Caravan Site Fees Explained

As is the case with buying any traditional bricks and mortar property, there are associated costs and fees included that you must continue to pay during your residency. That means that there are some static caravan site fees that you should be aware of – some of which you will pay with any property (such as water and energy), while some are exclusive to the caravan lifestyle (such as site fees).

For many, selling up and starting a new life on a residential caravan park is the dream. With all the facilities you could need all found onsite, leaving little reason to ever leave the site, it leaves little wonder as to why so many choose to make the move.

However, while you can purchase the static caravan outright, you do not own the land on which it is pitched on (this is why you cannot apply for a mortgage to finance a park home). Therefore, you are required to pay static caravan fees, as well as other associated costs.

Running Costs

Three main running costs come with owning property in a residential park and you can find a list of static caravan site fees below:

Site Fees

Caravan park site fees cover the costs of renting the pitch for your home, as well as going towards the park’s costs of running onsite facilities, such as shops, restaurants and other amenities. All fees will be detailed in your contract with the park and may change in line with inflation. Static caravan annual site fees are dependent on the residential park you are looking to purchase a property at, which means that for an accurate price you should get in contact with the park you are interested in viewing. As a rough guide, caravan park pitch fees can range anywhere between £1,000-£2000 and £4,000-£5000 per annum, depending on the location and facilities the park offers.

Water

Just as you would in a brick and mortar property, you will have to pay water costs. This will be paid separately to the costs of your site fees and energy costs and the cost of water varies from region to region.

Energy (Gas and Electric)

The cost of energy should also be taken into account as part of your static caravan site fees, and can sometimes be included in those payments depending on the agreement in place with the residential park. Some parks install meters while others offer to connect up to gas bottles – you should ask for more information at your relevant park.

Insurance

Just as you should take out home insurance for a traditional property, you should also look into insuring your static caravan. As you might expect, the larger (and more valuable) the caravan is, the more expensive the insurance costs are going to be. You can either seek out quotes from insurance brokers yourself or speak to the Allen Caravans team who will be more than happy to point you in the right direction should you require any help with this. A ball-park figure to insure your static caravan is in and around £200 a year, although this is dependent on its age, value and location.

Council Tax

When a static caravan becomes a dwelling, in that it is used as a place of residence, you will be responsible for paying council tax. As is the case with normal bricks and mortar properties, the council tax band you are in is dependent on your location. The council tax band of any static caravan for sale will be included in the advertisement, while you will be notified of any changes to your property’s tax band by correspondence from the local council.

TV Licence

This is a question which is often asked and the answer is that, yes, if you are planning to watch television in your static caravan then you must pay for a TV licence. You are required by law to pay for a TV licence if you watch any live broadcasted television, as well as use any BBC streaming service (such as iPlayer and Sounds). If, however, you will only be consuming on-demand programming through non-BBC services (such as Netflix and YouTube etc), you do not have to pay for a TV licence.

Paying Your Caravan Park Site Fees

All fees that are directly related to the running costs and pitching fees of your static caravan will be easily payable directly to the residential park at which your property is located. We would recommend paying via direct debit, although other methods of payment can be agreed with the management team at the site. In regards to the other associated costs, such as your council tax and TV licence, nothing changes as you should continue to pay these exactly as you would when living in a brick and mortar property.

Should you have any further questions such as how much are caravan site fees at any of the residential parks operated by the Allens Caravans team, then please do not hesitate to get in contact with a member of our team today. We will be more than happy to help with your query in any way that we can.