Dreeym / For your family
For the people
who’ll google us.
This page is written for sons and daughters. If that’s you: you’re right to be careful, and here’s everything you’d want before your mum signs anything.
Why this page exists. In a decision like this, adult children are the due-diligence department — and the sector you’re about to research has a bad reputation, some of it earned. You’re going to search “park homes scam” tonight. We’d rather hand you the file first.
Start here
The ten questions to ask any operator.
Including us. If an operator won’t answer all ten in writing, that tells you what you need to know.
1. What exactly is my parent buying, and what are they renting?
They own the home outright. They licence the pitch under a written agreement. Ask to see the agreement before any deposit — ours goes out on request to anyone, including you, and we’ll post it to your parent’s solicitor unprompted.
2. What is the pitch fee today, and what can it become?
Ours are published on every community page — £185 to £210 a month. Reviews are annual and pegged to CPI by law since 2023. Ask for five years of history, not a promise: ours is here.
3. What happens on resale, and what does it cost?
Up to 10% of the sale price goes to the operator — industry-wide, capped by law. Ask for their actual resale record. We publish every sale we’ve had: asking, achieved, and days on market.
4. Who owns the land, and are they solvent?
Ask who the freeholder is, whether there are charges over the land, and to see accounts. A collapse in this sector (RoyaleLife, 2023) left about a thousand residents in limbo — the risk is real and the question is fair. Dreeym owns its land outright with no head leases.
5. Can I see the site licence and the Fit & Proper Person registration?
Every residential community must hold a local-authority site licence, and since 2021 operators must pass a Fit & Proper Person test. Both are displayed at every community and sent to anyone who asks. If someone hesitates over this question, stop.
6. What happens if one of my parents dies?
The agreement passes to the surviving partner — security of tenure is statutory. And on inheritance: the home forms part of the estate and can be sold or passed on, subject to the same commission. Nobody gets moved out.
7. Is this a care setting, and what happens if their needs change?
It is not. There is no care, no warden and no medical support — it’s independent living, and we say so plainly. If needs change they’d arrange care exactly as they would in any home. What the evidence does show is that people in single-storey adapted housing are 1.5 to 2.8 times less likely to fall.
8. Can they get a mortgage, and can they get insurance?
Not a mainstream mortgage — the home is legally a chattel, not land. Most people buy with the proceeds of their house, which is the point. Specialist finance exists. Insurance is straightforward and we’ll point you at brokers who know the product.
9. What are the rules, and where are they written down?
Pets, visitors, parking, letting. Ours are published before anyone buys, which is unusual and deliberate. Read them; the restrictions tell you as much as the promises.
10. What if they change their mind?
Ask what protection exists. Ours: 90 days from moving in to change your mind, and we buy the home back at what was paid. We believe we’re alone in Britain in offering that. If another operator offers nothing, ask them why not.
The money, plainly
What actually happens to your inheritance.
Your parents release capital on day one — typically around £127,000 moving from an average UK house — which is theirs to spend, gift or keep. The home itself will likely be worth somewhat less in twenty years than they paid, and 10% goes to us on sale. Set against that: no stamp duty, lower bills, and no maintenance bills for two decades.
The blunt version: this move usually leaves more in the estate than staying in a large house that needs a roof, not less — but the money looks different, because it's cash rather than bricks. The full arithmetic is on the honest page, including the pessimistic version.
The safety case
The thing you’re actually worried about.
No stairs, level thresholds, 900mm doorways, level-entry showers, and grab rails that can be fitted in an afternoon rather than a refurbishment. A community manager on site. Neighbours close enough to notice when the curtains don’t open.
And the honest counterweight, because you should have it: people who move to communities like ours are measurably less lonely, but slightly more cut off from their old networks. That’s a real effect and it’s the reason we have no limit on visitors, a bookable guest suite, and communities within reach of where people came from. Your visits matter. Please make them.
Come with them
The single best thing you can do.
Bring your hardest questions and ask them in front of us. Ask the residents things you wouldn’t ask us — we’ll leave the room, genuinely. And if you can’t get there, we’ll do the whole thing on a video call at a time that suits you, evenings included.