Buying a Mobile Home from the United Kingdom: Complete Guide

How static caravans are sold in the UK

In the UK, static caravans are usually sold via the parks or by the manufacturers' authorised dealers. Buying a unit already sited on a park and buying one off-site are two different purchases.

On a park you own the caravan outright, but the plot it stands on is held on a long lease from the park owner, so pitch and site fees are likely to be your main outlay. Some parks open 12 months of the year, but many close for between one and four months over winter.

Off-site, you buy the home itself and have it moved to your own plot or to a park of your choice. That is how Green Village sells: used static caravans, mobile homes and lodges sourced in the UK, the Netherlands and France, each listed with photos and a price and delivered to the plot.

Unit types: static caravan, park home and lodge

British sellers use three names for factory-built homes that can be moved: static caravan (or holiday home), park home and lodge. For a buyer abroad the difference that matters most is the build standard, because it tells you whether the home was designed for seasonal or for year-round use.

A static caravan is usually built to EN 1647, the European standard for holiday homes suitable for seasonal holiday use. UK holiday homes range from about 28 × 10 ft to 43 × 14 ft; the larger, more luxurious ones are sold as holiday lodges.

A residential park home is built to BS 3632, the British Standard first published in 1963 by the British Standards Institution (BSI), for 12-month use subject to the site licence. Lodges can be built to either EN 1647 or BS 3632, so a lodge is not automatically a year-round home: check the standard on the manufacturer's paperwork.

For caravan site licensing in Great Britain, a caravan is any structure designed or adapted for human habitation that can be moved from one place to another, towed or carried on a motor vehicle or trailer (Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960, s.29). A twin-unit lodge or park home still counts if it has no more than two separately built sections assembled on site with bolts, clamps or other devices, is still physically capable of being moved on public roads once assembled, and stays within 20 m in length (excluding any drawbar), 6.8 m in width and 3.05 m internal height (Caravan Sites Act 1968, s.13, as amended for England, Wales and Scotland). Those limits apply to the assembled twin unit, not to a single static caravan. The guide to mobile home types compares them in more detail.

Buying in the UK: checks before you pay

Most static caravans in the UK change hands through the parks and the manufacturers' authorised dealers, and some through private sellers. Whichever channel you use, confirm before you pay that the seller owns the unit and that no finance is outstanding on it.

Ask for the unit's paperwork. The manufacturer's documents state the build standard, EN 1647 for seasonal holiday use or BS 3632 for 12-month use subject to the site licence, and recent gas and electrical safety checks show the state of the appliances and wiring; if they are missing, have them done before you commit.

Buying from the Green Village catalogue, each unit is listed with photos and a price, and transport, customs clearance and delivery to your plot are handled by Green Village; ask via the listing for any document you need to see.

Pre-purchase inspection: chassis, damp, roof and systems

An inspection before purchase is worth doing on any used unit. Start with the chassis, the structural base the home is moved on: check for corrosion, deformation, the condition of the axle and the support points, because a damaged chassis can make a unit unsafe to move.

Check for damp with a professional damp meter across all exterior walls (especially below windows), the roof (particularly at corners and around skylights), the floor (especially near the bathroom and kitchen) and storage areas, and have any problem the inspector flags resolved before the unit is moved.

Inspect the roof covering for cracks, blistering and water pooling, the sealant around openings (flue, skylights, aerials) and the state of the fascia and soffits. Have the gas appliances (boiler, cooker, heater) checked by a Gas Safe registered engineer and the electrical installation by a qualified electrician, with particular attention to the consumer unit, sockets and external lighting.

For a BS 3632 park home, ask to see the Manufacturers Declaration of Compliance certificate and the NCC badge that National Caravan Council member manufacturers issue when a home is despatched to the park. If the unit will stay on a park, read the park's written age-limit policy: limits are often 10–15 years for caravans and sometimes longer for lodges, and the wording differs between parks.

If you are buying privately, engage an independent inspector; the used mobile home inspection checklist lists what to look at. For a unit in the Green Village catalogue, ask via its listing for the details you need.

Exporting from the UK: origin, customs duty and VAT

Since Brexit, the UK is outside the EU single market and customs union, so a unit bought in the UK and delivered to Portugal, Spain or France is imported into the EU with a customs declaration.

Customs duty depends on origin. Under the EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement, a unit of UK origin enters the EU free of customs duty only with proof of UK origin; without that proof, duty applies. A unit that is already inside the EU, for example one sourced in the Netherlands or France, moves between EU countries without customs duty.

VAT is charged in the destination country in every case. In Spain the general rate is 21 % (Ley 37/1992, art. 90), which does not apply in the Canary Islands, Ceuta or Melilla (art. 3); for any other destination, the VAT appears on the quote for your delivery address.

Green Village handles customs clearance and holds EU customs registration EORI PT518231585; the cost to import a static caravan from the UK is broken down in its own guide.

