Static caravan glossary

A

Agreement period

The number of years you may keep your caravan on its pitch under your licence agreement. NCC member parks give at least 12 years from new; HARPA member parks at least 10. Not the same as the season.

Axle

The bar under the chassis that carries the wheels — part of what keeps a static caravan movable, which is why its condition matters.

Read more: Maintenance and winterising

B

Bring-on

Moving a caravan you already own onto a park. No law makes a park accept one; some operators allow it on selected parks.

Read more: Buying a static caravan

BS 3632

The British Standard for residential park homes, designed for living in all year; the latest edition is BS 3632:2023. Many holiday lodges are built to it, and it decides whether a large caravan can be zero-rated for VAT.

Read more: What is a static caravan?

BS EN 1647

The standard for caravan holiday homes used as temporary or seasonal accommodation. It covers health and safety matters such as snow load, structural stability and the owner’s handbook.

Read more: What is a static caravan?

Buy-back

The park buying your caravan from you when you leave. There’s no transfer fee, but the price offered is the park’s commercial decision.

Read more: Selling your static caravan

C

Chassis

The steel frame under the caravan that carries its weight and allows it to be moved.

Read more: Maintenance and winterising

CO alarm

A carbon monoxide alarm. The NCC recommends two in a holiday caravan, meeting BS EN 50291, tested monthly and replaced about every five years.

Combined Purchase and Licence Agreement

The NCC’s model contract, covering both buying the caravan and the licence to keep it on the pitch.

Commissioning

Getting a newly sited caravan ready to use: connecting it to water, electricity and drainage, and checking and testing it.

Read more: Buying a static caravan

Connection charges

Charges for connecting the caravan to electricity, gas, water and drainage at the pitch. Connections to metered gas or electricity carry 5% VAT; to metered water or sewerage, 0%.

Read more: Buying a static caravan

D

Decking (verandah)

A raised outdoor platform beside the caravan. Parks control its design, and you may have to remove it when you leave.

Read more: Maintenance and winterising

Drain-down (winterising)

Emptying the water pipes, tanks and boiler, and protecting the fittings, before winter so frost can’t damage them. Many parks offer it as a paid service.

Read more: Maintenance and winterising

Drawbar

The towing arm at the front of a caravan. It isn’t counted when a caravan is measured, for the legal size limits or for VAT.

Read more: What is a static caravan?

E

EICR

Electrical Installation Condition Report — the result of a periodic electrical inspection. Electrical Safety First recommends one every three years for a caravan.

G

Gas Safe registered engineer

The only people legally allowed to work on gas appliances. Check that their ID card covers LPG and caravans.

Gas safety record

The certificate from a gas safety check. It is a legal requirement every year if you let the caravan, and many parks require one anyway.

Guaranteed letting scheme

A park letting scheme that pays you a fixed sum for agreed letting weeks, whatever the bookings.

H

HARPA

The Holiday and Residential Parks Association — the trade body for park owners, called the British Holiday & Home Parks Association (BH&HPA) until January 2026. Its consumer site is UK Parks.

Hire purchase (HP)

Finance where you pay in instalments and own the caravan after the last payment. Covered by the Consumer Rights Act in the same way as a sale.

Read more: Buying a static caravan

Holiday lodge

A larger, often more house-like unit, frequently built to BS 3632, sold for holiday use only. In law it is still a caravan if it fits within the twin-unit size limits.

Read more: What is a static caravan?

Holiday occupancy condition

A planning or site licence condition saying units are for holidays only and not anyone’s main home, usually with a register of owners’ home addresses.

Holiday season (open season)

The months each year the park is allowed to open, and chooses to — often 10, 11 or 12.

I

ICE (Independent Case Examiner)

The independent dispute stage after the NCC’s dispute service. The fee is £50 plus VAT, refunded if the decision goes wholly or partly your way.

L

Licence agreement (pitch licence)

Your contract with the park, giving you the right to keep your caravan on a pitch for a set period on set conditions.

