Static caravan depreciation and resale: understand the exit before you buy
A holiday caravan is primarily a lifestyle purchase, not a conventional property investment. Its future value depends on far more than age: the park agreement, remaining permitted time on the pitch, condition, location and the rules governing resale can all matter. Those are worth understanding while you still have the option to walk away.
The sales tour naturally concentrates on arriving. A sensible buyer also asks how leaving works.
Static caravans are manufactured holiday homes and generally should not be treated like bricks-and-mortar property. A newer model may command more than an older equivalent, but there is no reliable universal percentage you can apply to predict a future sale price.
For planning purposes, test the purchase with a conservative resale assumption. If the numbers only work when you assume an unusually strong future sale price, the numbers do not really work.
Pitch agreement
The caravan and the right to keep it there are different things
A prospective buyer should establish how long the particular holiday home can remain on its pitch and what happens on resale. Do not infer this from the park's opening season or from how long another owner's caravan has been there. Ask for the terms applying to the unit you are considering.
Where Own & Roam publishes licence or tenure information on a park profile, it is a dated research snapshot from information the operator has made available. Your signed agreement is the document that matters to your purchase.
Resale
Seven questions to get answered in writing
These questions are deliberately less exciting than choosing the decking. They can also be considerably more expensive to discover later.
1How long may this exact holiday home remain on this pitch under the current agreement?
2Can I sell privately, or must a future sale go through the park?
3What commission, transfer fee or other charge applies when I sell?
4Can a buyer keep the holiday home on the same pitch, and on what terms?
5Does the park have an age, condition or specification rule for holiday homes remaining on site?
6What happens if I want to leave the park but cannot find a buyer?
7Can I see the relevant resale and termination clauses before paying a deposit?
Compare properly
Model more than the purchase price
Use the ownership calculator to combine purchase price, annual fees, running costs, fee increases and a resale assumption.
If you would still be happy with the cost of the holidays even if resale disappoints, you are making a lifestyle decision with your eyes open. That is a much sturdier reason to buy than hoping the caravan behaves like a house.
Buyer research reviewed: September 2026. Park rules, fees and resale terms can change; verify the current written agreement for the exact holiday home and pitch before purchase.