Mobile homes and caravan site planning permission

Land being used as a caravan site needs planning permission. You need to get this first before applying for a site licence. A protected site is a mobile home park which has planning permission to have people living there as their main residence throughout the year.

See the planning page for more information

Site licence and fees

Once planning permission is granted you will then need to apply for a site licence. If you need to apply for a site licence, transfer or vary a licence then email us for an application form.  Fees apply for this which are listed below:

• licence fee application (0-2 units) - £134
• licence fee application (3-9 units) - £267
• licence fee application (10 units or more) - £400
• annual fee (0-2 units) - £98
• annual fee (3-9 units) - £252
• annual fee (10 units or more) - £364
• licence variation fee - £88
• transfer application fee - £88
• changes to existing licence details - £88

 

Read the caravan site licensing fee policy. [PDF, 60Kb] [PDF, 60Kb] for more information.

When a site licence is not needed

The following situations do not require a site licence and are exempt:

• a caravan sited within a properties boundary 
• a single caravan sited for not more than 2 consecutive nights for a maximum of 28 days in any 12 months
• up to 2 caravans on a site of not less than 5 acres for a maximum of 28 days in any 12 months
• sites occupied by exempted organisations such as the Caravan Club
• sites of up to 5 caravans certified by an exempt organisation and which are for members only
• sites occupied by the local authority. These are usually sites for Gypsy, Roma and Irish Traveller groups.
• sites for temporary and special purposes such as caravan rallies, agricultural and forestry workers, building and engineering sites and travelling salesmen
• a site for tents only can be used for a maximum of 28 days in any 12 months

Planning permission may still be required for these sites mentioned, even if they don’t need a site licence.

Fit and proper persons check

For mobile homes and caravan sites it is required for the person who is responsible for managing and operating the site to carry out a ‘fit and proper persons check’ with the council. All licensed sites are required to apply for this, and a fee will be charged.

The check carried out by us involves seeing that the applicant has good character and behaviour, and can be responsible for managing a regulated site for mobile homes. This helps us to ensure the wellbeing and safety of people occupying mobile homes on a site.

These regulations do not apply to:

• non-commercial sites
• family-occupied sites which are not operated on a commercial basis
• local authority owned sites
• travellers sites

For more information refer to the council’s determination policy [PDF, 0.4MB] and fees policy [PDF, 0.2MB].

Check the Fit and Proper Person Register [PDF, 0.1MB] to view a list of mobile site licence holders.