Planning permission for a glamping or holiday lodge site
Siting pods or lodges on a field is a material change of use. Here is how the countryside location test, the temporary use allowances, drainage and occupancy conditions decide these applications.
A glamping or holiday lodge site needs planning permission in almost every case. Putting bell tents, pods or lodges on a field is a material change of use of agricultural land under section 55 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, and glamping site planning permission is judged against countryside and rural tourism policy rather than against any permitted development right. The temporary use allowances and the caravan site exemptions are narrower than most landowners expect. They almost never cover a full booking season.
What follows is the sequence a rural owner should work through before spending money on pods.
Rural tourism policy and the countryside location test
The National Planning Policy Framework in force was published on 17 August 2026 and is organised by policy code rather than paragraph number, so quote the code from the edition you are applying. Its rural economy chapter supports sustainable rural tourism and leisure development that respects the character of the countryside, and it prefers the reuse of existing buildings and sites well related to settlements over new building in isolated locations.
That preference is the first hurdle. A case officer will ask whether the enterprise needs a countryside location at all, whether an existing barn or yard could take it instead, and how guests will arrive. A wooded corner of a working farm with an existing access reads very differently from a bare field with a new gate onto a national speed limit road.
Your adopted local plan usually carries a rural tourism policy with its own criteria on scale, landscape, access and the reuse of buildings. Read that policy first and structure the application around its criteria in order. A Planning Statement that answers each limb of the local policy in turn is worth more than a general argument about diversification income.
What the temporary use right actually gives you
Two separate regimes sit behind the folklore about 28 days.
Class B of Part 4 of Schedule 2 to the General Permitted Development Order 2015 permits the temporary use of land for any purpose for a limited number of days in each calendar year, with a lower cap for markets and motor racing. The allowance was raised by amendment in 2021, so read the current text of Class B on legislation.gov.uk rather than an older summary. The right covers the use of the land only. Any hardstanding, service block, access track or permanent base is operational development and falls outside it.
Caravan sites are handled separately. Schedule 1 to the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960 exempts several narrow categories, including short seasonal use by a small number of caravans and certificated locations run under a licence held by an exempted organisation. Class A of Part 5 of the GPDO grants planning permission for those exempted uses. A unit that is capable of being moved on wheels can be a caravan in law even when it looks like a lodge, which matters for both site licensing and permission.
| Route | What it can cover | What it will not cover |
|---|---|---|
| Part 4 Class B temporary use | Tents and pitches for a set number of days a year | Buildings, hardstanding, year-round trading |
| Caravan Act Schedule 1 exemptions | Small-scale or club-certificated caravan use | Open-market commercial sites, lodges on plinths |
| Full planning permission | The whole enterprise, phased if needed | Nothing, but it invites full scrutiny |
Landscape and visual effects in open countryside
Landscape harm is the commonest reason these schemes fail. Pods in a bare field read as a caravan site. The same pods against an existing hedgerow, set below a ridgeline, with muted finishes and no external lighting, often do not.
Work with the existing field pattern. Keep units out of open skyline positions, reuse existing tracks, and avoid ranks of identical units at identical spacing. Where the site sits in or near a National Landscape or a National Park, the duty on decision makers is stronger and a proportionate Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment prepared to the third edition of the Landscape Institute guidelines will usually be expected.
Lighting deserves its own thought. Dark skies are part of the offer on most rural sites, and a lighting scheme designed to the Institution of Lighting Professionals guidance on obtrusive light removes an easy objection.
Access, parking and internal circulation
The highway authority will want visibility splays measured against the recorded speed of traffic, not the posted limit. Existing field accesses often fail on that point alone, and improving one can mean removing hedgerow that the landscape case relies on.
Inside the site, show refuse vehicle and emergency access with swept path drawings, a turning head, passing places on any track longer than about 30 metres, and parking at or near each pitch so cars do not end up on the verge. Most small sites justify a Transport Statement rather than a full Transport Assessment, but check the local validation list before deciding.
Foul drainage and water supply off mains
Off-mains drainage is the second most common stumbling block. A package treatment plant discharging to a watercourse or to ground must meet the Environment Agency general binding rules for small sewage discharges, or hold a permit under the Environmental Permitting Regulations 2016 where the rules are not met.
