Do I pay Council Tax on a caravan?

We advise that before moving into a caravan, or before buying a caravan to live in, to always check if planning permission has been approved for holiday or permanent residential use.

Residential Sites: Where the Caravan Site has planning permission approved by the Local Planning Authority (LPA) for permanent residential use you can live there permanently. See our Public Register.

Holiday Sites: If the Caravan Site where you live, or are proposing to live, IS NOT on the Public Register of Residential Park Home Sites then this means you cannot live there, and it is a holiday site only.

If you are residing on a holiday site as your sole or main residence this will be in breach of the planning permission and/or conditions for the site.  As such you may be subject to enforcement action by the Planning Enforcement and Housing Standards Teams

• This applies whether you permanently stay all year round or you stay just for the period that the site is open and vacate during the close-down period
• If the caravan is your sole or main residence, you will be registered for Council Tax.  This does not mean that planning permission is approved for you to live there. Nor does it mean that you will no longer be in breach of Planning Control or Site Licensing Conditions.

Any queries you may have regarding the above information or about your caravan or proposed caravan, please the Housing Standards Team by email: housingstandards@sholland.gov.uk or on 01775 761161

For Council Tax purposes, we will consider your caravan to be your sole or main residence if you:

• Have ownership of another home elsewhere but it is occupied by someone else.
• Stay at your caravan for large parts of the time the site is open (because the duration of time spent occupying the caravan is a primary residence compared to occupancy spent at your other address).
• Cannot provide enough evidence to show you live somewhere else.
• Are not paying Council Tax elsewhere (unless it is a shared household and it is paid by someone else, but you will still be required to provide evidence that you live at the alternative address).

Please note the issues below will NOT stop you from being responsible for payment of Council Tax:

• Having your post re-directed because the site does not allow post.
• Paying rates to the site owner separately to any rent.
• Having to leave the site when it is closed.
• Overnight stays at a friend or relative's address.

If you are unsure if you need to register for Council Tax, take a look at the  caravan and Council Tax examples guidance (PDF) [293KB] (opens new window) . If after considering the examples, you think you should be registered to pay Council Tax, then please email us on counciltax@sholland.gov.uk or call us on 01775 761161.