Key takeaways
- A holiday lodge is legally a caravan if it meets the size and construction rules, even though it looks like a small house.
- Most lodges sit under a licence to occupy a pitch, not a lease, so stamp duty usually doesn't apply. Check the actual agreement rather than the label on it.
- VAT depends on size and build standard: standard rate under 7m x 2.55m, reduced or zero rate above that if the lodge is built to BS 3632.
- There's no standard mortgage on a lodge. Most buyers pay cash or use specialist leisure finance.
- Site fees are set by the individual park and vary. Always ask before you commit.
What is a lodge, legally?
A holiday lodge looks like a small house, but the law treats it the same as a static caravan, provided it meets the size and construction tests in the Caravan Sites Act 1968: built in one or more sections, and capable of being moved by road even if that never actually happens. Most lodges on UK holiday parks fall inside these limits.
That puts a lodge under caravan law, not standard property law. You buy the structure. The park owns the land and the pitch.
This caravan classification is also why lodges often sit in locations a conventional house could not: rural, coastal or woodland sites where standard residential planning permission would usually be refused. Holiday parks operate under their own site licence and planning permission for holiday accommodation rather than permanent housing, which is what allows lodges onto land that would not otherwise get a house built on it.
Holiday use, not a home
A lodge on a holiday park comes with a licence to occupy a pitch, set by the terms of the park's own site licence and planning permission. Most parks operate a closed season, a period each year when the park can't be occupied, because that's usually a condition attached when the site got its planning permission. Ask the park directly for the exact dates. These vary from site to site, and no single figure holds across the board.
This is the sharpest difference from a residential park home. A lodge doesn't carry the security of tenure the Mobile Homes Act 1983 gives residential park home owners. You can't live in a holiday lodge full-time as your only home unless the park's own planning permission specifically allows year-round residential occupation, which most holiday parks don't have.
Build standard: EN 1647 or BS 3632
Two standards cover factory-built holiday accommodation, and they aren't interchangeable.
EN 1647 covers leisure accommodation built for seasonal holiday use. Most lodges on holiday parks are built to this standard.
BS 3632 is the residential standard, covering insulation, heating and safety for year-round living. It's the standard used for residential park homes, and only some lodges are built to it.
Ask the seller or manufacturer which standard your lodge meets before you buy. It affects what you can do with the lodge and, as the next section covers, what VAT you pay on it.
VAT: what you actually pay
| Size | Build standard | VAT rate |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 7m long and 2.55m wide | Any | Standard rate, 20% |
| Over 7m long or 2.55m wide | Not built to BS 3632 | Reduced rate, 5% |
| Over 7m long or 2.55m wide | Built to BS 3632 | Zero rate |
Source: HMRC Notice 701/20, Caravans and houseboats.
Most modern lodges exceed 7m in length, so the practical question becomes whether yours is built to BS 3632. A lodge built to the leisure standard, EN 1647, and over that size, is charged at the reduced 5% rate rather than the full 20%. Get this confirmed in writing before you buy. It changes the total price by a real amount.
Do you pay stamp duty?
Usually not, but check the actual agreement rather than assuming. HMRC's stamp duty manual (SDLTM10023) applies a substance test, not a label test. If your lodge counts as a chattel, moveable property that can be disconnected and relocated without damaging the site, and your pitch agreement is a genuine licence rather than a lease, stamp duty land tax doesn't apply.
The label on the paperwork isn't decisive. A pitch agreement described as a licence can, in substance, function as a lease if it grants exclusive, long-term occupation of one specific pitch. If you're not sure which yours is, ask a solicitor to check before you complete.
Site fees
Your annual site fee covers your pitch. It's set by the individual park, not by any national scale, and varies by location, park quality and what's included. Some parks bundle in rates and grounds maintenance, others bill those separately. Ask for the current fee and its review history before you commit, rather than assuming from what a similar lodge costs elsewhere.
Financing a lodge
There's no standard residential mortgage on a lodge, since you're not buying an interest in land. Most buyers pay cash or use a specialist leisure finance provider. We cover the options in more detail in our guide to caravan finance.
What to check before you buy
- The build standard, EN 1647 or BS 3632, and what it means for VAT and use
- Whether your agreement is a licence or effectively a lease
- The site fee, what it includes, and its review history
- The park's closed season dates, if any
- Planning conditions on the park itself, and whether year-round occupation is ever permitted
- Resale terms: does the park take a commission if you sell?
A lodge looks like a bungalow inside, but it runs under an entirely different set of rules. Most of the disappointment I see comes from someone assuming it works like a house, when the pitch agreement, the VAT and the closed season all say otherwise. The finish sells the lodge. The paperwork decides whether it's right for you, so ask for it first.
— Justin Allitt, Sell My Group