The Caravan and Control of Development Act 1960 prohibits the use of land as a caravan site unless the occupier holds a site licence issued by us.
A caravan site includes anywhere a caravan (including mobile or 'park' home) is situated and occupied for human habitation including touring sites and single sites. Sites can be for permanent caravans (utilised as holiday caravans), touring caravans or permanent residential caravans.
Apply for a caravan site licence
If you wish to change the use of land to a permanent caravan site you must have planning permission before you apply for a licence.
An application must be completed and accompanied by a site plan at 1:500 scale showing the layout of roads, caravans and facilities.
To apply, download and complete the caravan site licence application and return to us by email to licensing@southribble.gov.uk. Alternatively, you can post it to: South Ribble Borough Council Licensing Team, Civic Centre, West Paddock, Leyland, Lancashire, PR25 1DH.
Transfer a caravan site licence
Caravan site occupier licences are transferable to a new occupier but the law requires us to give consent for the transfer. You should send us the licence with a request for transfer and we will either endorse or re-issue it.
To request a transfer, download and complete the transfer a caravan site licence form and return to us by email to licensing@southribble.gov.uk. Alternatively, you can post it to: South Ribble Borough Council Licensing Team, Civic Centre, West Paddock, Leyland, Lancashire, PR25 1DH.
Licence conditions
We have the discretion to withhold a licence and may specify conditions on any licence that we do grant. These conditions will be tailored to the individual application. Site licence conditions are designed to protect the health, safety and welfare of caravan occupants and include:
- the type of caravan
- fire safety precautions
- sanitary facilities
- the positioning, density and distance between caravans.
Once licensed, sites will be subject to routine inspections to ensure compliance with the conditions. All complaints will be investigated.
There is no time limit to the licence and it will expire when the planning permission expires. Any major changes to the site may affect the licence, so you must inform us when such changes occur.
If the site ownership changes, we may agree to transfer an existing licence to a new licensee.
Exceptions
A caravan site licence is not required for:
- incidental use within the cartilage of a dwelling house
- single caravan sited for no more than two consecutive nights for a maximum of 28 days in 12 months
- holdings of five acres or more, if not more that 28 days in 12 months, and a maximum of three caravans at any one time
- sites occupied by exempted organisations e.g. such as the Caravan Club
- sites of up to five caravans that are certified by an exempted organisation and which are for members only
- sites occupied by the local authority
- sites for special or temporary purposes, such as agricultural and forestry workers, building and engineering sites and travelling salesmen
- sites where caravans are kept for storage only (driveways, retailers, storage parks).
Model standards
View further information on model standards for caravan sites in England