Parks with Holiday homes for rent
Known as "letting units" or "hirefleet".
Tenure
Holiday home owners have only a limited degree of security. If they do not pay their rent promptly or do not abide by the rules of the park, they may be given notice to quit.
The BH&HPA (British Holiday and Home Park Association) recommend offering a written contract with a minimum 5 years security. This would be more attractive to customers thinking of paying several thousand pounds for a holiday home to know that they have some degree of security of tenure.
Charges
This is usually per week, costing more in the summer and Bank Holidays, and less off-peak. Prices may vary according to the age of the unit, and the 'mod-cons' it offers.
There is more potential income letting out caravans rather than renting pitches for customers' own vans, but this can be off-set by the increased admin costs of letting on a weekly basis, advertising etc. Parks with owner-occupied units tend to have less visitors than those with weekly letting customers, and so will not make as much on other forms of income, like bar, shop, entertainment etc.
For owner-occupied parks the pitch fee is usually payable annually in advance. Some parks allow this to be paid in 4 monthly instalments. It may be a combined charge, or itemised for basic fee, rates, water, insurance, etc. Electricity must only be charged at cost.
Other income
There are several other potential sources of income:
 • Charging a 'siting fee' to customers binging in their own caravan onto the park
 • Running a shop to provide basic goods and foods
 • Group insurance scheme commission
 • Profit from the sale of holiday homes, both new and used
 • Commission on the re-sale of used holiday homes
 • Commission on letting on behalf of the owners (sub-letting)
 • Profit from re-sale of bottled gas
 • Commission from franchised businesses offering services on-site
Caravan sales
Most holiday home parks do not allow customers to bring their own caravan onto the park. They prefer to have their own stock of new and used holiday homes for sale. If a customer wants to sell up, the park owner may insist on having the right to buy, and then sell on for a profit. If the customer is allowed to sell privately, a commission of 10% - 15% levied by the park is usual practice. If there is a lot of 'movement' like this, income from sales can be significant.
Sub-letting
This varies from parks that do not allow sub-letting, to those that run an agency to find clients for their holiday home owners. If the park owner acts as letting agent, then a fee of around 20% commission is usual.
Code of Practice
A joint publication sponsored by the BH&HPA (British Holiday and Home Parks Association) and the NCC (National Caravan Council) covers such issues as:
 • Selling techniques
 • Removal of a caravan from a pitch
 • Pitch fees and other charges
 • Resale of caravans
 • Substantial changes in arrangements on a park
 • Terms of Licence Agreement - minimum content
 • Complaints procedure
 • Monitoring This document is free, and can be ordered online: Click Here