I'm not kidding with that title, by the way. This isn't one of those posts that when you get to the end, you find that you have to enter a prize draw with thousands of other people. If you want a caravan, Park Holidays will give you one. FOR FREE. You have to pay the site fees and pitch rental, but that's it. And you'd have to pay those anyway. So, not only could you get yourself a free holiday home, you could rent it out and get yourself an extra income through holiday rentals as well.
Why Park Holidays are doing this is a strange one. Apparently more owners are 'trading up' this year and leaving the older, less swanky mobile homes empty. Trading up? In this economy? That sounds about right, if you think about it. More people are choosing to stay at home and have UK holidays. We're favouring the English riviera, instead of more expensive trips abroad. And candy floss and fish and chips are cool again.

So instead of cashing in on caravans that are (albeit thoroughly safety checked) a bit past their prime, Park Holidays decided to give them away. And I'll be honest, I'm tempted to split the bill between friends and get one myself.

So what's in it for Park? Well, they get the annual fees for a start, so they're not totally out of pocket. They also get to keep their brand safe. After all, they're not going to want to be known for selling sub-standard holiday homes are they? Keeping their brand as strong as it is right now is important to them, so they're utilising the space they have without weakening that. It's clever. They're also hoping that this will appeal to people trying to get onto the second home property ladder. If you can't afford a new caravan, you might think about it again in a few years once you need an upgrade.

And you will need an upgrade at some point. There's nothing wrong with the caravans, but after a while it'll be more economical to get a new one. You'll have trouble renting out an old banger of a caravan if you don't keep it up to scratch. If it's only you and your friends using it for a couple of weeks a year, you're not really going to get your money's worth.

So Park have hit on a clever idea. Give something away for free, and then hopefully lock you in with something a little more solid over the rest of your life. AND they still get the annual service fees. You didn't think they were doing it out of the goodness of their hearts did you?

That said, even though it's a very clever business venture from Park, if the idea of a holiday home to call your own appeals, then it's certainly worth a look. Quick word of warning though: These are being snapped up fast (three have gone in the time it's taken me to write this). But this is going to be an ongoing scheme, so if there's none available on the site when you check it out, pop back regularly or give them a call. You'll be eating fish and chips on the beach in no time.