Buying a Static Caravan: What to Check Before You Commit

Before comparing models, write down what ownership needs to give you.

Think about how often you would realistically visit, the journey you would tolerate on a Friday evening, who would stay and the months you would want to use it. Consider your annual budget separately from the purchase price.

Then test the park against those requirements.

Visit the actual pitch, not just the showground. Walk the route to the facilities. Check access, parking, neighbouring pitches and whether the setting feels right for the way you intend to spend your time.

Ask about anything that would change your decision: pets, visitors, accessibility, letting, decking, facility opening periods or planned development near the pitch.

A useful starting question is:

Would I still want this park if the caravan I first liked were no longer available?

That helps separate a good-looking unit from a location and ownership arrangement you genuinely want.

A park being open for 12 months does not mean you can live there permanently. The NCC explicitly distinguishes year-round availability for holidays and short breaks from permission to use a holiday caravan as a permanent residence. NCC consumer guidance

Keep three things separate:

Planning permission governs the authorised development and use.

The park’s site licence, where required, sets conditions for operating the site.

Your pitch agreement sets out the arrangement offered to you by the operator.

GOV.UK confirms that caravan sites generally require a local authority licence, subject to exemptions, and that planning permission is required before applying for one. GOV.UK

Ask for the relevant documents and confirmation that they relate to the area containing your proposed pitch. Where the position is unclear, check with the local authority or an appropriately experienced adviser.

A construction-standard label is not a substitute for this check. The NCC’s holiday-caravan category includes units built to EN 1647 or BS 3632; the product’s specification does not, by itself, establish permission to occupy a particular pitch as your home. NCC holiday-caravan definition

Ask for a dated offer identifying the exact caravan, seller and pitch, with every included item and additional charge clearly stated.

The offer should distinguish the unit price from siting, connections, decking, inventory, compulsory charges and any pitch-fee promotion. Trading Standards guidance says buyers should receive clear pricing, including mandatory costs and the actual fee for the selected pitch before committing. Business Companion

Do not compare one caravan’s unit-only price with another’s prepared, connected, on-pitch package.

Example: the lower advertised price is not necessarily the lower starting cost

The following figures are fictional and illustrate a comparison method. They are not market averages, current park offers or a complete ownership budget.

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Offer A initially looks £4,000 cheaper. Once those particular extras are included, the starting subtotal is the same.

That does not automatically make Offer B the better purchase. You still need to compare the actual units, condition, location, agreement, ongoing charges and exit terms.

The useful conclusion is narrower: the headline prices were not enough to decide.

Treat the pitch fee as one part of the annual budget, not shorthand for every ownership expense.

For example, Parkdean’s published guidance says its pitch fees vary with the park, pitch location and unit size. Your comparison therefore needs the fee for the particular pitch offered, not a park-wide “from” figure. Parkdean pitch-fee guidance

Ask for the current charge, the period it covers, any introductory reduction and what happens when that reduction expires. Establish which utilities, insurance, servicing, maintenance and other charges sit outside it.

Then read the fee-review clause. What can change, when, for what reason and by what calculation? Contract guidance emphasises the need for clear variation mechanisms; an annual budget assumption is not a substitute for the agreement’s wording. Business Companion

Request available fee history as context, but do not treat past increases as a forecast.

For your own affordability test, consider a less comfortable year: higher costs, an unexpected repair and fewer visits than planned. Would ownership still feel manageable?

“How long will it last?” is not the same question as “How long can it stay here?”

Check the proposed agreement’s end date, extension provisions, age or replacement conditions and what happens on termination. Trading Standards guidance says the agreement should clearly explain tenure, how long the unit can remain and removal consequences. Business Companion

For a pre-owned caravan, ask specifically what agreement you would receive. Do not calculate the remaining period from the previous owner’s paperwork alone.

A useful way to record the position is:

Condition: what evidence do we have about the unit?

Pitch period: what period is actually being offered?

After that: is continued occupation a contractual entitlement, an option subject to conditions or something requiring a future decision?

Do not assume a generic “15-year rule” answers those questions for every purchase.

For a new caravan

Ask for the precise model, specification and included options, together with the agreed delivery, installation and handover arrangements.

Identify who will deal with installation defects, outstanding work and warranty registration. Request relevant commissioning records and a written snagging process.

Do not let a promise to “sort everything after handover” replace a clear record of what remains to be done.

For a second-hand caravan

Ask for its age, ownership and repair history, available service records and any known defects.

Condition checks should address the relevant risks, including damp or water ingress, floors, roof and seals, chassis corrosion and the installed systems. Willerby’s maintenance guidance identifies leaks, floor deterioration and chassis corrosion as matters needing attention; it is not a substitute for assessing the particular caravan. Willerby

Where condition could materially affect the decision, obtain an appropriately scoped independent inspection. Confirm that the professional actually inspects static caravans and that the report covers your concerns.

Gas safety work requires a suitably qualified Gas Safe registered engineer. Check their competence for the relevant work and fuel type, rather than assuming any gas registration covers everything. HSE

Check the warranty, not just the word “warranty”

Establish who provides it, whether you qualify, what is excluded and whether it transfers.