You need percolation testing and a drainage layout before you can show the plant will work, and infiltration in clay soils frequently will not. Water supply from a borehole or spring brings the Private Water Supplies (England) Regulations 2016 and a risk assessment by the council's environmental health team. Neither issue is fatal. Both are slow if left until after submission.
Occupancy conditions and preventing permanent residence
Councils grant holiday accommodation on the understanding that it stays holiday accommodation. Expect conditions restricting occupation to holiday use, preventing any unit becoming a sole or main residence, and requiring a register of occupiers to be kept and produced on request.
Read the wording before you accept it. A condition that caps stays at a short period can conflict with off-season lets, and a condition requiring an annual closure period can make a lodge unmortgageable. If the drafting is wrong for the business, argue the point during determination. Varying it later means a section 73 application and a fresh assessment.
An illustrative example. A 12-pitch site on a four-hectare grazing field with an existing farm access, units set against two established hedgerows, a package treatment plant on the low side of the field and a shared reception in a converted stone barn. The same 12 pitches spread evenly across the open middle of the field, each with its own hot tub and lamp post, is a different application with a different outcome.
Biodiversity and tree constraints on a wooded site
Mandatory biodiversity net gain applies to most planning permissions, with the small sites regime running since 2 April 2024 and a general 10 per cent uplift secured for 30 years through a biodiversity gain plan approved by the council. Grassland that looks unremarkable can score well on the statutory metric, and pitches carved out of it create a deficit you then have to make up.
Where trees are involved, a survey to BS 5837:2012 sets out root protection areas, and pitches inside those areas need no-dig construction. Buildings being converted for reception or shower blocks need a bat assessment before any roof works. A Preliminary Ecological Appraisal early on tells you which of these apply and when the survey windows fall.
Where these schemes fail at appeal
Inspectors are not bound by each other, and appeal decisions are indicative of approach rather than precedent. The recurring themes are consistent though.
Sites refused and dismissed tend to be isolated and wholly car dependent, visually prominent, reliant on drainage that has not been tested, or controlled by occupancy conditions the applicant resisted. Sites allowed tend to have an existing access, an existing building in the mix, a landscape strategy that predates the layout rather than decorating it, and a business case tied to a working holding.
But the single most useful thing you can do is pre-application advice. A written officer response on principle, scale and access for a few hundred pounds reshapes a scheme for far less than a refusal costs.
This is general guidance, not legal advice. Check the position with your local planning authority or a qualified professional before relying on it.
You can browse the report types a rural tourism scheme usually needs and start a draft from your postcode. PlanScope provides AI-assisted draft reports for planning applications. Reports should be reviewed before submission. We do not guarantee planning approval.
Frequently asked questions
Can I run a glamping site for 28 days a year without permission?
Only within the limits of Class B of Part 4 of the GPDO 2015, which permits temporary use of land for a set number of days each calendar year. The allowance was amended in 2021, so check the current text. It covers the use of land alone, so any hardstanding, service block or permanent base still needs permission in its own right.
Are shepherd huts and pods treated as caravans?
Often yes. A unit that is designed or adapted for human habitation and is capable of being moved from one place to another can meet the statutory definition of a caravan, even when it is marketed as a lodge. That affects whether a site licence under the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960 is needed alongside planning permission.
What does a holiday occupancy condition stop me doing?
It typically prevents any unit being occupied as a person's sole or main residence, limits occupation to holiday purposes, and requires you to keep a register of occupiers for inspection. Some councils add a maximum length of stay or an annual closure period. Negotiate the wording during determination, because changing it afterwards needs a section 73 application.
Do I need biodiversity net gain for a glamping site?
Most planning permissions now carry the biodiversity gain condition, with small sites in scope since 2 April 2024. You will normally need the statutory metric completed by a competent person and a biodiversity gain plan approved by the council before development starts. Semi-improved grassland can score higher than owners expect, so get the baseline done early.
Which documents does a small glamping application usually need?
A Planning Statement, a site layout and unit drawings, a landscape strategy, a foul drainage scheme with percolation results, a transport statement or access drawing, and an ecology appraisal. Sites near trees need a BS 5837:2012 survey. Check the council's local validation list, because requirements beyond the national list vary by authority.
Sources and further reading
This article is general guidance about the planning system in England and, where stated, the rest of the UK. It is not legal or professional advice. Check your local planning authority’s validation requirements and take professional advice for your specific site.