Key takeaways
- Park homes do not need an Energy Performance Certificate when they're sold. GOV.UK confirms this directly on its own guidance for selling a park home.
- The exemption is about how park homes are treated in law, not simply about being a caravan. A holiday caravan or lodge can still need one.
- Holiday lets follow a different rule: let a caravan or lodge out commercially for four months or more a year, and an EPC is required.
- If a seller, agent or park operator asks you for an EPC on a park home sale, you're not legally required to provide one.
- Rules for holiday lettings sit in the Energy Performance of Buildings (England and Wales) Regulations 2012, not the older guidance some sources still quote.
The short answer
No. If you're buying or selling a park home used as someone's main residence, you don't need an Energy Performance Certificate. GOV.UK says so directly, in the same guidance that covers the rest of the selling process, commission, pitch fee assignment and the paperwork you do need.
That's the whole answer for most park home sales. The rest of this guide covers where the confusion comes from, and the genuinely different rule that applies if you're letting a holiday caravan or lodge commercially.
Why the exemption exists
An EPC applies to a building as defined in the regulations, a roofed, walled structure where energy is used to condition the indoor climate. On a literal reading, a modern BS3632 park home, insulated and centrally heated, could easily fit that description.
What actually decides the outcome is that GOV.UK's own process for selling a park home doesn't include an EPC as a requirement, unlike a standard house sale. Park homes sit outside normal property law already, no Land Registry entry, no conveyancing, so it's consistent that they sit outside the standard EPC requirement too. If GOV.UK changes that guidance, this page will be updated to match, but as things stand, there's no EPC step in a park home sale.
Where the confusion comes from
A few things muddy the water, and they're worth naming so you can spot them.
Some estate agents still ask for an EPC when they list a park home, out of habit from listing standard houses. You're not obliged to provide one. If an agent insists, ask them to point to the specific requirement, and consider whether they're the right agent for this type of sale.
Older advice online references outdated guidance and a vague date around 2011. The relevant regulations are the Energy Performance of Buildings (England and Wales) Regulations 2012, and it's worth checking any source is actually citing them before trusting it.
Holiday lettings genuinely do need an EPC in some circumstances, and that gets conflated with park homes generally. They're different situations under the law, covered next.
Holiday caravans and lodges: a different rule applies
If you own a static caravan or lodge on a holiday park and let it out commercially, rather than living in it or using it purely for your own holidays, a separate rule applies.
Under the Energy Performance of Buildings (England and Wales) Regulations 2012, a residential building is exempt from needing an EPC if it's used, or intended to be used, for less than four months of the year, or for limited annual use with expected energy consumption under 25% of a full year's use.
Read the other way round: let a holiday caravan or lodge out for four months or more a year, and it falls outside that exemption. An EPC is required before you can market or let it.
This is about how the property is actually used, not what type of structure it is. The same physical lodge can be exempt one year and not the next, depending on how much you let it.
Park home sale vs holiday letting: at a glance
| Situation | EPC needed? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Selling a residential park home (main residence) | No | GOV.UK's park home sale guidance doesn't require one |
| Buying a residential park home | No | Same exemption applies |
| Letting a holiday caravan or lodge under 4 months a year | No | Falls under the seasonal-use exemption, SI 2012/3118 reg 5 |
| Letting a holiday caravan or lodge 4 months a year or more | Yes | Outside the seasonal-use exemption |
| Personal-use holiday caravan, never let | No trigger applies | EPCs are only required at sale, letting or construction |
If someone asks you for an EPC anyway
You're within your rights to decline, politely, and point to GOV.UK's own guidance. If you've already paid for one you didn't need, for a park home sale specifically, it's worth querying the charge with whoever arranged it.
None of this stops you getting an EPC voluntarily if you want one, for your own interest in the home's efficiency, or because you're applying for certain energy improvement grants that ask for an energy assessment as part of the process. That's a different reason to have one done, separate from any legal sale requirement.
Justin's take
People assume every home sale needs an EPC because that's how it works everywhere else. Park homes are the exception, and it's worth knowing that before an agent talks you into paying for one you don't need.
— Justin Allitt, Sell My Group
Frequently asked questions
Do you need an EPC to sell a park home?
No. GOV.UK's guidance on selling a park home doesn't include an EPC as a requirement, unlike a standard house sale.
Do static caravans need an EPC?
Not for personal use or ownership. If you let a static caravan out commercially for four months or more a year, an EPC is required under the seasonal-use rules in the 2012 regulations.
What if my holiday let is used for less than four months a year?
It's exempt. The regulations specifically exclude residential buildings used, or intended to be used, for under four months a year, or with equivalent low annual energy use.
An agent is asking me for an EPC to sell my park home. Do I have to get one?
No. You can decline and point them to GOV.UK's own guidance on selling a park home, which doesn't require one.
Can I still get an EPC on a park home if I want one?
Yes, there's nothing stopping you getting one voluntarily, for your own information or as part of an energy grant application. It just isn't a legal requirement for the sale itself.
Where does this rule actually come from?
GOV.UK's guidance on selling or giving away a park home states it directly. The wider EPC framework, including the four-month holiday-letting exemption, comes from the Energy Performance of Buildings (England and Wales) Regulations 2012.
Sources
- GOV.UK, Selling or giving away a park home
- The Energy Performance of Buildings (England and Wales) Regulations 2012 (SI 2012/3118)
- Energy Performance of Buildings Certificates in England and Wales: technical notes, GOV.UK
Related reading: Stamp Duty on a Park Home and Park Home Insurance.