Reports for a mobile home and park homes site
Permanent residential park homes are classified as highly vulnerable to flooding, which rules out many sites before the layout is drawn. Here is the evidence base for planning and for the separate site licence.
A residential park homes scheme needs two consents and one of them will probably decide the site. Planning permission comes first, and the site licence under the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960 can only follow it. The park homes planning documents therefore have to satisfy a planning officer and, in parallel, give the licensing team the layout evidence it needs. The single issue that kills more park homes applications than any other is flood risk, because permanent residential caravans are classified as highly vulnerable development.
Planning permission and the separate site licence
The 1960 Act requires a site licence for the use of land as a caravan site, and the local authority can only grant one to a person who has the benefit of planning permission for that use. So the licence does not substitute for permission and permission does not guarantee a licence.
The licence conditions are drawn from the model standards for permanent residential mobile home sites in England, published in 2008. Those standards cover separation between units, road widths and construction, fire points, boundary clearances, parking and amenity provision. Licensing and planning are separate regimes, but a layout that cannot meet the model standards will produce a licence with conditions you cannot build to.
Site management has its own regime too. The Mobile Homes Act 2013 reformed site licensing in England and introduced the fit and proper person requirement for the person managing a residential site, and occupiers' agreements are governed by the Mobile Homes Act 1983. None of that is a planning matter, and all of it affects the business case.
Design the layout against the model standards before you draw the planning layout. Redrawing a site at licensing stage after permission is granted usually means a section 73 application.
Flood risk and caravan vulnerability classification
This is the part that catches developers who have done housing but not park homes. The Planning Practice Guidance on flood risk classifies caravans, mobile homes and park homes intended for permanent residential use as highly vulnerable, which is a higher category than ordinary housing.
The consequence is severe. Highly vulnerable development requires the exception test in Flood Zone 2, and it should not be permitted in Flood Zone 3a or in the functional floodplain at Flood Zone 3b. A site that would carry a bungalow scheme with a conventional Flood Risk Assessment may be undevelopable for park homes.
| Flood zone | Permanent residential park homes | What you have to produce |
|---|---|---|
| Zone 1 | Acceptable in principle | Flood risk assessment where the site is one hectare or more |
| Zone 2 | Exception test required | Sequential test, exception test, flood risk assessment with climate change allowances |
| Zone 3a | Should not be permitted | A different site, in practice |
| Zone 3b | Should not be permitted | A different site |
So check the flood map for planning before you option the land. Where the site is in Zone 2, the Sequential Test has to be done properly, with a defined search area agreed with the authority and a reasoned assessment of alternative sites, and the Exception Test then has to show wider sustainability benefits and that the development will be safe for its lifetime. Use the Environment Agency climate change allowances current at the time of writing and say which set you used.
Spacing, access roads and fire separation
The layout evidence does double duty. For planning it demonstrates amenity, parking and landscaping. For licensing it demonstrates compliance with the separation and access standards.
Draw and dimension the following on a single layout plan:
- Separation between units, and between units and any boundary or structure
- Road widths, turning provision and construction build-up
- Fire point locations and the walking distance from the furthest unit
- Parking spaces per unit, with visitor parking
- Bin storage and collection point, with the collection vehicle route
- Private amenity space per unit
- Any permanent buildings, such as an office or amenity block
Access for a fire appliance is the constraint that most often forces a layout change, and it interacts with the road gradient on sloping sites. Get the highway authority's view on the site access early, because a park homes site generates trips spread differently from general housing, with lower peak hour movements but a higher proportion of visitor and carer trips.
Foul drainage and package treatment
Many park homes sites are outside the public sewer network, which turns drainage from a detail into a determining issue.
Establish the connection position first. Where mains drainage is available, a Foul Sewage Assessment setting out the connection point, the capacity position and the undertaker's response is normally enough. Where it is not available, the scheme needs a package treatment plant or a septic tank arrangement, which brings in the environmental permitting regime for small sewage discharges and may need a permit rather than reliance on the general binding rules.
Three things to resolve before submission. Where the discharge goes, and whether the receiving watercourse or ground conditions can take it. Who owns and maintains the plant, since a park homes site has a site operator who can hold that duty. And whether percolation testing supports the design, because an infiltration-based system on clay does not work and the test results take time to obtain.
Landscape and boundary containment
Park homes read as a distinct settlement form, and the planning objection is usually visual. A regular grid of single storey units with hard-surfaced roads in open countryside is hard to assimilate.
