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Costs

What does it cost to sell a static caravan?

Selling on the pitch normally costs the park's commission, commonly 15% of the sale price plus VAT. Taking the caravan off the park avoids that but adds a disconnection and de-siting charge, which NACO puts between £400 and £3,000. The published percentages, the VAT rule, and why the 10% legal cap does not cover you.

Published 2026-08-01 · updated 2026-08-01 · 10 min read · all figures sourced below

Selling a static caravan on its pitch normally costs you the park's commission, commonly 15% of the sale price plus VAT. Selling it off the park avoids that fee but adds a disconnection and de-siting charge, which the National Association of Caravan Owners puts between £400 and £3,000.

Both come out of your proceeds. On a caravan sold for £30,000, a 15% commission plus VAT is £5,400, which is more than the £5,370 that West Dorset Leisure Holidays charges as its lowest 2026 pitch fee. The industry's own guidance says the percentage should already be written into the agreement you signed when you bought.

How much commission does a holiday park take when you sell a static caravan?

Two operators publish an actual percentage on their own websites, and both put caravans at 15%.

West Dorset Leisure Holidays publishes the most precise figures. Its costs of ownership page states: "The Transfer Fee is 15% of the purchase price plus VAT on all Caravan Holiday Homes sold and 7.5% of the purchase price plus VAT on all Lodge Holiday Homes sold." It then adds "a separate client sale charge of £850", covering a gas safety check, a boiler service, internal and external cleans, the transfer paperwork, a website listing with photographs, and up to five viewings.

Haulfryn publishes a ceiling. Its selling guide says that if you find your own buyer, "a licence transfer fee will apply (up to 15% commission + VAT), which is paid to Haulfryn". Haulfryn says it usually includes the fee in the asking price, retains it plus VAT on completion, and pays the balance within 14 days.

NACO gives the same headline number: "When a caravan or lodge is sold on-pitch, most parks charge a commission. This is commonly around 15%, but the exact figure must be clearly stated in your agreement."

On a caravan sold on its pitch for £30,000, a 15% transfer fee is £4,500, VAT on that fee is £900, and you receive £24,600. Add West Dorset's £850 client sale charge and the deductions reach £6,250, leaving £23,750. On a lodge at West Dorset's 7.5%, the same £30,000 sale gives up £2,250 plus £450 of VAT.

Note the lodge rate. The same operator charges caravans twice the percentage it charges lodges, on the same park, for the same service. If you own a lodge and are quoted 15%, ask why.

Is there a legal cap on what a holiday park can charge?

No. The 10% cap comes from residential park home law and does not reach a holiday caravan.

The Mobile Homes (Commissions) Order 1983, made on 16 May 1983, states that the maximum rate of commission an owner is entitled to on the sale by an occupier of a mobile home "shall be 10 per cent". That Order is made under paragraph 8 of Part I of Schedule 1 to the Mobile Homes Act 1983.

The Act only reaches you if you live in the caravan. Section 1(1) applies the Act to an agreement under which a person is entitled "to station a mobile home on land forming part of a protected site" and "to occupy the mobile home as his only or main residence". Section 5(1) gives "protected site" the meaning it has in Part I of the Caravan Sites Act 1968. Section 1(2) of that 1968 Act then excludes land where the relevant planning permission or site licence "is expressed to be granted for holiday use only", or is expressed or conditioned so "that there are times of the year when no caravan may be stationed on the land for human habitation".

Holiday-only permission is what a holiday park has. So the 10% ceiling is off, and the park can charge what the licence agreement says it can charge. HMRC's own guidance recognises both routes. Paragraph 3.4 of VAT Notice 701/20 describes commission arising "under the Mobile Homes Act 1983 (as amended), Caravan Act (Northern Ireland) 2011 or the terms of the licence agreement (contract)".

That does not mean the number is beyond challenge. Under section 62 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015, "an unfair term of a consumer contract is not binding on the consumer", and a term is unfair if, contrary to the requirement of good faith, "it causes a significant imbalance in the parties' rights and obligations under the contract to the detriment of the consumer". Business Companion's guidance for holiday parks tells operators that any costs they charge, or the way those costs are calculated, "must be clearly set out and should be reasonable", and warns them off "fees that are unfair, such as a fee that is charged even if you do not provide any service in exchange".

Business Companion also tells parks they must not prevent an owner making a private sale, must not give a private buyer worse terms and costs than a direct buyer, and must not impose unreasonable checks on private buyers.

What is a disconnection and de-siting charge?

It is the park's charge for cutting the gas, electricity, water and sewerage to your caravan and lifting it off the pitch. NACO describes it as the disconnection of services plus "the process of removing your static holiday home from its pitch, generally for relocation or removal", triggered by a sale, by removal from the park for any reason, or by a breach of the licence agreement.

