They’ve branded the site in Cornwall a ‘decrepit disgrace’ and some have accused the company of mis-selling. ‘Living the dream’ has turned into a ‘nightmare’ – at £6,000 a year in fees.
Debbie Mularczyk outside her caravan at the Seaview Holiday Park in Sennen(Image: Olivier Vergnault / Cornwall Live)
Caravan owners at a holiday park owned by ‘Gipsy Billionaire’ Alfie Best have vented their anger over resale contracts that they claim keep them “trapped” and a site they say has been left to fall into ruin.
Several owners at the Seaview Holiday Park in Sennen, near Land’s End, which is his owned by Mr Best’s Wyldecrest Holiday Parks company, fear they have been taken for a ride and their investment is now not worth much more than the paper their contract was written on.
Debbie and Stan Mularczyk bought a caravan at the site in 2022 as they approached retirement as way to spend more time in their beloved Cornwall and have an extra income from renting it out when they’re not using it.
The couple both grew up and worked in Cornwall when they were young before they had to move to Somerset for work.
When Debbie’s father died they decided to invest part of her inheritance in buying a caravan at the beauty spot. It is easy to see why anyone would want to buy a caravan there, given the stunning location, views and surrounds.
Land’s End and its scenic coast path is a few minutes walk away, and on a clear day you can see the Isles of Scilly on the horizon.
The Instagram favourite Nanzijal – with its beach and ‘magical’ cave – can easily reached (despite a bit of a trek) while Sennen Cove and its well-known surfing beach is down below.
The Mularczyks spent £32,000 on a caravan after looking into the investment seriously, saying they were given guarantees that they would be able to sell it on in the future if they so wished and that the site owner planned to invest £5m over the coming years to make the park a high quality premier destination.
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Seaview Holiday Park in Sennen, near Land’s End, which is his owned by ‘Millionaire Gipsy’ Alfie Best’s Wyldecrest Holiday Parks(Image: Olivier Vergnault / Cornwall Live)
“The caravans on the website look great and the site shows all the bells and whistles,” Debbie said. “But there are none.
“We love the location but the site is dilapidated. There are utility cables sticking out of the ground. The children’s play area has just two items left and the pitch and putt is broken.
“This is charged to us for fees of £6,000 a year. There hasn’t been a manager there now since October, so no health and safety when it comes to antisocial behaviour.”
She added: “You would not believe that this is actually a holiday site advertised to open to guests again next month. It’s just a bomb site. The historical photos are still used to advertise today but it looks nothing like the photos from years ago.”
Debbie said that before buying the caravan she and Stan asked so many questions especially about resale.
“We were reassured by the then manager that it was an investment and you can’t go wrong and you can sell it again at any time,” she said. “We were told that we could sell it on or sell it back to the company. We were told we could also sell the pitch back as it’s very unusual in that it is a freehold caravan on a freehold pitch..
“He also told us that the site owner planned to spend £5m over the next five years as he was making it his premier site. We believed what we were told and so we bought it for cash.
“This was supposed to be a legacy from my dad who grew up round here and we’d own our little bit of Cornwall. But It’s turned out to be a nightmare.”
Paul and Tracey Chambers bought a static caravan at the site a couple of years ago after losing their son in a car crash and losing their pub business just after Covid.
In an email to Mr Best shared with CornwallLive, they said: “We thought we deserved and needed this when we saw the advert for purchasing a static caravan and pretty much put together all our savings.
“We purchased the caravan, paid the site/ground fees and wanted to live the dream. Unfortunately it’s gone from bad to worse.”
Some of the caravans at the Seaview Holiday Park in Sennen near Land’s End(Image: Olivier Vergnault / Cornwall Live)
Mr Chambers added: “We were initially promised back in September 2022 that the site clubhouse would be open within weeks of our purchase. Two years later and it was still not open.
“We purchased the static sited caravan because it came with a wrap-around decking, sea views, promises of clubhouse opening, road being made to and around our static to make access by car possible.
“Then before Christmas 2024, we were told that we would be moved on January 1, 2025, to another part of the park with no sea view, no decking and nothing in the way of compensation for our inconvenience.”
He said that when he inquired about any buy back option he was told by Wyldecrest he would get £1,000, only for the offer to be rescinded and to be told he couldn’t even sell his caravan on the open market because there is a tiny clause in his contract stopping him from doing so.
Debbie and Stan and other owners expressed the same frustration about being “stuck” and unable to sell their caravans on because they are over 10 years old – when they purchased them when they were already 12 years old.
Some of the caravans at the Seaview Holiday Park in Sennen near Land’s End(Image: Wyldecrest Holiday Parks)
Debbie added: “We have been told by four managers in four years that the site will receive investment. We were told it was a freehold including for the pitch but it’s a leasehold. It was on Rightmove and online as a freehold. We were told this place would make us money. It was a no-brainer.
“We would not have bought this place if we’d known what we know now.”
Dave Coates bought his caravan at the site in 2020 as a holiday let for his family to enjoy. He said his children have grown up and don’t want to come down from Gloucestershire and enjoy the site anymore so he decided to sell it.
