Selling a Holiday Lodge: Resale Fees, Transfer Charges & Exit Costs

The exact options depend on your agreement, but industry and Trading Standards guidance commonly distinguish several routes.

1. Sell to the park

The operator may agree to buy the lodge from you.

This may be simple, but a park buy-back price should not be confused with the retail price the park may later advertise to another buyer.

2. Sell privately with the lodge staying on its pitch

A private buyer purchases the lodge and, subject to the park's contractual process, receives the right to keep it on the park under a new pitch/licence agreement.

This can preserve value that would disappear if the lodge were removed from its park setting.

3. Sell privately off the park

The lodge is sold without the pitch agreement and park package.

Removal, disconnection, transport and crane costs may apply.

4. Give or transfer the lodge

Some agreements also deal with transfers to family members, including after death.

The important point is that these rights are contractual. Do not assume you have the same freedom to sell a lodge as you would a normal freehold house.

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An on-pitch private sale can be commercially valuable because the next buyer is acquiring more than the physical unit.

They may also receive:

• the ability to keep the lodge on the park;
• use of park facilities;
• the remaining agreement period;
• whatever other rights the new agreement provides.

The NCC/BH&HPA industry statement says an on-pitch private sale will often provide the strongest financial return because the unit is sold with the benefit of the remaining licence period.

That does not mean a private on-pitch sale always produces the highest price.

Before relying on it, establish:

• whether private on-pitch sale is permitted;
• whether the park has first refusal;
• whether the park must approve the buyer;
• what checks are permitted;
• whether the sale must go through the park office;
• the transfer/resale deduction;
• VAT treatment;
• what agreement term the buyer receives;
• whether the buyer's site fee will differ;
• what certificates/repairs are required;
• whether the park can refuse the buyer and on what grounds.

Current Trading Standards guidance says a park must not use its rights to block a private sale unfairly.

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A transfer fee is a payment that may become due to the park when you sell the lodge privately while it remains on its pitch and a new agreement is issued to the purchaser.

Terminology varies. You may also see words such as:

• transfer fee;
• resale fee;
• sales commission;
• commission.

Read the actual agreement rather than relying on the label.

The current NCC model agreement defines a transfer fee as an agreed percentage of the private on-pitch sale price and describes it as plus VAT, where applicable under that model.

The actual percentage is not universal.

Trading Standards guidance says any costs charged, or how they are calculated, should be clearly set out and reasonable. It also warns against fees charged where no service is supplied in return.

Do not confuse the percentage with the cash deduction

If an agreement applies a percentage to the sale price, a higher selling price also increases the cash deduction.

For example, if your agreement stated a transfer percentage of X% plus applicable VAT, the cash deduction would depend on:

• the actual eventual selling price;
• the contractual percentage;
• the VAT treatment/rate applying at that time;
• any separate deductions.

Do not assume the advertised percentage is necessarily the final all-in amount if the agreement says VAT is additional.

Park & Lodge rule:

Always record the transfer percentage, VAT treatment and any additional sale deductions separately.

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An agreement may give the park first refusal before you complete a private sale.

That does not necessarily mean the park can choose any price it likes.

The NCC model agreement gives one example of a structured process: the seller notifies the park of the intended private-sale price, the park has a short period in which to decide whether to buy at that price, and if it does not buy, the private sale may continue subject to the buyer-approval process.

This is an example model, not a universal statutory procedure.

Buyer approval is another important distinction.

Trading Standards guidance recognises that a park may have a legitimate role in checking a purchaser, but warns against unreasonable checks or using approval rights to obstruct private sales.

Before buying, ask:

• What exactly must I do before marketing/selling?
• How long does the park have for first refusal?
• At what price may the park exercise it?
• What checks can the park carry out on my buyer?
• On what grounds can approval be refused?
• How quickly must the park make a decision?
• Is there a dispute process?

A right to sell that cannot realistically be exercised is not much of an exit route.

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This is one of the most overlooked resale questions.

A future purchaser may not receive a fresh full agreement period.

The NCC model agreement, for example, says that an approved private purchaser receives a new licence agreement for the unexpired length of the original Agreement Period.

Its own example is simple:

If the original agreement period were 20 years and the owner sold after three, the buyer would receive 17 years.

Again, this is a model agreement, not a rule applying to every park.

But it illustrates the commercial issue.

Suppose you buy with 15 years remaining and plan to sell after ten.

If your buyer receives only the unexpired term, they may be buying a lodge with around five years remaining.

That can be very different from buying the same lodge with a fresh 15-year agreement.

Ask before you buy

What agreement term would a private purchaser receive if I sold after my expected ownership period?

That question should be answered before you assume a future resale value.

Holiday Lodge Depreciation Explained

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A park buy-back can offer a simpler route out.

But do not assume:

"If the park sells a similar lodge for £60,000, it will pay me £60,000."

The NCC/BH&HPA industry statement explains why the figures can differ.

A park may buy the physical lodge at a trade value. If the park later resells it to a consumer, the retail package may include:

• a new licence agreement;
• a pitch;
• park facilities;
• preparation;
• warranty/support;
• sales/administration;
• other elements of the ownership package.

That can produce a retail asking price materially above what the previous owner received.