LPG

Liquefied petroleum gas, supplied in bottles or piped from a park tank, for heating, hot water and cooking. NCC member parks mustn’t sell it above the supplier’s recommended retail price.

M

Manufacturer’s warranty

The maker’s promise to fix defects for a set time. It is extra to your Consumer Rights Act rights, not instead of them.

Read more: Buying a static caravan

Mixed park

A park with both holiday pitches and residential park home pitches. Buying a holiday unit there still doesn’t let you live in it.

Mobility

The requirement in the NCC model agreement that the caravan is kept in a condition in which it can still be moved.

Read more: Maintenance and winterising

N

NCC

The National Caravan Council — the trade association for the caravan, holiday park and park home industry. Its member parks follow its Best Practice Guidance for Holiday Parks.

Read more: Buying a static caravan

NCC Approved badge

A sign that the caravan model passed the NCC’s factory inspection scheme against BS EN 1647.

Read more: What is a static caravan?

NCC IDRS

The NCC’s free Informal Dispute Resolution Service for complaints against NCC member parks.

P

Part-exchange

Trading your current caravan in against a newer one, usually with the same park.

Read more: Selling your static caravan

Pitch

The plot on the park where your caravan stands.

Pitch fee (site fee)

The yearly charge for keeping your caravan on its pitch and for the services listed in your agreement. Holiday pitch fees carry 20% VAT.

Pitch fee review

The yearly process by which the park can change the pitch fee — on holiday parks, as your agreement sets out, often linked to RPI or CPI.

Proof of main residence

Documents showing you have a home elsewhere — for example a council tax bill, a recent utility bill or a bank statement. Parks usually ask for three, when you buy and each year.

Protected site

The legal term for a residential site where park home rights apply. Holiday parks aren’t protected sites.

R

Rates

Your share of the park’s business rates, recharged by the operator. Holiday caravans don’t pay council tax.

Residential park home (mobile home)

A caravan someone lives in as their main home on a residential (protected) site, with rights under the Mobile Homes Act 1983 — in Northern Ireland, the Caravans Act (NI) 2011.

Right of first refusal

The park’s right to buy your caravan at your asking price before a private sale on the pitch goes ahead.

Read more: Selling your static caravan

S

Selling on the pitch

Selling to a private buyer who keeps the caravan on its pitch, with the park’s approval and usually a transfer fee.

Read more: Selling your static caravan

Site licence

The licence from the council that a park needs to operate, with conditions on numbers, layout, season and safety. Northern Ireland has its own licensing law.

Siting charges

The cost of transporting a caravan onto the park and positioning it on its pitch, often included in the price of a new caravan.

Read more: Buying a static caravan

Skirting

Panels around the base of a caravan that hide the chassis and wheels and cut draughts.

Read more: Maintenance and winterising

Static caravan

A large caravan that stays on a pitch at a holiday park instead of being towed around — too big to tow behind a car. The industry also calls it a caravan holiday home.

Read more: What is a static caravan?

T

Touring caravan

A caravan towed on the road: no wider than 2.55 m, and no longer than 7 m behind a vehicle of up to 3,500 kg.

Read more: What is a static caravan?

Transfer fee (commission)

A percentage of the sale price, plus VAT, paid to the park when you sell privately on the pitch. There is no legal cap for holiday caravans; the 10% cap is for residential park homes.

Read more: Selling your static caravan

Twelve-month park

A park licensed to open all year for holidays. It isn’t a licence to live there.

Twin unit

A caravan delivered in two sections and joined on site. It still counts as a caravan if it is no bigger than 20 m long, 6.8 m wide and 3.05 m high inside.

Read more: What is a static caravan?

W

Winter pack

Extra insulation, double glazing and heating options that make a caravan more comfortable in cold weather.

Read more: Maintenance and winterising

Written statement

The document setting out the terms of an agreement that park home residents — and, in Northern Ireland, holiday caravan owners too — must get at least 28 days before the agreement.