26 November 2025
We meet a couple who did exactly that, to find out how they did it!
Bella Brodie reports
Our story starts a couple of years ago, when Jane and Bill Wilson inherited a piece of land from Jane’s brother on the outskirts of Soham, in Cambridgeshire.
This land had a bit of family history to it, as her family had lived in, and even built, several houses at different stages of their lives, all within a stone’s throw from each other. Jane’s grandparents ran the pub on the corner, and owned the house next door on one side of the current plot in addition to the land. Her father built another house next to it and moved into that, and that is now occupied by Jane and Bill’s daughter and their family.
They used to own a motorhome, and first spotted the park home proposition as a possible eventual route to look at after going to the Motorhome and Caravan Show near Peterborough. When Jane’s brother died, the plot of land he was living on passed into her hands, which gave Jane and Bill the opportunity to do something with it to move next to their daughter and her family. So for Jane, that was returning to her roots in a way that reunited three generations.
HELP WHEN THEY NEEDED IT
They visited Omar to find out more and start looking at possible homes, and were also put in touch with Julie Masterman at Masterman’s Park Homes, as they specialise in helping ‘own land’ customers through the process of buying a park home.
Armed with the support they needed from Omar and Mastermans, they put their old property on the market and were quite taken aback when it sold in three days. So, their first steps had to be expedited, and a planning consultant was appointed to secure planning permission for a park home on their plot.
Jane said, “Julie was brilliant – she worked with all parties- us, the planning consultant and Omar- to help manage the process for us – without that, I’m not sure we would have got planning permission.” Meanwhile, Bill unfortunately had a series of strokes although he has made exceptional progress since, as we were happy to see during our visit. However, that support was very much needed when they started their park home journey to help make sure the process wasn’t too stressful for them.
THE HOME SPECIFICATION
Jane and Bill also decided that the Omar Colorado would be their home of choice, visiting the Omar head office in Brandon to specify it with a few small tweaks to personalise it to their needs and preferences. They wanted some of their own oak furniture, their rise and recline seating and electric bed, made tweaks to the utility space, and upgraded to Neff appliances in the kitchen.
Jane didn’t want the second bedroom furnished, as she had her eye on it as a crafting room, which has worked really well as it’s a real dream of a room size-wise to both work and store everything in. The external look and feel of the Colorado was a key part of their decision-making, as they felt it would sit well in their environment on the edge of Soham, with more of a bungalow look and feel.
To achieve that inside, they asked for a second feature wall in the dining room to match the lounge, and that worked so well that we think it will probably catch on now! Bill said, “They didn’t mind us doing our own thing on elements such as lighting, and that’s enabled us to make it our own a bit.” Another positive aspect of the Colorado was the light and bright lounge, and since settling in, they’ve added dual-sided vertical blinds to control the heat and light a step further in all seasons. Bill added, “Our only regret was that we couldn’t have gas without a significant outlay, so we had to have an electric boiler and heating system, which is more expensive to run than gas would have been. We didn’t want to go down the bottled gas route though.”
BRIDGING THE GAP
While they got things moving, they needed an interim accommodation solution to bridge the timing gap while they arranged storage for the items they wanted to keep. They split those items between a container on the premises and storage with a removals company. Bill was still in a recuperation phase and they were struggling, so their daughter and her husband gave up their beds next door and slept in the lounge for the final two weeks, so that her parents would be able to finish the last leg of their project in comfort. Perhaps not ideal, but fortunately, their new home was on the way in good time, so they had plenty to look forward to!
THE ARRIVAL – A MAGICAL MOMENT!
What staying next door did facilitate was a magical moment when the home arrived on site, as they saw it pull up. Jane explains, “I really can’t tell you how excited we were when that happened, as we knew we’d soon be settled into our home. That meant the world to us all having our own home again, so I burst into tears, it was very emotional. The fixing was completed on the same day, and the power and plumbing were connected a couple of days later. I contacted a local plumber, and Julie helped organise the electricity connection – it was all very quick. From then our attention turned to the outside areas, so we still had plenty to do, but we have been enjoying it ever since!” They moved in on 4th December, in good time for Christmas, although Jane did confess it took a while to find the decorations and has now bought a new set specially tailored to their lovely new home.
FURTHER HELP FROM THE OMAR GROUP VIA UK SUNDECKS
The plot landscaping was complete when I visited, with a large drive, summerhouse and wraparound access, fully fenced in different stages, which I thought was a clever idea, with seating and different fencing to change the feel of each zone.
Easy access has been a key consideration during Bill’s recovery so they used UK Sundecks to install the steps, skirting, decking, ramps and rails so it would match the home perfectly, and we hear he’s been walking laps around the home to build his strength back up. They’ve done a fantastic job, and even managed to install a power point on the decking area rather than the home, to make it even more accessible to all areas of the garden.
Since then, they have added a greenhouse and the summerhouse to the front, with low thresholds to ensure that Bill has full access to all areas of their house and garden. As a retired civil engineer, he even has his own secure workshop in the container they used for storage, painted green to blend into the country garden outlook, just next to the hedgehog house, which is apparently fully occupied!
IN SUMMARY
The Wilsons love their park home, and were grateful to have chosen Mastermans, Omar and UK Sundecks to help them through the process. Jane said; “They were all brilliant, we couldn’t fault them. We get a lot of positive comments as people don’t always realise it’s a park home. It’s one thing owning your own plot, but you need to find your way through the process, and it’s important to have experienced help on board. My priority was supporting Bill in his recovery, while also making sure that our new home wouldn’t be demanding from a maintenance perspective which could set him back. We’ve achieved that and it felt like we were all one big team making it happen. I don’t know what we’d have done without them!”
Julie Masterman said; “It was a pleasure to help Jane and Bill in their dream of achieving a park home on their own land and enjoy their much improved quality of life, it’s absolutely what we do best providing exceptional customer service and support within the whole package from advising on planning, then customers choice of home with very individual and specific care to detail and ensuring delivery and siting is successfully completed, we also oversee Omar’s well renowned customer care with each and every one of our customers.”
Speaking on behalf of the Omar Group Lee Baxter said; “We work closely with Mastermans, and that helps streamline the process for own land buyers, as they are so experienced in guiding buyers through the process. Having UK Sundecks as part of our group has also been particularly beneficial for the Wilsons on this occasion. That ensures that the outside structures complement the home perfectly, while also delivering on practical requirements and access needs. It’s a great result all round, and we are always really pleased to see buyers happily settled and enjoying our homes. “
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