Residential Caravan Park in Essex — Long-Term Pitches, No 28-Day Rule

Most caravan parks in and around London are geared towards holidays. You arrive, you stay a fortnight, and then the 28-day rule means you have to hitch up and move on. That model is no use at all if you work locally, if you're between houses, or if you simply want to live somewhere quiet and affordable without a mortgage hanging over you. Willows was set up for the opposite of that. Our long-term pitches are exactly what they sound like: you bring your own touring caravan, motorhome or campervan, you settle onto a pitch, and you stay in situ. No relocating every month, no moving down the road and back again to satisfy a technicality.

That single difference changes everything about how the place feels. Because people stay, they get to know each other. Residents keep an eye on one another's vans, sign for each other's parcels, and share a chat by the gate. Some of our residents have been here for years — it is genuinely a small community rather than a car park with hook-ups. If you're used to holiday sites where the neighbours change every Friday, the calm of a settled site takes some getting used to, in the best possible way.

We are a rustic park and we say so plainly. This is fifteen acres of grass, hedgerow and forest edge, not a manicured resort with a clubhouse and a swimming pool. The tracks are gravel, the hedges are alive with birds, and in the winter it gets muddy in the way that fields do. What you get in exchange is peace of a kind that is very hard to find twelve miles from central London — you can't see or hear a road from most of the site, only birdsong and the occasional horse.

The rule that catches most people out is a planning restriction that limits how long a caravan may remain on a site not licensed for continuous residential occupation. On many touring sites this means a hard 28-day limit, after which the unit must physically leave. It is the single most common reason people call us — they have been asked to move on from somewhere else and are looking for somewhere they can stop.

At Willows there is no 28-day relocation requirement for our long-term pitches. Your caravan stays where it is put. You are welcome to treat the pitch as your base for months or years, and plenty of people do. If you have been touring for a while and you are simply tired of packing everything away every few weeks, this is the point at which the whole thing gets easier.

We are still an appointment-only site, and we do ask for photo ID when you move in. That isn't bureaucracy for its own sake — it is part of how we keep the place secure and know who is behind the gate. In practice you'll find the process refreshingly human: a phone call, a look around, a chat about what you need, and then a start date.

The single biggest group we house is working people. Tradespeople in particular — builders, electricians, groundworkers, gardeners, arborists — find us because there are no height restrictions on the site and no rule against sign-written vehicles. If you have a Transit with your business on the side, that's fine here, which is more than can be said for a lot of residential parks. The gate is locked and there is CCTV, so tools stay where you left them.

Location does a lot of the work. Enfield and Edmonton are a short, quick drive, Loughton and Chingford are minutes away, and the M25 at Junction 26 is close enough that a job anywhere around the northern half of the orbital is an easy morning. Central London is twelve miles, the Central Line at Loughton is about three miles from the gate, and overground trains run from Chingford — also three miles away — with easy access to Walthamstow Central buses and trains. For anyone whose work is scattered across north and east London and south Hertfordshire, a base here removes a great deal of driving.

The second group is people who want to spend less and live better. Long-term pitches start at £625 per calendar month for one person with their own caravan, or £155 per week, and £825 pcm for two people sharing. That figure includes an electric hook-up, mains drinking water, use of the shower and toilet facilities, one car parking space, and a small private garden area of your own beside your pitch. Compared with renting a flat within the same commute, the sums are not close.

Every long-term pitch gets a 16-amp electric hook-up and access to mains drinking water. Gas is not supplied for caravans, so you'll bring your own bottles as you would anywhere. Utility bills are otherwise included in the monthly figure, which means no separate meters to read or top up and no surprise bills in a cold month.

The toilet and shower block is on mains services — proper flushing mains toilets rather than chemical points, and power showers in wet-room style cubicles, with hot and cold sinks. We don't supply toilet paper, so bring your own. It is clean, it is warm, and it is shared, in much the same way facilities are shared on a holiday park. If having your own bathroom matters to you, some of our park-owned accommodation includes a private shower room — the larger one-bed apartments, the modern one-bed and the two-bed log cabin.

There is a laundry on site. There is no WiFi anywhere at Willows, and we would rather tell you that now than have you discover it on day one. If you work remotely you will need your own mobile data, and most residents find 4G perfectly workable. There are no open fires or wood fires permitted anywhere on the site — charcoal BBQs only — because we are surrounded by ancient woodland and will not take the risk.

Our rates are published in full on the pricing page rather than hidden behind an enquiry form, because we would rather you know before you ring. Long-term pitches for your own caravan, motorhome or campervan run from £625 pcm for one person. Awnings and extra-large pitches are charged separately: £125 pcm for a full awning or extra-large pitch, £15 per week or £60 pcm for a half awning.

Payment is by bank transfer, in advance. We do not take debit or credit cards and there is no online payment system — the whole park runs on conversations rather than portals, and that is deliberate. Photo ID is required when you move in.

Viewings are strictly by appointment. Please call us on 07816 847541 before coming down; the gate is locked and we like to meet people properly, walk them round the site, show them the facilities and answer the awkward questions face to face. Most people who take a pitch here decided during that walk.