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Lodge LedgerUK ownership, honestly costed

Costs

The true cost of owning a holiday lodge in the UK (2026)

What a holiday lodge really costs to buy, run and eventually sell: site fees, utilities, insurance, park commission and depreciation, with every figure sourced.

Published 2026-07-25 · updated 2026-07-25 · 6 min read · all figures sourced below

The brochure gives you one number: the purchase price. The ones parks don't lead with are the site fees that compound every year, the resale commission, the disconnection charges and the depreciation. Those are the numbers that decide whether ownership works out or costs you five figures more than you planned. Here is the full picture for 2026, with every figure linked to its source at the bottom.

What you'll pay to buy

The spread between an entry-level static caravan and a lodge is wide, so it helps to know where the market actually sits:

What Typical price (2026) Source
Pre-owned static caravan (on-park) from £14,995 Haven
New static holiday home from £29,995 Haven
Luxury lodge (entry, on-park) from £64,995 Park Holidays
Pre-owned lodge ~£50,000 upwards Parklink
New lodge (manufacturer RRP, before siting) £110,000 to £142,600 Willerby

Two things to note. First, manufacturer RRPs exclude siting and pitch connection, so the on-park price is the one that matters. Second, finance roughly doubles the cash cost over the term. Haven advertises from £268 a month over 120 payments at 9.6% APR, so treat any "from £X a month" hook with caution.

Site fees, the number that never stops moving

The annual pitch fee is the biggest recurring cost. Lodges sit at the expensive end of every park's range because they occupy larger pitches.

Operator Published annual site fees (2025-26)
Parkdean Resorts £3,250 to £12,495 (incl. VAT)
Haven from £4,770 (to £10,000+ on premium parks)
Shorefield Holidays from £5,422
Park Holidays from £3,675 (standard); from £4,745 (luxury lodge)
Darwin Escapes from £4,470
Lovat Parks £3,650 to £9,200

Darwin Escapes puts the typical UK range at £3,000 to £8,000 a year. Coastal parks push well beyond it.

The increases matter more than the starting figure. Lovat Parks says fees are "reviewed annually and usually rise in line with inflation", but the park decides the rise. Grant Thornton's 2025 holiday-parks review documents one owner whose fee went from £2,795 in 2022 to £4,100 in 2024, a 46% rise in two years. Before you buy, ask the park for its last five years of actual fee increases in writing.

Running costs on top

Add the bills that come with any second home, plus a few unique to parks.

  • Haven's 2026 worked example averages £426 a year for gas and electricity. Darwin Escapes quotes £400 to £900.
  • You don't pay council tax on a holiday lodge, but rates, water and sewerage still reach you. The whole park is assessed for business rates as a single property in the operator's name, and operators recharge a share. Parkdean puts the combined recharge at £340 to £1,500 a year. Haven's example averages £324.
  • Insurance runs £217 to £495 a year at Haven and £150 to £400 at Darwin. Expect the top of those ranges, or above, for a large lodge.
  • Parkdean charges around £100 for the annual gas safety test and £120 for the electrical test every three years. Darwin allows £100 to £200 a year for servicing plus £150 to £300 for routine repairs.

Operators' own published totals for annual ownership (site fee plus running costs) land close to each other. Haven says £5,737 to £10,000+, Darwin Escapes says £5,270 to £6,270 for a typical owner, and Lovat Parks says £5,000 to £10,000. Budget £5,000 to £10,000 a year before you have paid for a single night's stay.

The exit costs nobody mentions at the show home

This is where the ownership maths most often falls apart.

  • Park commission on resale. If you sell on-pitch, and most sales happen that way, the park takes a cut. NACO puts the common figure at around 15%, and the wider market runs from 10% to 30%. On a £50,000 lodge that is £5,000 to £15,000.
  • Disconnection and removal. Taking a unit off-park costs £300 to £3,500 in disconnection charges, before transport.
  • Notice periods. Licence agreements carry notice periods from 14 to 120 days. Check yours before you commit.
  • Depreciation. Haven itself says a holiday caravan "depreciates in a similar way to a car", fastest in the first few years, and calls ownership a lifestyle choice rather than a financial investment. The worst case in Grant Thornton's review is a static bought for £29,995 in 2022 and valued at £5,000 two years later. Lodges hold value better than statics, helped by longer licences: Shorefield offers 20 years on new holiday homes and 30 to 40 years on lodges, against a typical 12 years at Haven. No unit appreciates.

A realistic ten-year picture

Take a £90,000 lodge, kept ten years, on a £5,000 site fee rising 5% a year, £2,000 a year running costs, sold on-pitch for £45,000:

  • Depreciation: £45,000
  • Site fees over ten years (compounding): about £62,900
  • Running costs: £20,000
  • Total: roughly £127,900. That is about £12,800 a year, or £320 a night if you stay 40 nights a year.

That figure is the baseline to compare against £3,000 to £5,000 a year of really good holidays. Run your own numbers in our ownership cost calculator, then stress-test them: add two bad years of fee rises and knock 20% off your resale assumption. If the maths still works after that, go ahead.

Five questions to ask any park before you sign

  1. What were the actual site-fee increases each year for the past five years?
  2. What commission do you charge on an on-pitch resale, and is it in the written agreement?
  3. How long is the licence, and what happens to my unit when it ends?
  4. What is the disconnection/removal charge if I leave?
  5. Can I see a current owner's full annual invoice, covering fees, rates recharge, utilities and insurance?

If a park won't put the answers in writing, walk.

Sources