Selling your static caravan
As far as the law is concerned, your caravan is your property and you can sell it however and to whoever you choose. But there are important qualifications.
Selling your caravan
Since you do not own the land on which your caravan is pitched, you are not free to sell the caravan and pitch together.
This means that to sell the caravan separately you would have to take it off the park.
This is rarely a practical proposition, because uplifting, transporting and suitable storage space can be expensive.
Also, and perhaps more importantly, since someone wanting a caravan and a pitch is most likely to buy from the park owner, the demand for a caravan being sold off the park is considerably reduced.
What to do with your licence
If the licence you were given at the time you moved onto the park has not expired and you no longer want to continue caravanning, any contract term or rule which prevents you selling, giving or bequeathing the caravan to another suitable person could be challenged as unfair.
The transfer of the licence may depend on the the park owner’s consent but such consent should not be withheld unreasonably.
If there is any charge for transferring the licence it should have been made clear when you got your licence.
If your licence has expired and it appears that selling to the park owner is the only practical option you should still get a fair deal and a fair price.
You can satisfy yourself that the deal offered is fair by:
- visiting other parks and checking the prices of any caravans on sale similar to your own
- asking some caravan dealers if they would buy your caravan and how much they would give for it
When calculating a price, many park owners and dealers use an industry trade guide that lists retail and trade-in prices for all types and ages of caravan. If you are concerned about the price offered, ask to see the price shown in the guide before making a decision.
These tips also apply if you want to trade-in your old caravan for a new or more recent model.
Additional protection
Park owners who are members of one of the two main trade organisations, the British Holiday and Home Parks Association (BHHPA) or the National Caravan Council (NCC), follow an industry Code of Practice that allows owners another way to sell their caravan.
If the caravan owner is unhappy with the price the park owner has offered, the Code allows the owner to advertise and sell to another party. This is conditional on:
- the caravan owner conducting the sale through the office of the park owner
- the caravan owner allowing the park owner to “vet” prospective purchasers
- the caravan purchaser paying the park owner a commission never exceeding 15 per cent of the price of the caravan plus VAT
You may well find that many park owners will relax the rules if a member of your family circle wishes to buy the caravan and come onto the park and there may also be other circumstances when they are prepared to be more flexible.