For example, Willerby’s published scheme limits eligibility to the first owner while the home remains on its original plot. A used caravan should not automatically be described as having the original manufacturer’s cover. Other manufacturers and sellers may offer different terms. Willerby warranty

A warranty is also separate from applicable consumer rights against a trader. An expired or absent warranty does not automatically remove those rights. GOV.UK

Receiving a report is not the same as resolving a defect. Record any limitations, recommended follow-up work and evidence that promised repairs have actually been completed.

The following is a practical way to organise your enquiries. It is not a claim that every document must exist in the same form for every sale.

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These requests bring together the purchase, contractual, permission and technical-evidence checks discussed above. The key distinction is between having information and having enough reliable information to make the decision. GOV.UK site licensing

Keep dated copies of the documents you actually relied on. A newer draft should not silently replace the version against which you checked the offer.

You may be buying for years of holidays. It is still worth understanding the exit before you buy.

The NCC and BH&HPA describe distinct routes including a private sale on the pitch, an off-pitch sale and a trade sale back to the park. Those routes involve different packages and should not be treated as equivalent values. Their joint guidance also describes holiday caravans and lodges as leisure purchases whose resale values are likely to decline, rather than financial investments. NCC and BH&HPA joint statement

Ask how your proposed agreement handles those routes. Establish the park’s involvement, buyer approval, any commission or transfer charges, the arrangement offered to a future buyer and your removal responsibilities.

The relevant terms and costs should be clear and fair; their presence in an agreement does not remove the possibility of a legal challenge. Business Companion

“We can make you an offer when you sell” is not the same as a guaranteed buyback price.

For your own planning, distinguish a supported expectation from a promise you can actually rely on. Include a less favourable exit scenario rather than assuming the future sale will fund your next purchase.

A view, renewal assurance, letting projection or future facility might be the reason you choose one park over another.

Ask the person making the assurance to explain exactly what is being promised, any conditions and where it is recorded.

Verbal statements can matter legally. Asking for written confirmation is not an admission that spoken promises are worthless; it makes the evidence easier to preserve and contradictions easier to identify. Business Companion

Be especially careful with projected rental income. Ask what occupancy, prices, charges and owner-use assumptions sit behind it. Gross income is not the same as the amount left after costs.

Letting also brings responsibilities beyond personal holiday use. HSE’s landlord gas-safety guidance expressly includes rented holiday caravans, so clarify the duties and any management arrangements before relying on letting as part of your plan. HSE

Before paying reservation money, ask what it secures, for how long, whether it forms or contributes to a binding purchase agreement, and what happens if you or the seller cannot proceed.

Do not assume every caravan purchase has an automatic 14-day cooling-off period. Rights depend on the circumstances and type of contract; buying on the park is not automatically treated like a purchase made entirely at a distance. Business Companion

Equally, a “non-refundable” label does not settle every refund question. The CMA explains that cancellation terms must be fair and that a business cannot necessarily retain everything paid simply because its contract says so. CMA consumer guidance

Where a deadline arrives before important checks are complete, ask for the terms and time you need in writing. Do not assume you can safely commit now and untangle the position afterwards.

A park’s reservation or purchase deposit is separate from Park & Lodge’s £99 enquiry deposit. Paying Park & Lodge does not reserve a caravan, pay the seller or itself mean that we have accepted your case.

Our recommended approach is to separate necessary protections from optional improvements.

A repair needed to address a material defect belongs in the first category. So does resolving a contradiction about the pitch arrangement. A contribution towards an optional extra belongs in the second.

Prepare a short written list of what needs to change, why it matters and what evidence would resolve it. Once an improvement is agreed, check that it appears in the revised offer or appropriate contractual document.

Do not accept a lower price as the answer to a different unresolved question.

A discount does not establish residential permission. It does not make an unclear agreement clear. It does not demonstrate that a technical concern has been resolved.

The aim is an acceptable purchase, not the largest-looking reduction from an asking price.

A missing document is a reason to ask questions, not automatic proof of a bad park.

The important question is whether the gap prevents a responsible decision.

Pause where essential evidence is outstanding, a material condition concern needs specialist input or the offer and paperwork do not agree.

Seek changes where the problem is understood and there is a specific amendment or remedy that could make the purchase acceptable.

Consider walking away where the proposal does not fit your intended use or budget, necessary changes are refused, or material uncertainty remains despite reasonable attempts to resolve it.

Proceed because the evidence supports the purchase, not because you have spent several weekends looking or feel awkward disappointing the sales team.

You can carry out these enquiries yourself. Park & Lodge’s role is to take on the agreed investigation and negotiation work, rather than leave you with a checklist to manage alone.

Still looking for the right park and caravan? The Full Buying Service, £1,895, starts with your requirements, researches suitable options and continues into investigation, negotiation and a written assessment of the chosen proposal. Full Buying Service

Already found a caravan you are considering? Purchase & Negotiation, £1,295, focuses on the identified proposal: the park, costs, terms, important assurances and exit position, with negotiation where there is scope and a written recommendation. Purchase & Negotiation

Our commercial and documentary work does not replace an appropriate technical inspection or advice from a solicitor on legal questions. Where a specialist finding is needed, it should be treated as a dependency, not assumed away.

We work for the buyer, not the park. The aim is to help you reach a purchase you understand and are comfortable making, including advising you not to proceed where appropriate.