Campsite Mortgage

What is a campsite mortgage?

Lenders fund a campsite as a trading business, so the consent and licence that permit the trade matter as much as the accounts. Underwriting covers maintainable profit from the accounts, the planning consent and caravan site licence, the pitch mix and season, the land and any owner's accommodation, and the exit: a sale as a going concern or a refinance. Where an individual (or trustees) borrows and at least 40% of the property is used, or intended to be used, as or in connection with a dwelling by the borrower or a close family member (the statutory test in article 61 of the Regulated Activities Order), the loan falls within Financial Conduct Authority regulation under MCOB and is a regulated mortgage. Otherwise, including where a limited company borrows, a campsite mortgage is unregulated business lending.

The legal framework is specific to the asset, and each rule in it sets what a lender can lend against. Land used as a caravan site, for touring or static caravans, needs a caravan site licence from the council under the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960 (gov.uk) as well as planning permission. Land used for tent camping on more than 42 consecutive days, or more than 60 days in any 12 months, needs a licence under the Public Health Act 1936. Temporary recreational campsites in England can operate for up to 60 days a calendar year on up to 50 pitches under permitted development, without planning permission, for tents, motorhomes and campervans only.

Campsite mortgage rates

Campsite mortgage pricing follows commercial lending: a margin over Bank Rate or a fixed-rate equivalent. The margin moves with the loan-to-value (LTV), trading strength, season length, the licence and planning position, and whether the owner runs the site. Arrangement, valuation (on going-concern and vacant-possession bases) and legal fees also apply. The commercial mortgage guide sets out the full structure.

If you are buying or refinancing a campsite, send the accounts, the planning decision and the site licence when you get in touch. Those three documents decide which lenders can take the case, and so which rates are available.

Campsite mortgage criteria

The criteria below come from the campsite, holiday park and glamping cases we arrange. Each lender sets its own figures, so use them as a guide to what to expect; none of this is an offer of finance. How much you can borrow depends on how much of the property is the business. In our experience, where more than 60% of the property is commercial the maximum is about 75% loan-to-value, and where the commercial element is 60% or less lending can reach up to 90%. The minimum deposit is therefore 10%, rising to 25% or more on a mainly commercial property. That 60% commercial line is the statutory regulated boundary seen from the other side: where the owner's dwelling forms at least 40% of the property (counting land used with it) and an individual borrows, the loan is regulated. On the commercial cases we arrange, terms run from 15 to 40 years, interest only is available, and a personal guarantee is usually required where a limited company borrows. All lending is subject to status, valuation and lender criteria.

Types of campsite, and how each is mortgaged

Lenders distinguish campsites by what is pitched on them, for how long and under what consent, because each combination is a different business with a different legal footing.

Touring caravan and camping sites

Sites for tents, touring caravans, motorhomes and campervans on short stays trade seasonally, with the season often set by the planning consent. Pitch fees are the income, and the facilities (toilets, showers, electric hook-ups, waste disposal) are the capital base. Lenders read the planning consent for pitch numbers and season length, the caravan site licence for its conditions, and the accounts for occupancy and pitch-rate trends. A full-year consent and a licence without onerous conditions support a stronger going-concern value, and membership of a club network or listings on booking platforms help evidence demand.

Static caravan and holiday parks

Parks with static caravans and lodges on long-term pitch agreements earn pitch fees, unit sales and commissions, and charges for site services, under a caravan site licence whose conditions govern density, spacing and season. Lenders treat the pitch-fee income as the sustainable core and the unit-sales income more cautiously, and they read the licence and planning conditions on occupancy (holiday use only, or a closed season) and the state of the park's infrastructure. Holiday parks are the larger, more commercial end of the market, so lender appetite follows scale, management and compliance with the model standards behind the licence. The commercial mortgage guide and hotel mortgages cover the hospitality lending logic.

Glamping sites, pods and lodges

Glamping units (pods, shepherd's huts, safari tents, yurts and cabins) trade at higher nightly rates and can let through more of the year. Their legal position varies by unit: some count as caravans under the 1960 Act, some are buildings that need planning consent, and some are temporary structures. Lenders want the planning and licensing position of each unit type confirmed, evidence of occupancy and rates, and clarity on whether the units are let as holiday accommodation. Glamping income is underwritten like serviced accommodation: on projections where the site is new and on accounts where it is established. The furnished holiday lettings tax regime was abolished from April 2025, as the holiday let mortgage guide explains.

Certificated locations and small sites

A certificated location is a small site run under a certificate from an exempted organisation, which allows a handful of caravans without a full site licence. These sites are typically ancillary to a farm or a home. Lenders treat the certificated income as supplementary and mortgage the property on its main use: a farm on agricultural or rural lending, or a house on residential lending with the campsite income noted. Growing a certificated location into a licensed site changes the lending route.

Pop-up and 60-day campsites

Class BC permitted development lets land in England be used as a temporary recreational campsite for up to 60 days a calendar year, on up to 50 pitches, for tents, motorhomes and campervans only, provided toilet and waste facilities are in place and the council is given written notice each year. Lenders do not lend on that use as a campsite business. They fund the land on its underlying use (agricultural, rural or residential) and treat the seasonal camping income as supplementary; a permanent campsite mortgage needs permanent planning consent and a site licence. Some owners run a 60-day season as a trial year before a planning application.

