Whether a site fee rise can be challenged depends on two things: whether you own a holiday caravan or lodge, or a residential park home, and what your agreement says. The rules for each are different, and so are the steps you can take. This guide covers both.
Holiday caravans and lodges: your licence agreement and the law
If you own a static caravan or lodge on a holiday park, you do not own the land. You hold a licence agreement with the park, and that agreement is what allows the park to charge a site fee (often called a pitch fee) for the ground your caravan sits on.
The Mobile Homes Act 1983 does not cover holiday caravans or lodges. Your rights come from the licence agreement itself and from consumer protection law.
Where to find the fee review clause
Look in your licence agreement for a section headed "pitch fee", "site fee", "annual review" or "fee variation". If you bought from the park, the licence terms may be in the same document as your purchase agreement.
The clause may tell you:
- how often the fee can be reviewed
- what the park can take into account when it sets a new fee
- how much notice the park must give you before a new fee takes effect
- what you can do if you disagree
If your agreement does not explain these things clearly, that matters.
What the Consumer Rights Act 2015 says
The Consumer Rights Act 2015 applies to consumer contracts, including holiday caravan licence agreements. Under Part 2 of the Act, contract terms must be fair and transparent, and an unfair term is not binding on you.
A term may be unfair if it creates a significant imbalance between your rights and the park's rights, to your disadvantage. Schedule 2 to the Act gives examples of terms that may be unfair. One is a term that lets a trader decide the price after you are bound by the contract, where no price or method for working it out was agreed when you signed.
A term must also be transparent, which means written in plain, clear language that you could understand.
What this means in practice: if your agreement gives the park broad freedom to raise fees without saying how increases are worked out, a solicitor can assess whether that term is fair.
Residential park homes: pitch fee reviews under the Mobile Homes Act 1983
If your home is a residential park home on a protected site in England, you have stronger protection. The Mobile Homes Act 1983, as amended, implies terms into your written agreement that the site owner cannot remove, including rules on how the pitch fee is reviewed.
How the annual review works
The pitch fee can only be reviewed once a year, on the review date. The review date is usually set out in your written agreement.
The site owner must give you written notice of a proposed new fee at least 28 clear days before the review date. In England, a notice proposing an increase must come with a document in the form set by the Mobile Homes (Pitch Fees) (Prescribed Form) (England) Regulations 2023. A notice proposing an increase has no effect without it.
The CPI presumption in England
Since July 2023, the Mobile Homes (Pitch Fees) Act 2023 has made the Consumer Prices Index (CPI), rather than the Retail Prices Index (RPI), the inflation measure for pitch fee reviews in England. The law presumes that the pitch fee will not rise by more than the change in CPI. If the site owner proposes more than that and you do not agree, either of you can ask a tribunal to decide.
Worth checking: CPI is usually lower than RPI. If a review notice served after the change still uses RPI, it may be worth questioning.
Wales
In Wales, residential park homes are covered by the Mobile Homes (Wales) Act 2013, which has its own rules on pitch fee reviews. Disputes go to the Residential Property Tribunal Wales.
If you disagree with the proposed increase
You do not have to agree to the new pitch fee. If you and the site owner cannot agree, either of you can apply to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) in England to decide the fee. You keep paying your current fee until the new fee is agreed or decided, and any new fee then applies from the review date. The tribunal looks at the matters set out in Schedule 1 to the Act, such as improvements made to the site, any deterioration in its condition, and any reduction in services.
Our guide to park home owner rights explains more about residential agreements.
Practical steps you can take
Whatever type of home you own, these steps can help.
1. Find the clause in your agreement
Get out your licence agreement or written agreement and find the section on site fees or pitch fees. Note what it says about how increases are worked out and how much notice you must be given. If you do not have a copy, ask the park for one in writing.
2. Compare the rise with what the clause allows
Check whether the increase matches the method in your agreement. For residential park homes in England, compare it with the latest CPI figure published before the notice was served. If the increase is higher than the method allows, write that down.
3. Write to the park
Put your concern in writing, short and factual. Say what increase you have been told about and which clause you think applies, and ask the park to explain how it worked out the new fee. Keep a copy of everything you send.
4. Use the park's complaints process
Most parks have a formal complaints procedure. If your letter does not get a satisfactory answer, use it. This also creates a written record.
5. Keep every fee letter
Keep all fee review notices, letters and emails from the park. Our page on evidence and subject access requests explains how to get copies of records you no longer have. For background on what site fees usually cover, see our guide to static caravan site fees.
Were you told fees would barely rise?
If you were told before you bought that fees were low, fixed or unlikely to rise much, and you have since seen large increases, that is a separate question from a fee review dispute. What you were told before you bought may be relevant to a mis-selling claim if it was inaccurate and influenced your decision. Our page on mis-sold static caravans explains how that works.
Park Home Claim is a claims assistance firm, not a law firm. We are not regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority or the Financial Conduct Authority. If you think you may have been mis-sold, an independent SRA-regulated solicitor can review your case. The review is free and there is no obligation.
Sources
- Mobile Homes Act 1983
- Mobile Homes (Pitch Fees) Act 2023
- Mobile Homes (Pitch Fees) (Prescribed Form) (England) Regulations 2023
- Consumer Rights Act 2015
- The rights of residential and holiday mobile home owners in England, House of Commons Library, July 2026
- First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber), GOV.UK