Most people buying a park home or static caravan never pay a penny of Stamp Duty Land Tax. That surprises a lot of buyers, especially anyone who has bought a bricks-and-mortar house before and remembers the tax bill. Here is why park homes work differently, what the current thresholds actually are, and the rare situations where SDLT can still apply.
Key takeaways
- Most park home and static caravan buyers pay no SDLT, because they are buying a moveable structure, not land.
- SDLT only applies if your pitch agreement gives you a lease over the land itself, not just a licence to site your home there.
- If you are part-exchanging a house to move into a park home, SDLT still applies to any house you buy in the same move. This guide covers the park home side only.
What is Stamp Duty Land Tax?
Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) is a tax on buying land or property in England and Northern Ireland over a certain value. Since 1 April 2025, when a temporary higher threshold introduced in 2022 expired, the standard residential rates are:
First-time buyers get a better deal on a qualifying property: no SDLT up to £300,000, then 5% on the portion between £300,001 and £500,000. An extra 5% surcharge applies if you already own another residential property. None of these bands matter for a park home purchase itself, for the reason below, but they matter if you are buying a house at the same time.
Why most park homes are exempt
HMRC's own internal manual is direct on this point (SDLTM10023, Mobile Homes, Caravans and Houseboats): SDLT applies to a chargeable interest in land, not to moveable property. A park home or static caravan that can be relocated without damaging the land it sits on counts as a chattel, personal property, not land, so buying one is not a land transaction at all.
What you are actually buying is the home itself, plus, in almost every case, a licence to site it on the park owner's land. A licence is permission to occupy, not an interest in the land itself, and SDLT does not apply to licences. This is the same reason park home owners cannot get a mortgage secured against the plot, they do not own or lease the land, they hold a licence to keep their home on it, usually paid for through the annual pitch fee.
The rare case where SDLT can apply
The exception is narrower than it is sometimes made out to be. SDLT can apply if your agreement with the park gives you a lease with exclusive possession of the plot itself, rather than a licence to occupy it. That is unusual for a standard residential park home agreement under the Mobile Homes Act, but agreements vary, so it is worth checking the actual wording of yours rather than assuming. If you are unsure whether your agreement is a licence or a lease, a solicitor who works with park homes can tell you in a single read-through.