_We'd like to keep the van in decent condition and not stress about who's doing what in it: This rules out letting to the public through Haven. We'd also like family and friends to be able to use the van, but, particularly during the school holidays, have to generate an income from it or the site rent starts looking a bit eeek when the bill comes in: It costs us over £5kpa to keep the van on the site. The logistics of letting are such that we rarely let the van outside the peak Easter and Summer holiday periods - we can't make enough from it to make it worth our while.

Haven publish rates for different standards of van - our van is currently at the top rate (Platinum, or whatever they're calling it this year) and, if you booked ahead to secure one for the school holidays, would cost you around £1,100 for a week (details at Haven Rates). But you can get last minute deals - at the time of writing there are a few weeks available in this standard of van for £900.

So, for the time being, this is the deal:

• A week during the school holidays is roughly two-thirds of the Haven rate - typically £700, including gas and electricity. This includes access to the pools, bars etc ('Funworks'), although this is where some variation on price may occur: We pay per head for the passes, so anything outside a standard 2+2 family may affect the price. For a two week stay, it's more economic for us to arrange 'Owners Passes', which provide the same access, but also some perks (reduced activity rates, free coffee/tea etc)
• The van is equipped to at least the standard of a Haven 'Platinum' and, in many respects, rather better (two bathrooms, two TVs, much nicer kitchen equipment, tableware etc). In one respect, however, the provision is not to Platinum standard: we don't provide towels, sheets and duvet covers - it's just too much hassle for us to co-ordinate laundry etc between lets. So you'll need to bring sheets and single/double duvet covers, towels and tea-towels. Frankly, I'd rather sleep in my own sheets anyway, because the Haven provided ones can be pretty... err... manky.
• Maximum number of occupants is six. The van can accommodate eight with the fold-out double bed in the living area, but we don't want it used: It creates chaos in the centre of the van and makes damage much more likely.  It's also not likely to give anyone a decent night's sleep - you wouldn't want to use it.
  
• A week means 'from 2pm on a given day to 10am the same day in the following week'. Which day is by agreement and will depend entirely on our or others usage of the caravan surrounding the period you want to use it - which is why I can't remember ever having to be strict about the timings. We will be flexible on exact timings - it's part of the benefit of hiring privately - but lets usually only encompass one whole weekend - we've often let people stay an extra day at the end of the week, because no-one else is using the van.
• Lets for less than a week may be possible, but probably not economic: Most people want to use the van over a working week and shorter lets disrupt full weeks. We will base the price on Haven three or four day lets, but, during the school holidays, these aren't much less than a full week.
• We can arrange for the van to be cleaned after your stay, but Haven will charge us £50 for it which we'll just pass on in the price - and you'd have to accommodate their cleaning timetable, which cuts down the length of your stay. So we make it a condition of use that you leave the van clean and tidy, in a condition that you'd be happy to find it yourself.  Haven's cleaners aren't exactly thorough and we've found this arrangement works far better for everyone.  There are cleaning materials in the van and a decent vacuum-cleaner, so it's not a big deal.