When you sell a park home for more than you paid for it, Capital Gains Tax (CGT) might apply, but it’s rarely a straightforward yes or no. Two separate rules decide the answer, and both depend on the specific facts of your situation.
If the park home was your main residence
If you lived in the park home as your only or main home for the whole time you owned it, Private Residence Relief usually means you won’t pay CGT on the sale. Most residential park agreements require the home to be your only or main residence and prohibit subletting, so for most owners this condition is already met simply by living there. The main thing that could affect your relief is if you didn’t occupy it as your main home for the full period you owned it – for example, if it sat empty or you lived elsewhere for a stretch.
If the park home counts as a “wasting asset”
Separately, HMRC treats some caravans and mobile homes as chattels with a predictable useful life under 50 years. Gains on these can be exempt from CGT under a different rule, but this generally only applies where the home has stayed genuinely mobile rather than being permanently connected to services and sited on a pitch, which is how most people live in their park home. HMRC decides this case by case – see HMRC’s own guidance on caravans.
Which one applies to you?
Why we’re not giving you a number
How much (if anything) you’d owe depends on your specific circumstances: how long you owned it, whether it was genuinely your main residence throughout, and how HMRC would classify it. Getting this wrong can mean paying tax you didn’t owe, or missing tax you did. We’d always recommend checking HMRC’s Capital Gains Tax guidance directly or speaking to an accountant before you sell, rather than relying on a general guide like this one.
Do I need to report it either way?
If you do have a taxable gain, you’ll usually need to report and pay via HMRC’s real-time service or through Self Assessment. HMRC’s site has the current deadlines and process, since these can change.
If you’re thinking about selling, you can also start the process with Sell My Group here.