Press release -
Holiday parks vs timeshare ownerships. Two sides of the same coin?
Both holiday-sales businesses have have attracted their share of negative media and consumer watchdog scrutiny. But how do they compare really?
High pressure holiday sales
On the face of it there are glaring differences in the two ways to pay for holidays. Timeshare ownership gets you a fixed amount of weeks per year (or similar via points). Owning a static caravan or lodge should guarantee you almost year round holidays as you own the unit outright. Timeshares typically come with an exchange program that - theoretically at least - offers the opportunity to take your holidays in other destinations. A lodge is naturally always in the same location.
There are also similarities. Both are sold under conditions that clients describe as high pressure. Mis-sold caravans are attracting as much media attention as timeshare malfeasance has done historically.
Both are attracting scrutiny from consumer watchdogs and claims firms.
Initial costs
The two both have expensive upfront costs. A basic timeshare membership in 2026 can be upwards of £20,000. A static caravan is usually three to five times that amount.
A one week timeshare membership costs far more than the pro rata cost would be if the total apartment cost was divided by 52. There are two main reasons for this:
1. A huge amount of money has to be spent on sales and marketing. Nobody just decides they are going to buy a timeshare and starts shopping around. They have to be targeted and offered expensive enticements like a free/heavily discounted holiday, or theme park ticket just to attend a presentation. The sales process is arduous and complex. It therefore requires payment of high commissions. Some estimates put the sales & marketing figure as high as 60% to 70% of the total cost.
2. High profit margins. Timeshare is a very lucrative industry for the sellers. Marriott Vacation Club International is estimated to have made a gross profit of around $313 million in 2025. Around 20% of what you pay for a timeshare membership is profit to the seller.
The inference from these figures is that when bought from a developer, a week of timeshare is up to ten times more expensive than it needs to be if 52 people were to share the cost of buying the same apartment.
A holiday park unit's initial cost to the purchaser should be a lot closer its resale value. However this appears to be heavily manipulated by the park proprietors (as explained below) and the cost is kept artificially high.
Resale values
Abysmal resale values are common to both timeshare and holiday park sales. Timeshare owners are often unable to sell for any price, or even give away their memberships. A key factor is that out-of-control annual running costs are a burden modern holidaymakers don’t want or need to pay.
Holiday park owners face the same issues but for different reasons. The park is able to sell lodges for almost the same price to each successive buyer. However the person who actually owns the lodge often has severe contractual restrictions preventing them from selling to anyone other than the park. For example, the park usually has the right to interview any prospective buyer and (crucially) the right to refuse any sale. In practise parks are reported to use this as an opportunity to steer the prospect away from the private sale and steal the business for themselves. Parks are known for preventing advertising a caravan for sale on sites like Facebook Marketplace. They also threaten to charge increased ground rent to private buyers.
Lodge sellers report feeling little choice but to sell back to the park who offers them a low price, up to 80% less than they paid, even if they only owned the unit a short time. Here at ECC we have many clients whose lodges were sold back to the park at huge losses, only for the unit to be sold almost immediately for a similar price to what they originally paid the park.
A common accusation is that parks deliberately make life difficult for their clients forcing inventory turnover and enabling the park to profit greatly at the seller’s expense.
Running costs
Both types of holiday have running costs which are a source of great contention to the clients.
Timeshare owners are told that once they have ‘paid for their holidays in advance’ all they have to pay is a minimal annual charge for the upkeep of their resort. However annual increases are entirely at the whim of resorts and it is commonly understood that the fees now represent the approximate cost for a non-member to stay in the same resort. Sometimes the fees are even more than the regular booking cost on sites like booking.com.
The annual ground fees for a lodge or static caravan vary between £2000 and £13,000 depending on the park. However these can vary, even between two identical caravans on the same park.
Overall customer experience
Both timeshare and holiday parks have an unenviable reputation. Timeshare had vast amounts of negative publicity during its heyday in the 1980s and 1990s. Holiday park claims have caught the national interest with dozens or possibly hundreds of media reports into unfair and even criminal practices.While there are doubtless honest and fair operators in both businesses there are disproportionate amounts of people complaining and even taking legal actions against them.
Expert comment
“Holiday park sales operations have a great deal in common with the old timeshare setups,” explains Greg Wilson, CEO of European Consumer Claims, the company people are turning to for redress against both. “They have a negative, and some would say well deserved, reputation for high pressure sales, dishonesty, unfair treatment, and even bullying the customers who dare to speak up.
“Our advice, as always, is to never buy either product on the day as the result of a sales presentation.
“Regardless of what the salesperson might tell you, they would just as happily take your money in a few days’ time once you have had the chance to evaluate and research properly.
“Ignore any nonsense about this being the last caravan of its type and price, or the last timeshare membership in that category at that price in the resort you like. I guarantee they will find you just as good a deal if you do turn up later ready to sign.
“Never sign anything that you have not paid a solicitor to check. You think that you can trust the friendly salesperson, but that is their job. They befriend you so that you trust them enough to sign the multi-page document (for thousands or even tens of thousands of pounds) without reading it thoroughly.
“If they like you that much, they will understand that you need to protect yourself with a legal evaluation.“
"And finally if in any doubt at all or for any advice whether you are already an owner, or are considering becoming one, check with the experts at Holiday Park Advice Centre. They are always happy to help.”
Related links
- European Consumer Claims (ECC)
- Greg Wilson reflects on 2025
- How do high pressure timeshare sales actually work?
- Why timeshare exchanges so relentlessly fail to deliver
- Why is timeshare so expensive?
- "Seal Bay caravan purchase ruined our lives and left us £150,000 out of pocket" say Sussex grandparents
- ECC asks: Should holiday parks be legally required to state projected depreciation at point of sale?
- Holiday park owners 'forced' into huge losses when reselling
- Out of control timeshare maintenance fee hikes: A case study interview
- Affected holiday park customers join forces with ECC for compensation crusade
- Is holiday park abuse this generation's "timeshare scandal"?
- Caravan owners felt 'bullied' by holiday parks
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Relevant websites for this article
www.holidayparkadvicecentre.co.uk
www.americanconsumerclaims.com
www.timeshareadvicecentre.co.uk
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