Transport: organised by Mobile Home Logistic

Moving a static caravan or lodge from the UK to continental Europe is a specialist operation. Transport is organised by Mobile Home Logistic, Green Village's logistics division, and is included in the delivered price; we handle customs clearance.

Green Village handles transport, customs clearance and delivery to your plot or park. Listed prices in the English-language catalogue are delivered prices for the UK, in pounds; for Portugal, Spain, France or any other destination the delivered price is quoted with the delivery address, because it depends on the unit's dimensions and on where it goes.

Some UK dealers that sell abroad deliver only to a UK port with export papers and leave the rest of the journey and the customs formalities to the buyer. With Green Village, the delivered price covers the whole chain to your plot.

Prices: how much does a British mobile home cost

Prices for used British units vary with age, size, condition and build standard, so this guide does not quote fixed bands that would date quickly. Live figures from the catalogue — lowest delivered price for a used unit: £6,450; median: £33,300.

For the UK these are delivered prices in pounds; any other destination is quoted with the delivery address. The used static caravans and lodges in stock are listed with photos and a price, and mobile home prices breaks the stock down by type and by number of bedrooms.

Climate and insulation: preparing a British unit for the Mediterranean

The build standard is the first clue to how a unit will cope with year-round use: BS 3632 is the British residential standard for homes suitable for 12-month use, subject to the site licence, while EN 1647 is the European standard for holiday homes suitable for seasonal holiday use.

For a seasonal unit you plan to use in a hot summer climate, such as Portugal, Spain or southern France, ask what insulation and glazing it has before you buy, and plan shading and ventilation on the plot: living areas facing away from the strongest sun and external shading such as shutters, awnings or planting reduce heat gain.

Green Village: your partner for buying from the UK

Green Village sells new and used mobile homes, static caravans and lodges and delivers them from the UK to destinations throughout Europe. Mobile homes can be seen at the main store in Maia (Portugal), the store in Ribeirinha (Azores, Portugal), the showroom in Vigo (Spain, Tuesday to Saturday), La Séguinière (France, by appointment) and Jundiaí (Brazil).

The service runs from the listing, with photos and a price, to the quote for your delivery address, customs clearance — Green Village holds EU customs registration EORI PT518231585 — and transport to your plot or park. Founded in 2023, Green Village delivers 200+ homes a year.

You do not need to travel to the UK to buy. Whether a specific unit can be viewed in person depends on where it is: ask via its listing or contact us.

How to Buy a Mobile Home from the UK

1. Define requirements and budget. Determine the unit type (static caravan, park home, lodge) and its build standard (EN 1647 or BS 3632), the dimensions, the total budget and the final destination. Browse the Green Village catalogue and request a quote with your delivery address.
2. Select and check the unit. Compare listings by build standard, size, bedrooms and photos, and ask via the listing for any missing detail such as the build year; for a BS 3632 park home, ask for the Manufacturers Declaration of Compliance certificate.
3. Confirm ownership and the quote. Confirm that the seller owns the unit and that no finance is outstanding on it, then confirm the delivered price quoted for your address.
4. Customs and transport. Transport is organised by Mobile Home Logistic and is included in the delivered price. Export and import customs clearance are part of the service Green Village handles; proof of UK origin decides whether duty applies, and the destination country's VAT is charged.
5. Delivery to your plot. The unit is delivered to your plot or park. Before it arrives, check with the local authority where it may stand, because the planning rules depend on the country and the plot.

In summary

• Check the build standard first: EN 1647 is for seasonal holiday use, BS 3632 for 12-month use subject to the site licence.
• In Great Britain an assembled twin unit stays a caravan only within 20 m × 6.8 m × 3.05 m internal height (Caravan Sites Act 1968, s.13); the limits are not for single units.
• A UK-origin unit enters the EU duty-free only with proof of UK origin under the EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement; otherwise duty applies.
• Destination-country VAT always applies; Spain's general rate is 21 % (Ley 37/1992, art. 90).
• Before paying, confirm the seller owns the unit and no finance is outstanding, and have the chassis, damp, roof, gas and electrics inspected.
• Green Village delivers to your plot; listed prices are delivered prices for the UK and other destinations are quoted with the delivery address.

Frequently asked questions

Sources & references

1. GOV.UK — Park homes
2. Planning Portal — Permitted Development
3. Citizens Advice — Park homes rights
4. HMRC — VAT on mobile homes
5. Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960, s.29 (legislation.gov.uk)
6. Caravan Sites Act 1968, s.13 — twin-unit caravans (legislation.gov.uk)
7. Ley 37/1992 del IVA, art. 90 (BOE)
8. Willerby — EN 1647 vs BS 3632
9. Willerby — Questions to ask before buying a static caravan
10. Omar — BS 3632 standards
11. NACO — Age limits for caravans and lodges on site

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