Selling Your Holiday Caravan: What Nobody Tells You

Thinking of selling your caravan? Here’s what to check before you agree to anything.

HOLIDAY PARK OWNERS

9/30/20264 min read

Most people buy a holiday caravan thinking about the good years: weekends away, sea air, long family summers. Very few think about the day they'll sell it. But for many owners, selling is where the biggest surprises come, and often the biggest losses.

Whether you want to upgrade, downsize or step away altogether, here's what's worth knowing about how caravan sales on holiday parks actually work, before you agree to anything.

Start with your agreement, not the sales office

Your licence agreement (sometimes called a pitch or holiday home agreement) sets the rules for selling, whatever you might be told in conversation. Before you do anything, look for:

• Whether private sales are allowed at all

• Whether the park has to approve your buyer, and on what grounds

• The commission charged on a sale, and whether VAT is added

• Any age limit that affects whether the caravan can stay on the pitch

• Charges for disconnecting and moving the caravan if it leaves the park

If any of this is missing or unclear, ask the park to set it out in writing.

Commission: what are you actually paying for?

Commission on a resale isn't unfair in itself. Estate agents charge it on houses too. The real question is what you get for it.

A typical estate agent charges around 1–1.5% plus VAT to sell a house. For that, they advertise it, put up a board, arrange viewings and see the sale through to completion. On some parks, commission of 15% or more plus VAT is charged, while the owner isn't allowed a For Sale sign and has to find a buyer themselves.

On a £30,000 caravan, 15% plus VAT comes to £5,400. It's worth knowing that figure before you put the caravan on the market, not after.

For more on private sale bans and buyer approval, see Blocked From Selling Your Caravan? What Your Park Can and Can’t Do

Private sale bans and buyer approval

Parks have a legitimate interest in knowing who moves onto their land, and a reasonable approval process is normal. What matters is how far it goes.

What reasonable looks like

The park needs to be told about a sale, or can turn down a buyer on clear, specific grounds, such as someone who plans to use the caravan in a way that breaks the site rules.

What's more questionable

A complete ban on private sales, or the right to reject any buyer "at the park's sole discretion", combined with a compulsory commission. Terms like these are the kind that can attract scrutiny under the unfair terms rules in the Consumer Rights Act 2015. Whether a particular term is unfair depends on its exact wording and the wider circumstances.

If a buyer you found is turned down, ask for the reason in writing and keep a note of it.

Part-exchange and sell-back are not the same thing

These two often get mixed up, and the difference matters.

Part-exchange

You trade your caravan in against a new one. The trade-in figure can look generous, but it only means something alongside the price of the new caravan. A big allowance against a fully priced new model may not be the bargain it appears.

A simple test: ask the park whether it would buy your caravan outright, with no new purchase, for the same figure. If the answer is no, or the number drops sharply, the part-exchange figure was telling you more about the deal than about what your caravan is worth.

Sell-back

The park simply buys your caravan from you, often because it has reached the park's age limit or because you're leaving. Here the concern runs the other way: a low offer, with little real alternative if private sales are restricted. Before accepting, get an independent valuation if you can.

One thing worth watching for: if a caravan you sold back reappears on the park's sales list soon afterwards at a much higher price, with little work done to it, that gap is worth writing down.Taking it off the park

Take it off the park

If you'd rather move the caravan elsewhere, check the costs first. Some agreements let the park charge, at its own rates, for disconnecting services and moving the caravan to the gate before your own transport can collect it. These charges can be significant, and they're easy to overlook until you need them.

Be realistic about value

Static caravans and lodges lose value faster than houses, and that's normal. The question isn't whether yours has depreciated, but whether you were given an honest picture of that when you bought it. If you were told it was an investment, or that it would hold its value, that's worth revisiting.

Before you agree to anything

• Get the terms in writing. Commission, approval criteria and any moving charges.

• Get an independent valuation. It gives you a real number to judge any offer against.

• Test the part-exchange. Ask for a straight sell-back figure for comparison.

• Keep records. Buyers you found, any refusals and every offer made.

• Don't sign under pressure. A "today only" deal can usually wait a day.

Want the full picture?

Selling is just one of the areas covered in Mis-Sold or Misled?, the Insider Edge guide for holiday caravan and lodge owners. It goes further into resale restrictions, part-exchange and sell-back values, fee increases, age limits and what to do if something doesn't add up, in plain English.

Not ready for the full book? Start with our free Red Flag Checklist.

Get Mis-Sold or Misled?

Sources:

• Consumer Rights Act 2015, Part 2: Unfair terms (legislation.gov.uk) – https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/15/part/2

• Unfair contract terms guidance, CMA37 (GOV.UK) – https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/unfair-contract-terms-cma37

This article is for general information only and reflects the position as at 22 October 2026. It is not legal, financial or professional advice. Whether a particular term or offer is fair depends on your own agreement and circumstances, so for decisions about your own caravan, speak to a qualified professional.