Caravan Planning BS3632

If you want to install a cabin in your garden which does not come under the permitted development rights, or would be difficult to get planning permission for, then classing the unit as a caravan is the solution.

The Caravan Act (abbreviated) was originally passed in 1960 and then updated in 1968. It describes what constitutes a caravan and also when you can use one lawfully on land. In relation to a residential garden, the lawful use is pretty much anything that would normally be acceptable within a residential house – extra bedroom, gym, home office, kids den etc. and must be incidental to the use of the main house – covered in more detail later.

To comply with the Caravan’s Act the unit must be built so that it passed the construction test; coined through various case law, showing that it has been built in a way that means it could be moved safely from place to place without damage. This does not mean that it has to be on wheels, or that you actually have to move it, just that in principle, it could be moved. You also don’t need to identify any form of access to / from the site, or show how the unit could be transported (for example on the back of a lorry) on any specific road.

The Caravan Act is different from Permitted Development in one key area which is often misunderstood. A caravan is NOT development. Very simply put, development includes anything that is built onto or out of the ground so it covers everything from an annex building to a garden shed because they all require the ground to act as a structural base to support the building without which it would fall down. Now imagine the Caravan’s Act as dealing with things that ‘float’ above the ground! So it is not built out of the ground, fixed down to the ground or reliant on the ground for its construction, instead it is something that uses the land for a specific purpose, either from time to time, or long term, but could, at any point in time, be moved to a different location – either on the same site, or another site completely.

The lawful use of a caravan (or cabin that we can show fits in with the requirements of the Caravan’s Act) already exists for all residential properties in the UK. However, when we start dealing with high-spec cabins that are a granny annex, so are quite expensive and really important, most people want to be absolutely certain that the specific permission exists for their cabin in their garden.

This is where a certificate of lawful proposed use or development comes in; commonly known as a certificate of lawfulness. This is a minor planning application which looks to ratify the lawful use of a caravan on the land in question. It is not a formal planning decision, so it is not approved or rejected, rather it is something that the local planning authority either agree with or do not agree with. They will then issue something with wording such as;

Bath and North East Somerset Council hereby Certifies that the proposed use or development described in the First Schedule to this Certificate in respect of the land specified in the Second Schedule to this Certificate and edged red on the site location plan listed below in the footnote to this Certificate, is lawful within the meaning of Section 192 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (as amended).

This means that the council agree that, at the time of the application, the use of the land to site a caravan is lawful as outlined by the Caravan’s Act. This agreement is linked to the house itself, and remains indefinitely linked to the property as long as the property retains its residential status, and the use of the cabin (or indeed subsequent cabins) remains the same – i.e. incidental to the use of the main house. The exact wording within the First Schedule of The Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act (1960) says; “A site licence shall not be required for the use of land as a caravan site if the use is incidental to the enjoyment as such of a dwellinghouse…” there are no specific criteria to meet that show a use is incidental. Essentially what it means is that the use of the cabin cannot be a primary residential use of the whole site. For example, the cabin can have a kitchen – as any ‘normal’ caravan would have, but it cannot be the main / only kitchen on the site. So the cabin can’t include any primary uses like the only sleeping areas, or the only clothes washing space. The question you need to ask is if the cabin were to be removed, would the main house still function as a residential dwelling, if the answer is yes, then the use of the cabin is incidental.

Caravan Planning ensure approval of your certificate of lawfulness so that you know that the cabin you install is lawful and the local council cannot make you remove it.

If you want to install a cabin in your garden which does not come under the permitted development rights, or would be difficult to get planning permission for, then classing the unit as a caravan is the solution.

We can help if you are looking to get a Lawful Development Certificate  for an annex or garden room near your house that comes under the Caravan Act 1968.

If you have found us, you already know a little about how you might be able to site a caravan structure in your garden when other planning routes would be more complex, but please check out our guide to The Caravan Act  just to be sure.

