Buying a park home and what you actually own

Buying a park home gets you the home and not the ground under it. Government guidance says you are buying the home but not the pitch, which stays with the site owner, who is responsible for maintaining and managing the site. Your right to keep the home where it stands comes from a pitch agreement protected by the Mobile Homes Act 1983. This guide covers England and is general information rather than legal advice.

No mortgage, and no ordinary conveyancing

The Leasehold Advisory Service, the government-funded advice body, states plainly that it is not possible to get a mortgage on a park home, because you own the structure but not the ground it sits on. Park homes are not registered at HM Land Registry and the standard conveyancing process does not apply.

Some buyers fund the purchase by selling their previous home, and some lenders offer loans to finance a park home purchase. A loan is a different product from a mortgage, so compare the total cost of credit rather than the headline rate. Using a solicitor is not compulsory, but it is recommended because a solicitor can spot problems before you commit.

The site owner takes up to 10% when you sell

This is the number that changes the sums, and it is easy to miss until you come to move on. The site owner is entitled to a commission of up to 10% of the sale price when a resident sells their park home.

Here is how it works. The buyer pays the seller 90% of the price on completion, holds back the other 10%, and pays it to the site owner within seven days of being given the site owner’s bank details. No VAT is due on the commission, and the site owner is not entitled to any other payment in relation to the sale.

Take a park home sold for £150,000. The figures are illustrative. The site owner receives £15,000 and the seller receives £135,000. If you buy at £150,000 and later sell at the same price, you are £15,000 down before you count anything else, which is a different proposition from a house that simply failed to rise in value.

The government has been looking at this charge. In March 2026 it opened a call for evidence on the reasons for the commission. At the time of writing the rate is still up to 10%, so check the current position before you buy.

Your 28 days before you commit

When you buy from the site owner, you must be given a written statement at least 28 days before you enter into the contract to buy the home or sign the pitch agreement. You are under no obligation to buy at that stage. Use the time, because the statement sets out the terms of your pitch agreement, including the pitch fee and any site rules.

The sanction for not providing it is strong. The government guidance says that if you are given no written statement, none of the express terms are enforceable, including the pitch fee. An express term that is missing from the statement, or materially different from it, is unenforceable unless the tribunal orders otherwise.

Agreements contain two kinds of term. Implied terms apply whether or not they are written down, and where an express term conflicts with an implied term, the implied term applies.

Site licence, age limits and holiday parks

Park home sites must be licensed by the local authority and have planning permission. The licence should be displayed on the site together with its conditions, and councils keep a register of site licences that is open to the public, so you can ask the council for a copy.

Check the planning status rather than the brochure. A protected site has a licence and planning permission for people to live there all year. On a holiday park you will have fewer rights and you cannot use the home as your main or only home. Most park home sites are retirement communities with age restrictions, such as 50 and over.

Residential park homes must be built to a standard called BS 3632. An Energy Performance Certificate is not required, but a survey is recommended, especially for a second-hand home.

Pitch fees and how they rise

You pay a pitch fee for keeping your home on the site. The site owner can propose a change once a year and must give 28 days’ written notice, using a standard form. In England, pitch fee reviews have used the consumer prices index rather than the retail prices index since 2 July 2023, when the Mobile Homes (Pitch Fees) Act 2023 came into force. The change is meant to stop the difference between the two indices being passed on to residents.

Gas and electricity charges cannot be more than the site owner paid, and water charges are limited to what the water company charges plus a reasonable administration fee. Charges for LPG are not regulated, which matters on sites that run on bottled gas.

Ask for the written statement 28 days before you commit, and read the commission and pitch fee terms with the resale arithmetic in front of you. If you are selling a house to fund the move, our guide to what happens between accepting an offer and exchange explains that side of the process, and our guide to choosing a conveyancer explains what to compare. If you are used to freehold or leasehold ownership, our freehold vs leasehold guide shows how a park home differs, and you can compare conveyancing quotes for the sale of your current home.