Opening a caravan or camping site

A spare field can look like a good place for a few caravans or tents.

Before the first guests arrive, a landowner usually needs two separate permissions. One is planning permission. The other is a caravan site licence from the local council.

These notes cover England, Scotland and Wales. Northern Ireland has its own rules.

The site licence

In England, Scotland and Wales you usually need a licence from your local council to use your land as a caravan site. The law behind it is the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960.

You need planning permission for the site before you apply. The council may charge a fee. The licence lasts as long as the planning permission does.

Running a site without a licence, or breaking its conditions, can lead to a fine. In some cases there is no upper limit on the fine. A council can withdraw a licence if its conditions are broken again and again.

Conditions on the licence

Councils can attach conditions to a licence. These can cover how the site is laid out, what types of caravan are allowed, and what toilets and washing facilities you provide.

The council can change the conditions later, and it should talk to you first. If you disagree with a condition, you can appeal to the local magistrates' court.

When a licence is not needed

GOV.UK lists some cases where no site licence is needed.

• Caravans for forestry workers, builders, travelling showmen or seasonal workers such as fruit pickers.
• A site of 5 acres or more with no more than 3 caravans, for 28 days or less a year.
• A site approved by an organisation that holds a caravan exemption certificate, such as a caravan club.
• A rally, which is a social get-together of caravan club members.

Your council can tell you whether one of these fits your land.

Small sites run with a club

The Camping and Caravanning Club holds an exemption certificate. It can approve small, privately run sites for its members, called Certificated Sites.

A Certificated Site can take up to five caravans or motorhomes at a time, with six metres between each one. If there is room, it can also take up to ten tents. Guests can stay for up to 28 days at a time.

The landowner needs at least half an acre, safe access, drinking water, a regularly emptied dustbin and a point for emptying chemical toilets. The club inspects each site every year. Toilets and showers are optional, and the club says to ask the council first, because they may need planning permission. Only club members can stay.

A campsite for part of the year in England

Since July 2023, landowners in England can run a temporary recreational campsite without applying for planning permission. The campsite can open for up to 60 days in a calendar year and have up to 50 pitches.

Motorhomes can use these sites. Touring caravans need the usual permissions. The rule excludes listed buildings, scheduled monuments and sites of special scientific interest.

Before opening each year, you must send the council a site plan showing the toilets, the waste facilities and the dates the site will be open. The council passes the notice to the fire and rescue service. Land in Flood Zone 2 or 3 needs the council's prior approval each year, with a flood risk assessment.

Fire safety for paying guests

The person in charge of business premises is responsible for fire safety there. GOV.UK says the same rules apply to people who have paying guests, for example in a bed and breakfast or a holiday let.

That person carries out a fire risk assessment and reviews it regularly. Local fire and rescue services inspect premises and can tell the person in charge what to change.

Useful links

• GOV.UK: caravan site licence, with a postcode search for your council
• Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960 (legislation.gov.uk)
• Class BC: temporary recreational campsites in England (legislation.gov.uk)
• The Camping and Caravanning Club: Certificated Site facts
• GOV.UK: fire safety in the workplace