for a family run site with planning permission for 20 pitches than it is for a CL limited to 5 vans, no tents, no non members, and therefore no overseas visitors. 

IMHO CL's should stick to the KISS principle, requiring relatively low investment and therefore able to offer competitive prices and probably more 'bums on seats'. Too much 'bells and whistles' and consequent higher price requirement will most likely result in lower turnover and a choice between going full commercial or cutting losses and packing it in.

Indeed, just Googling anticipated electricity cost and 51p per Kw hour could well be the going domestic rate by the end of the year. I don’t know how they relate to business usage but I believe they pay more vat. At those rates you don’t need an RV to burn much to make a  £15 / £17 charge unrealistic, particularly in the colder months. It’s certainly going to be a bit of a shock when our fixed price deal comes to an end.☹️

I would agree with that. Once prices get close to £25 folk start looking at other options..

We are just into the last year of a two year deal, missing the big jumps so far.

however, by spending the three coldest winter months sat by the med with cheap gas and, so far, cheap electric on site, it goes a mighty long way to keeping annual costs down. 

add in a couple of months in Le Sud in Autumn and that's another portion of rising costs avoided.

yes, we have to pay £320 for a return ferry but it sounds like that's recovered in a month if the 'forecasts' are to be believed.

we've just looked at a large commercial site in Devon and they charge £5.50 a day for electric!

with plenty of solar on the van, we didn't require electric to 'run the van' (tv, bike and iPad/phone charging all via solar powered USB) for three months in Spain other than for OH hairdryer, 5 mins a day.

we've just had nine days on a non EHU site in Weymouth, so no charges there.

I guess folk will either have to endure the rising costs, reduce/end their vanning days or look for a cheaper alternative by using modern technology.
Even in the UK in this sort of weather, a 100-150w panel and a decent battery would allow someone to do without a hook up with just a couple of simple changes...12v tv, use 12v USB charging sockets rather than mains (which just converts the voltage down anyway).

If electric prices are going to be say £5 or more a day, then that solar panel looks like a good return.

it'll be interesting to see where the 'base price' goes to for a nice grass pitch CL with hookup and no more. Perhaps that £25 might be the number. If so, it will stop many from using them...IMHO of course.

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Campers with tents want toilets and showers - they don’t have their own.

Caravanners want their own tap and EHU which they can hook up to.

Motorhomers want hard roadways and pitches or else they get stuck.

Everyone wants laundry and drying facilities. 

The site owners who invest in those things  get customers.

A limit of five outfits simply isn’t profitable down here. 

£25 a night would not be a deal breaker for me. However I do have several stipulations about CL's which is often not easy to achieve. Location is the main one as I want a CL to be near things, so an easy walk to town or village - less than a mile. Alternatively public transport within half a mile. Site facilities - Hardstanding level pitch, services pitches and EHU. Don't need toilet/showers and depending on the grey water regime on site might not need a drive over motorhome waste point. There are some CL's that meet this requirement but not many.

David

Not everyone!

Communal water taps are a great place to chat and make new friends!

Not every caravanner needs EHU! We do very nicely using 150 watts of solar.

Laundry and drying can be taken care of via a local launderette.