Lake District high on second home wish list

Lake District high on second home wish list

THE Lake District in Cumbria is one of the most popular places in the UK to own a second home – despite house prices in the spectacular beauty spot having rocketed 119 per cent in the last five years.

With its 16 great lakes, over 200 mountains and some of the most spectacular countryside in the world, house prices have shot up as canny investors have cashed in on the property boom and more buyers compete to buy their own place in the country.

This means the few properties now coming available on the market in one of Britain’s best-loved visitor destinations means many often sell for well in excess of the asking price. Because the Lake District is in a National Park, the number of homes built on lakeshores are regulated and extremely rare. Consequently, those that do become available cost start at between £3 million and £5 million, which for many means “a place in the Lakes” is out of their price range.

But one Lake District company is making it possible for people to live the dream and own their own holiday hideaway by a lake in this area of outstanding natural beauty.

Spiralling house prices has led to increasing demand for state-of-the-art luxury lodges as a more affordable alternative to a bricks and mortar second home, says South Lakeland Parks based at Natland, near Kendal.

Costing from as little as £95,000 and having a maximum price tag of £350,000, people are finding the high-spec lodges which are full fitted with everything you need, are a far more affordable way to own a holiday home in William Wordsworth country. What’s more, unlike an empty property, the lodges and sites are constantly maintained and secure by park staff.

South Lakeland Parks runs three family-friendly five-star sites in the Lake District with two  – Fallbarrow Park and White Cross Bay – situated directly on the shores of Lake Windermere, England’s longest lake.  The third site, Limefitt Park is set in the peaceful Troutbeck area, surrounded by mountains in a valley home to less than 100 people.

Another advantage that people prefer is that each of the sites allow you to use the on-park facilities, which means locally-produced food, friendly bars, swimming pools, shops, games rooms and play areas for the kids, are all part of the package. In particular, its Windermere parks offer direct access to private jetties which are perfect for boat mooring, launching canoes or dinghy trips.

People can choose between a standard budget caravans on one of the sites, all the way through to the five-star luxury holiday homes such as the exclusive Willerby New England which is new to the site this year and two of only four available across the whole of the UK. The super lodges are situated on a brand new multi-million pound Kirkstone development at the Limefitt Park site, close to Lake Windermere and Lake Ullswater.

The Willerby measures a spacious 43ft by 20ft and boasts all the stylish mod-cons of a five-star hotel. Costing a cool £195,000 to buy, they come complete with plasma TVs, DVDs, en-suite bathrooms, integrated speakers in the ceiling, leather sofas, whirlpool baths, laminated tiled floors, walk in wardrobes, telephone sockets and double-glazed PVC windows, offering holiday home owners the next generation in indulgence.