When you buy a holiday lodge on a park, you own the lodge, but the park owns the land. The agreement that lets your lodge stay on its pitch is usually called a licence agreement or pitch agreement. It’s the most important document you’ll sign, so here’s what it normally covers.
What a licence agreement usually covers
- How long it lasts. The length of time your lodge can stay on its pitch.
- The site fee. What it is, when it’s paid and how it can change.
- How you can use the lodge. As a holiday home, not your main home.
- Park rules. Everyday rules for owners.
- Insurance and upkeep. What you need to insure and look after.
- Selling. How a sale works and any fees.
- Ending the agreement. What happens if either side wants to end it.
The NCC publishes a model agreement that many parks use as a starting point.
The main-home rule
A holiday lodge is a holiday home. It can’t be your only or main home, and parks will usually ask you to show you have a main home elsewhere. That’s why owners don’t pay council tax on a holiday lodge. Our guide can you live in a holiday lodge? explains more.
Questions to ask before you sign
- How long is the licence for this lodge on this pitch, from today?
- What happens when it ends?
- How can the site fee change, and how much notice will I get?
- Can I see a copy of the park rules?
- How does selling work, and are there any fees?
- Is everything I’ve been told in writing?
At Epworth Fields
Here’s what we can tell you now:
- Site fee: £3,000 plus VAT a year, frozen for 5 years for every buyer.
- Season: the park is open 12 months a year.
- Use: lodges are holiday homes for owners’ own use. There’s no letting.
- Dogs: welcome, with no dog rules.
- Fishing: the lake is for owners only.
- Planning: the park’s plans were approved on appeal.
- Grounds: the park looks after the grounds and shared areas.
At Epworth Fields, licence terms are agreed individually with each buyer, and we’ll go through them in full before you commit.
We’ll give you the paperwork to read before you buy, and we’re happy to go through it line by line at your viewing.