Before relying on buy-back, ask:

• Is the park obliged to buy, or is it discretionary?
• How is the offer calculated?
• Is an independent/trade guide used?
• Does the pitch/view contribute anything to your buy-back price?
• What deductions apply?
• When would you be paid?
• Does the park guarantee any minimum?
• Is the promise actually written into the contract?

A salesperson saying:

"We'll always buy it back."

is not equivalent to a contractual buy-back obligation.

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Off-park sale is a very different transaction.

You are selling the physical lodge without the future buyer receiving the same park/pitch package.

Potential costs can include:

• disconnection;
• crane;
• transport;
• escort/abnormal-load costs;
• access works;
• storage;
• disposal/scrappage;
• reinstatement of the pitch where contractually required.

Trading Standards guidance says the agreement should explain what follows termination, including moving the lodge off the park and the costs of doing so. It says removal charges should be clear and reasonable.

The NCC's best-practice guidance likewise recognises reasonable removal charges for an off-park sale.

Why this matters before purchase

A lodge with a poor on-pitch resale route may leave removal as the fallback option.

If removal is expensive, that materially affects your downside risk.

Ask:

What would you charge today to disconnect and facilitate removal of this exact lodge from this exact pitch?

A current estimate is not a guarantee of the future cost, but it is better than assuming removal is free.

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An agreement does not necessarily renew automatically.

The NCC model agreement explicitly treats its Agreement Period as finite and says that, when it expires, the lodge must be removed unless the parties enter into another agreement.

There is no obligation in that model for either side to enter into a new agreement.

Your own contract may be different.

Before purchase, establish:

• expiry date;
• remaining term;
• any contractual renewal right;
• whether renewal is discretionary;
• whether the lodge must be replaced;
• what age/condition rules apply;
• removal obligations;
• likely costs if no new agreement is offered.

Do not build a 15-year ownership plan around an eight-year agreement plus a verbal:

"We normally renew good owners."

If those extra years are important to you, the written position matters.

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A headline resale value is not the same as the amount you keep.

A useful exit calculation starts with:

Gross resale proceeds

then deducts:

• transfer/resale charge;
• VAT where applicable;
• required safety certificates/repairs;
• amounts lawfully due under the agreement;
• removal/disconnection where relevant;
• other genuine selling/exit costs.

The result is:

Net exit proceeds

That is the figure that should feed into a true-cost calculation.

Example structure

If:

• gross sale: £50,000;
• contractual transfer deduction: £[X];
• other exit costs: £[Y];

then:

Net proceeds = £50,000 − £X − £Y

The arithmetic is simple. The hard part is knowing what X and Y are allowed to be under the actual agreement.

Model your ownership and exit costs

Ask these before committing:

1. Can I sell privately with the lodge staying on pitch?
2. Does the park have first refusal?
3. How long does that first-refusal process last?
4. What checks can the park make on my buyer?
5. What can cause the park to refuse them?
6. What transfer/resale percentage applies?
7. Is VAT additional?
8. Are there any other sale/admin deductions?
9. What agreement term will my buyer receive?
10. Will their site fee be the same as mine?
11. Does any discount/loyalty rate transfer?
12. Is park buy-back guaranteed or discretionary?
13. How is a park buy-back offer calculated?
14. What does off-park removal cost?
15. Who controls removal contractors?
16. What happens at agreement expiry?
17. Is renewal contractual or discretionary?
18. Are there age/condition standards that could prevent on-pitch resale?
19. What repairs/certificates are required before transfer?
20. Are any of these points different from what the salesperson has told me?

What We Check

No single item automatically proves a deal is bad, but investigate carefully where:

• private on-pitch sale is prohibited or heavily obstructed;
• transfer costs are unclear;
• VAT treatment is not explained;
• other deductions can be added without clear criteria;
• the park can refuse buyers on vague grounds;
• the future buyer receives materially worse terms without a clear basis;
• the park buy-back is presented as guaranteed but the agreement says discretionary;
• remaining term at your expected exit is very short;
• removal charges are unknown or effectively uncapped;
• important resale rules are missing from documents supplied before commitment;
• verbal sales claims conflict with the agreement.

Current Trading Standards guidance specifically says a park must not use its rights to prevent private sales unfairly, impose unreasonable purchaser checks, or give a private-sale purchaser worse terms/costs without proper basis.

Park & Lodge approach:

We distinguish:

• a commercially poor term;
• a potential fairness concern;
• and a point that needs authoritative legal interpretation.

We do not label every expensive clause "illegal".

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The exit is one of the core areas we investigate.

For a proposed transaction we look at:

• remaining agreement term;
• what a future purchaser receives;
• first refusal;
• buyer approval;
• transfer/resale deduction;
• VAT treatment;
• park buy-back;
• removal/disconnection;
• expiry/renewal;
• sales promises;
• how those terms affect the commercial package.

We also compare those terms with the buyer's intended ownership period rather than automatically treating a planning target as a hard requirement.

We can negotiate, but not everything is fixable

Where there is credible room to negotiate, we may challenge:

• the purchase price;
• transfer percentage;
• removal exposure;
• contract clarity;
• agreement term/extension;
• fee concessions;
• other commercial terms.

But a discount does not automatically repair a poor exit structure.

If the deal remains wrong after investigation and realistic negotiation, our job is to say so.