Selling your static caravan

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At a glance

• Selling back to the park means no transfer fee — but the park decides what it offers.
• Sell privately on the pitch and the park gets first refusal, must approve your buyer, and charges a transfer fee (a percentage plus VAT).
• There’s no legal cap on the transfer fee for holiday caravans; the 10% cap applies to residential park homes.
• Before you sell on the pitch you need current gas and electrical safety certificates.

Three ways to sell

Both the NCC and HARPA (formerly BH&HPA) model agreements set out the same three routes.

1. Sell it back to the park

If the park agrees to buy it, there’s no transfer fee. The park can deduct only sums you lawfully owe (NCC model), or known finance and undisputed debts (HARPA model). The price a park offers is a commercial decision — the NCC’s dispute service won’t consider complaints about buy-back values.

2. Sell privately, on the pitch

You find a buyer who will keep the caravan on the same pitch. Under the model agreements:

• the park has a right of first refusal at your asking price — 7 days from each time you tell it the price (NCC model) or 5 working days (HARPA model);
• the park must approve your buyer, but can only refuse on reasonable grounds, such as financial checks. The NCC says those checks can’t be harsher than the ones the park uses for its own customers, and a park that blocks a sale must give evidenced reasons;
• the sale goes through the park office;
• you pay a transfer fee — a percentage of the sale price, plus VAT, agreed and written into your agreement when you bought;
• your buyer gets a new agreement for the time left on yours. The NCC’s example: a 20-year agreement sold after 3 years leaves the buyer 17 years.

Pitch fees you have already paid for the season can’t be charged again to your buyer.

3. Sell it off the park

You can sell the caravan to be taken away, but you pay the park’s disconnection and removal charges. Under the NCC model these must be reasonable and no more than a written quote you get from a third party.

Is the transfer fee capped?

Not for holiday caravans in England, Wales or Scotland. The fee is whatever your licence agreement says. NCC guidance expects a negotiated rate, agreed before you sign and written into the agreement, and Trading Standards guidance says fees must be clearly set out, reasonable, and not charged where no service is provided.

The 10% maximum commission you may have read about is for residential park homes only — in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. See holiday home or residential park home?

For VAT, a transfer fee or commission on a sale on the pitch is treated as extra payment for the pitch — so it carries 20% on a holiday park.

Before you sell on the pitch

• Arrange gas and electrical safety checks and have the certificates ready. HARPA’s model also mentions smoke and CO alarms.
• Tell the park if there is finance outstanding on the caravan — it is paid off from the sale proceeds.
• Check how long is left on your agreement: that is what your buyer will get.

Giving it away, or leaving it in your will

Under the NCC model you can give the caravan — including by will or under the intestacy rules — to a family member the park approves: a spouse or civil partner, parent, grandparent, child (including a stepchild), grandchild or sibling, or any of their spouses. They get a new agreement for the time left, on terms no less favourable, without charge. Executors can also sell through the normal routes. HARPA’s model doesn’t charge a transfer fee on gifts to family either.

When the agreement runs out

At the end of the agreement period neither side has to renew. Unless a new agreement is made, you must arrange for the caravan to be removed — on NCC parks, within 30 days of written notice. The agreement should spell out the charges that apply after it ends, such as removing decking or daily storage.

Trading in for a newer caravan

Parks often offer to take your caravan in part-exchange. As with selling back, the value offered is the park’s commercial decision — so it’s worth knowing what a private sale on the pitch might bring.

Something gone wrong with a sale? See complaints and disputes.

Questions people ask

How much commission does the park take when I sell?

If you sell privately on the pitch, you pay the transfer fee in your agreement — a percentage of the sale price plus VAT. There’s no legal cap for holiday caravans. The 10% cap you may have heard of is for residential park homes. Selling back to the park means no transfer fee.

Can I sell my caravan privately?

Usually, yes — to a buyer who keeps it on the pitch, as long as the park approves them. The park normally gets first refusal at your asking price, the sale goes through the park office, and you pay the transfer fee. You’ll need current gas and electrical safety certificates.

Sources

Checked 6 October 2026. We wrote this guide from these sources, in our own words:

1. NCC model Combined Purchase and Licence Agreement (June 2024) (thencc.org.uk)
2. HARPA model holiday caravan Licence Agreement (December 2025) (bhhpa.org.uk)
3. NCC Best Practice Guidance for Holiday Parks (February 2025) (thencc.org.uk)
4. NCC IDRS complaints guidance (October 2024) (thencc.org.uk)
5. Business Companion: Holiday parks — dealing with holiday caravan and lodge owners (businesscompanion.info)
6. GOV.UK: Park homes — selling or giving away (gov.uk)
7. Caravans Act (Northern Ireland) 2011 (legislation.gov.uk)
8. HMRC VAT Notice 701/20: caravans and houseboats (gov.uk)
9. UK Parks (HARPA): Buying a holiday caravan FAQs (ukparks.com)

Travel Trailers is an independent guide. It is not owned by, or connected to, any holiday park operator, caravan manufacturer, dealer or trade body. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.