What tends to carry weight: existing mature boundaries retained and reinforced, a layout that follows the contours rather than cutting across them, roof colours and finishes in muted tones, and structural planting established before occupation rather than promised afterwards. Where the site is in or near a National Landscape or a sensitive valley, a landscape and visual impact assessment prepared to the recognised methodology is the document the case turns on.
Offer a landscape management plan with the application, secured by condition, with a replacement obligation for failed planting. Boundary planting on a park homes site is routinely the first thing to be trimmed back by residents who want a view.
Occupancy restrictions and age conditions
Expect conditions on who can live there and for how long. The two that matter commercially are the distinction between permanent residential occupation and holiday use, and any age restriction.
A permission for permanent residential use is a different product from a holiday caravan permission, and a condition limiting occupancy to holiday use, with a maximum period of stay and a requirement to keep a register, will prevent the business model entirely. Make the application unambiguous about which you are seeking, in the description of development, and explain the housing supply contribution in the planning statement.
Age-restricted occupancy conditions are common on residential sites and are usually offered by the applicant rather than imposed. Think carefully before offering one. It helps with the amenity and traffic case, and it narrows the market and the resale position for the units.
Scale matters here too. Ten or more units brings the scheme into major development territory, with the consultation, determination period and affordable housing considerations that follow, and the evidence step up from the level set out for a nine dwelling scheme.
Surface water and permeable road construction
A park homes site introduces a large area of road and hardstanding relative to the number of units. Surface water is therefore a design issue from the first sketch.
Permeable surfacing for the internal roads and parking, swales along the road edges, and attenuation sized to the greenfield run-off rate are the standard answers, and the drainage strategy should show the calculation rather than asserting the outcome. Where infiltration is proposed, support it with percolation test results at the depth and location of the proposed feature.
One illustrative figure to plan around: a 30-unit site with internal roads, parking for two cars per unit and a visitor overflow produces a substantially larger impermeable area than 30 houses on the same plot count, because the units sit apart from each other. Model it rather than scaling from a housing scheme.
Documents the licensing team also needs
The planning pack and the licence application overlap, and preparing them together saves a redraw.
- Dimensioned layout plan showing separation distances, roads, fire points, parking and bin storage
- Specification for road construction, lighting and fire point equipment
- Drainage layout for foul and surface water, with the permit position stated
- Water supply and electrical distribution layout, with the undertaker and network operator positions
- Site management arrangements, naming the manager role
- Landscape plan with the management regime
- Schedule of units with dimensions, confirming they fall within the statutory caravan definition, including the twin-unit limits
One financial point. The Community Infrastructure Levy applies to buildings, and a caravan is not a building, so in practice any charge usually falls on permanent structures such as an office or amenity block rather than on the units. Confirm the position with the charging authority rather than assuming it.
Browse the report types and start a draft to see which of these documents your site is likely to need.
This is general guidance, not legal advice. Check the position with your local planning authority or a qualified professional before relying on it. For specialist technical reports, qualified professional input may be required. PlanScope provides AI-assisted draft reports for planning applications. Reports should be reviewed before submission. We do not guarantee planning approval.
Frequently asked questions
Do park homes need a site licence as well as planning permission?
Yes. The Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960 requires a site licence, and the local authority can only grant one to a person who already has the benefit of planning permission for use as a caravan site. The licence conditions draw on the model standards for permanent residential mobile home sites in England.
Why are park homes treated as highly vulnerable to flooding?
The Planning Practice Guidance on flood risk classifies caravans, mobile homes and park homes intended for permanent residential use as highly vulnerable, a higher category than ordinary housing. That means the exception test is required in Flood Zone 2 and the development should not be permitted in Flood Zone 3a or 3b.
Can a park homes site rely on a package treatment plant?
Often yes, where no public sewer is available, but it brings in the environmental permitting regime for small sewage discharges and may need a permit rather than reliance on the general binding rules. Resolve the discharge point, the maintenance responsibility and the percolation test results before submitting.
Should I offer an age restriction condition?
It can help the amenity and traffic case, and age-restricted occupancy is common on residential sites. It also narrows the market and affects resale. Decide before you apply, because the condition is far easier to offer than to remove later through a section 73 application.
Does the Community Infrastructure Levy apply to the units?
The levy applies to buildings, and a caravan is not a building, so in practice any charge usually falls on permanent structures such as an office or amenity block rather than on the units themselves. Confirm the position with the charging authority rather than assuming it, since site circumstances vary.
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.