The Arberland chalet resort grows

A new holiday park with 196 holiday homes is being built in Zwiesel, Germany (Bavarian Forest): Chalet Resort Arberland. This will be Landal GreenParks' twelfth holiday park in Germany. Arber Investment GmbH is developing the project and the holiday homes will be offered for sale on the German market to private investors and rented out through Landal GreenParks.

In the Netherlands, sales will go through Vakantiemakelaar.nl. The first eight holiday homes have already been built and they are scheduled to be available for use by Whitsun 2024.

People who invest in a holiday home may use it themselves for six weeks a year; the accommodation must be available for tourists to use the rest of the time. There are now six four-person residences, three in what is called the ‘comfort’ variant plus three in the ‘luxury’ version, and two six-person homes, one each in the comfort and luxury classes. The investors are from Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, as well as from the Netherlands and elsewhere. The residences can accommodate from 2 to a maximum of 12 persons in the comfort and luxury designs. Every residence complies with the latest standards for sustainability and insulation. The central facilities at the park are being completely renovated and transformed into a new central building with a range of facilities. Park guests can use the adjoining indoor and outdoor swimming pools of the municipality of Zwiesel.

Aad Rekelhof, general manager of Vakantiemakelaar.nl, believes that investing in a holiday home abroad can also be interesting for Dutch people: “If you want to invest in a holiday home within an acceptable distance, without necessarily getting on a plane, investing in Germany is attractive; Belgium and Austria are also options, though.” “The tax climate in Germany is favourable for the Dutch because there’s no wealth tax there,” he says. “However, you have to weigh that up against other taxes in Germany. Plus you have to do the accounting in Germany and that takes time and money. On the other hand, you can buy a lot in Germany for 250,000 euros, often still built traditionally - out of stone and concrete - and investors like that. It retains its value better. There are great opportunities in Germany, and it may be interesting to step in precisely now.” 

Rekelhof thinks the big advantage of Arber is that there is a wide range of activities around the park; at least twenty or so. “Activities and events that don’t require investment. They aren’t included in park expenses, which can make that an interesting option.” 

A growing number of holiday parks
There are more and more holiday parks in Europe. “The Netherlands is becoming saturated. We said that a few years ago, but COVID made everyone want to stay closer to home,” says Rekelhof. Demand for holidays in Northern Europe is also growing, creating space to develop or redevelop parks.  “The number of holiday parks and the opportunities to invest are growing abroad too, especially if it is more financially attractive than the Dutch market. What you do need to consider are the tax implications of it all: get properly informed about the financial implications of assets in a foreign country. After all, you’ll become liable to pay taxes in that country. That definitely has consequences. The same goes for the legal implications of contracts, which sometimes have a slightly different structure in other countries. In fact, I’d advise everyone to hire both a lawyer and a tax expert to assess those documents as best as possible. Or perhaps use a professional buying agent to make sure you take the right steps.”