NACO gives two different ranges on two of its own pages. Its dedicated disconnection page says the charges "range anywhere from £400, up to a staggering £3,000 (which we successfully challenged)". Its selling guide gives £300 to £3,500. Treat the spread as the answer. The amount depends entirely on your park, and no operator checked for this article publishes a price list for it.

Tingdene Holiday Parks quotes for transport and siting at the receiving end, then notes that "there will likely be disconnection and de-siting fees at your current holiday park, which are payable by yourself directly to the park you are leaving". Its article of 29 September 2025 gives no figure for them.

You will normally not be allowed to do the work yourself. NACO says parks refuse to let private individuals undertake it, on safety grounds, and rarely permit an outside contractor. Where a park does allow one, expect to supply a full quotation, proof of insurance and a risk assessment, and to get the park's approval in writing.

If you think the charge is too high, NACO's advice is to ask the park in writing for a breakdown, then obtain two written quotations from appropriate contractors and submit them. It says a park may then revise its charge, and that a refusal can be evidenced to Trading Standards.

The NCC Best Practice Guidance for holiday parks, first edition April 2023, says parks should provide "written quotations and reasonable charges relating to de-siting and removal", and should repay pre-paid charges such as water on a pro rata basis.

Do you pay VAT on the park's commission?

Yes, on a holiday pitch. Paragraph 3.4 of VAT Notice 701/20 says the commission a site operator receives on an on-site sale "is to be treated as additional payment for the pitch and follows the liability of the pitch fee or rent". A holiday pitch is standard rated, so the commission carries VAT at 20%.

The notice covers the extras separately. Where a park makes "an additional charge to the seller in connection with the sale", over and above the commission allowed by the pitch agreement, "the additional charge is standard rated". So a £850 sale-support charge carries VAT too.

What are your three options, and which one pays best?

NACO and the NCC set out the same three routes: sell to the park, sell privately with the caravan staying on the pitch, or sell off the park to a trader or dealer.

Selling to the park is the simplest and usually the worst on price. NACO says the advantage is that "you would not be charged a disconnection fee or any sales commission". The catch is what the park is buying. NACO explains that a park sells you a package including a pitch premium and a licence agreement, but buys back only the caravan, typically at current trade value. It says parks buy low to resell at a profit, because selling caravans is where most park money is made. If your caravan sits on a sea view or an otherwise exclusive pitch, NACO says that is your strongest negotiating point, because the park can resell the pitch at a premium too.

Selling privately on the pitch usually raises the most money, because the buyer is buying a sited, connected, ready-to-use caravan. This is the route the commission applies to. The NCC guidance says the park must be offered first refusal on an on-pitch private sale, and that you must tell the park in writing that you intend to sell.

Selling off the park to a trader or dealer avoids the commission entirely. Haulfryn confirms the trade-off in plain terms: if the buyer removes the holiday home, "they'll forgo the licence and you won't need to pay the transfer fee, but either you or the buyer will need to cover the cost of transport and removal". You lose the pitch premium from the price and pay the de-siting bill instead.

Part exchange is a fourth route, and it trades the sale for a discount on a replacement. Haven says it will settle your existing finance, move your holiday home, and sell your old caravan "either on park or to another park at home or abroad", with any difference in price financed at 9.6% APR representative.

Check the notice period before you commit to any of them. NACO says most agreements require notice, and that the period varies from 14 to 120 days.

One phrase to look for in your paperwork. The NCC guidance defines a transfer fee as the payment a seller makes to the park on a private on-pitch sale, and tells operators the fee "should only be the rate agreed with the prospective purchaser and the rate agreed will be recorded in the Licence Agreement", settled before the licence agreement is signed. The word commission does not appear anywhere in that guidance. So the industry's own standard treats the exit fee as a negotiated figure fixed at the start, while the operators publishing rates advertise a flat 15%.

What to do before you put it on the market

Read the licence agreement first and find four things: the transfer fee or commission percentage, the disconnection and de-siting charge, the notice period, and any first refusal clause. If any of them is missing from the agreement, ask for the figure in writing before you market the caravan.

Get the park's valuation and at least three trader quotations, then compare them net of every deduction. NACO names Sunrise Holiday Homes, Sell My Caravan Fast, i Buy Caravans, Buy My Static Caravan, Sam Beck Caravans and UK Statics as national buyers to start with.

Ask whether site fees you have already paid come back pro rata. The NCC guidance says pre-paid charges should be, and NACO lists a refund of pitch fees among the things to factor into your price.

Check your caravan's age against the park's age limit. NACO warns that a unit at or near the limit may have to be removed, sold for off-site use only, or replaced, which takes the on-pitch route away and leaves only the de-siting bill. What happens at the end of an agreement is covered in what happens when your caravan licence expires.

Then do the subtraction before you agree a price. Take the transfer fee, the VAT on it, any sale-support charge and the de-siting quote off the figure you have in mind. What is left is what selling pays you, on top of the loss covered in how much a static caravan loses in value each year. Our ownership cost calculator does the annual arithmetic.

Sources