Farm diversification campsites

A farmer adding a campsite, glamping units or a small park to agricultural land is funded on the farm's agricultural or rural lending, with the diversification income in the affordability assessment, or on commercial campsite terms once the campsite becomes the dominant business. Underwriting turns on planning for the change of use, the site licence, and the effect on any agricultural tenancy or subsidy. The farm lending position is covered on rural mortgages, smallholding mortgages and agricultural bridging loans.

Campsites with owner's accommodation

Where a campsite includes the owner's house or a warden's lodge, the split between home and business decides the regulatory route. If an individual borrows and at least 40% of the property is used as a dwelling, the mortgage is regulated under MCOB and assessed on the borrower's income, with the campsite income as a component. Otherwise the loan is an unregulated commercial mortgage on the business, with the dwelling as part of the security. Lenders also check that any accommodation on a caravan site is lawfully occupied under the planning consent and licence; a warden's unit with a holiday-occupancy condition cannot be the owner's main home.

Get in touch with the accounts, the consent and the licence for a trading site, the pitch agreements as well for a holiday park, the planning position of each unit type for a glamping site, or the farm accounts and the diversification plan for a farm site. We can also plan the route from a 60-day site to a consented one.

How a campsite mortgage is arranged

1. Documents and classification: we gather the accounts, the planning decision notice and conditions, the caravan site licence and conditions, the pitch schedule and the position on any owner's accommodation, and establish from the residential proportion whether the loan is regulated.
2. Lender match and valuation: the case goes to lenders that fund campsites of that type and scale, and a specialist valuer reports on going-concern and vacant-possession bases, tested against the licence and planning position.
3. Underwriting and offer: the lender assesses maintainable EBITDA, debt service coverage, seasonality and the operator's experience. Conditions may attach to licence compliance or facility works.
4. Legal work and completion: the solicitors review the title, planning, the pitch agreements and any tenancies, and the caravan site licence is transferred to the new occupier with the council's consent, or a new licence is applied for, before the purchase completes.

How campsites are valued and underwritten

A lender values a campsite on its lawful, maintainable profit: only the trade that the planning consent and the licence permit counts.

1. Planning sets the ceiling on the trade. The planning consent defines the use, the pitch numbers, the pitch types and often the season. Income above what the consent permits is not maintainable income, and a valuer will not capitalise it. Lenders read the decision notice and conditions before the accounts, and a site trading beyond its consent is valued at the consented level, or on land value where the consent is unclear. Planning permission is covered in gov.uk's guidance.
2. The licence sets the conditions on the trade. A caravan site licence under the 1960 Act carries conditions drawn from the model standards for the site type, covering matters such as density, spacing, fire points, roads, drainage and the season. The trade continues only while the site complies, and the licence transfers to a new occupier only with the council's consent, so lenders confirm the licence's conditions and its transferability at legal stage. Tent-only sites used for more than 42 consecutive days, or more than 60 days in any 12 months, need their own licence under the Public Health Act 1936.
3. A campsite is valued as a going concern or on its land. Where the site has trading accounts (each lender sets how many years it needs), the valuer works out maintainable EBITDA (pitch fees, unit sales and commissions, services, the shop and other income, less operating costs, with the owner's drawings normalised to a manager's salary) and capitalises it at a multiple reflecting site type, season, location and compliance. The vacant-possession value of the land, buildings and infrastructure is the floor, and lenders cross-check the going-concern figure against it. On new, unproven or diversification sites the land value is the basis, and the trade supports affordability only.
4. A campsite's cash arrives in the season while the mortgage is paid all year, so lenders test debt service coverage on annual EBITDA against a stressed annual payment, at a ratio each lender sets, and read the seasonal profile for the working capital needed through the closed months. Full-year consents, static pitch fees and glamping income flatten the profile and support coverage.
5. The 40% dwelling test set out at the top of this page decides whether the loan is a regulated mortgage under MCOB, with affordability on the borrower's income and the campsite income treated as self-employed trading income evidenced from the accounts, or unregulated commercial lending on the business. On the cases we arrange, lending reaches up to 90% LTV where the commercial element is 60% or less and up to 75% above that. The purchase is structured around that line before the application, because it decides the lenders, the products and the protections.
6. The appraisal allows for business rates on the site (holiday accommodation and pitch operations are rated), the council's licence and inspection fees, insurance for public liability and the units, and infrastructure renewal (drainage, electrics, roads). For glamping and holiday accommodation it also reflects the tax position since the furnished holiday lettings regime ended in April 2025, covered on the holiday let mortgage guide.

Before an application, a buyer gathers the accounts, occupancy data and licence compliance records, settles whether the loan is regulated or commercial and, where experience is thin, prepares an operator plan. Setting out the planning and licensing position ahead of the accounts shows the lender what the site is permitted to trade and helps match the case to a lender whose appetite matches the site type.

For related reading, the commercial mortgage guide covers going-concern valuation and the hospitality sectors, and the holiday let mortgage guide covers short-stay accommodation income and the post-FHL tax rules.