“When we bought the caravan,” he said, “we were told that because of its age we would have to either sell it back to the park or sell it through them. We had no choice.
“But now we’re trying to sell it, there’s no-one to be seen.
“It’s very frustrating. I have tried to call them. I have emailed them several times but there has been no feedback. I tried to call their head office and it was the same. They told me they’re in the same boat as us. How?
The play park at the Seaview Holiday Park in Sennen(Image: Olivier Vergnault / Cornwall Live)
“You’re lucky if they answer the phone in the first place. We’re still waiting for a call back. We just got to the stage where we don’t know where to turn to.”
Five caravan owners including Debbie and Stan have now sought legal advice with a view to take Wyldecrest to court over what they consider to be mis-selling.
Mr Chambers added: “All I want, and I am sure the other static caravan owners want, is reimbursement. A lot of static caravan owners here, like us, put all they had into this as an investment and now are being treated like this.”
Laura Leftley is another caravan owner who feels let down by Wyldecrest. She too is annoyed at the state of the site and not being able to sell her caravan and feeling trapped in a bad contract. She too has started legal action against the company over alleged mis-selling.
She said: “It’s been really hard. I viewed other sites and wish I had chosen differently. But a promise was sold and to this day nothing they have promised has come to fruition.”
The dinosaurs themed crazy golf at the Seaview Holiday Park in Sennen(Image: Olivier Vergnault / Cornwall Live)
On its website Wyldecrest promotes its holiday parks around the country as “premier holiday parks with spectacular views”.
It says: “Wyldecrest Parks have a wonderful choice of premier holiday parks around the UK. With spectacular views and locations close to breathtaking coastlines, our parks are designed to help you unwind and leave your worries behind.
“Whatever your preference, we have a park to suit all tastes and budgets, whether that is strolling along miles of deserted golden beaches or the high octane activities of water skiing and speed boat trips, we have a park for you.”
Nick Heywood, head of holiday parks at Wyldecrest, which owns eight holiday parks and 112 residential parks in the UK, said the Sennen site has been inspected by Cornwall Council recently over its licence and the local authority did not find anything wrong.
He insisted there has been a lot of investment in the site and it looks “nothing like a bomb site”.
The pool (on a wet February day) at the Seaview Holiday Park in Sennen(Image: Wyldecrest Holiday Parks)
Mr Heywood said all areas are maintained and all the empty plots have only got electric boxes remaining.
He said that since taking over the site Wyldecrest has put in 14 new concrete bases, opened up the back field and made it fit for purpose for the tourers, cleared nearly 100 unfit-for-purpose caravans and brought over 22 new units onto the park.
He said the complex has been maintained and there is a tenant to run the bar and restaurant while all caravans have had their electrics updated, a new laundrette has been installed and there is now wi-fi on site.
Mr Heywood added: “The hire fleet has been upgraded. All empty plots have been cleared of debris and a new road has been installed from the two lodges at the side of the pool round the back of the park.
“We have maintained the grounds to an acceptable standard. Installed additional CCTV and re-opened the games room for the children and the soft play.”
CornwallLive visited the park to speak to Debbie on Wednesday (February 18). While there are new caravans in situ along with some new facilities and the pool is up and running (it will be cleaned further ahead of the summer), most caravans are accessed by muddy tracks with deep ruts.
(Image: Olivier Vergnault / Cornwall Live)
There is some rubble and mess shoved behind a hedge and fence. The tennis court is also a dumping ground and unusable for its intended purpose.
The play park is in a dire state and looks sad and decrepit and no longer fit for use while the pitch-and-putt course is broken.
“You’d be gutted to see this if you’d come on holiday after booking online and seeing the fancy brochure,” Debbie told us.
Many people who have used the site have posted equally scathing comments on review websites like PitchUp or TripAdvisor.
Lisa F posted this in September last year: “The facilities were an absolute disgrace. The toilets were mouldy, smelly and completely outdated, which made using them an unpleasant experience every time.
“The pitch itself was flooded and boggy, leaving no comfortable or usable space to set up properly. The whole site just looked neglected and run down, giving the impression it hasn’t been maintained in years. Overall, I would not recommend this campsite to anyone.”
The tennis court at the Seaview Holiday Park in Sennen, near Land’s End(Image: Olivier Vergnault / Cornwall Live)
Another holidaymaker added: “The site had a bit of a run down feel. The crazy golf has a dinosaur theme but the models are all broken and the area is not well kept. The outdoor pool had no heating as parts are broken and have not been replaced.”
Mr Heywood agreed the play park was not at its best right now but said the plan is to remove it all completely within the next six weeks along with the crazy golf and to rebuild and relocate the play park to another part of the site.
As for the complaints owners have made about not being able to sell on, he said: “Every sale is taken on its own individual basis. Owners have a licence agreement which state the rules about what they can and can’t sell.
“There will be an age restriction for caravans, but with that in mind we can communicate with owners on a one-to-one basis and can consider it.”
Debbie added: “If we lose our court case. We’ll just walk away.”
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