We only deal with applications for Lawful Development Certificates for caravan units within domestic curtilages , so sorry, we can’t help if you are looking for advice on rental units, caravans on agricultural, forest or equine land, multiple units or caravan sites.

Our fee structure is transparent and fixed:

Compile and submit your application* £685 + VAT

Planning fee to local council (we ask you to pay directly) – Currently £125 (no VAT)

• We also act as your agent during the planning process and answer any questions the planning authority may have on your application.

That is it. No hidden fees, no extras. If we review your case and confirm in writing that we are confident we can achieve a positive outcome, that is the single fixed fee you pay.

Curtilage – this is absolutely critical, but can sometimes be surprisingly difficult to define. Typically the curtilage would be all of the land surrounding the house, on some occasions this may be quite extensive – i.e include an orchard or small paddock, or even be a block of land not immediately adjacent to the land. In these instances it is essential to identify the extent of the residential curtilage prior to making an application.

Use – the caravan MUST be used in conjunction with the main house. The specific term is ‘incidental to the enjoyment of’, so whatever use the caravan enjoys cannot be a primary use (i.e. main living area for the whole household).

Land use, NOT development – often misunderstood by planning authorities, the use of  a caravan – even a large twin unit static caravan, is land use, and not development. In planning terms development generally refers to something that is built, or constructed (i.e. a building), where, because a caravan must be shown to be mobile, it cannot be classed as a building.

This can change, for example if the caravan unit becomes fixed down to the ground, or the use changes from an incidental use to a primary or secondary use. In this instance a planning application for development would be required.

Location – the caravan can be situated anywhere within the residential curtilage. It is common to identify a specific location within the planning application, but this is not essential in terms of law – it does however help keep the planning authority happy!

Design + appearance – there are no criteria for design or appearance of the unit, as long as it meets the construction and mobility tests (link to section 1.3 Page 1)

Conservation areas / listed buildings / AONB’s – there are no limitations to the Caravan’s Act in relation to conservation areas, listed buildings, AONB’s, National Parks etc. as long as the critical criteria are met, permission should be granted.

Lawful Development Certificate – the siting of a caravan is essentially permitted in planning terms. To get confirmation of this permitted right, an application to the local council is made known as a Certificate of Lawfulness of Proposed Use or Development under section 192 of The Town and Country Planning Act (1990), this type of application is often shortened to Lawful Development Certificate.

1.0 Caravan Definition + Details

            1.1 Section 29(1) of The Act, states a;

 “caravan” means any structure designed or adapted for human habitation which is capable of being moved from one place to another (whether by being towed, or by being transported on a motor vehicle or trailer) and any motor vehicle so designed or adapted, but does not include—

• any railway rolling stock which is for the time being on rails forming part of a railway system, or
• any tent;

1.2 The Act was further modified in 1968 to include a definition of a twin-unit caravan s13(1);

1. is composed of not more than two sections separately constructed and designed to be assembled on site by means of bolts, clamps or other devices; and
2. is, when assembled physically capable of being moved by road from one place to another (whether by being towed, or by being transported on a motor vehicle or trailer),
3. shall not be treated as not being (or not having been) a caravan within the meaning of Part 1 of the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960 by reason only that it cannot lawfully be moved on a highway when assembled.”

1.3 Case law in relation to the above points has coined the term the ‘Construction and Mobility tests’.

1.4 The Construction test clarifies point ‘a’ above by adding that, to be considered a twin-unit caravan, the ‘final

act’ of construction on site should be the connecting together of the two separately constructed elements. Other

case law also notes that the physical construction of the ‘two sections’ does not necessarily have to take place off

site^[1].

1.5 There is no known case law that points to any requirements of the relative size of each section, or the plane of

attachment – i.e. vertical or horizontal. It is only common practice that the connection is of two equal sized sections,

jointed vertically down the length of the unit. By the requirements of ‘a’ above, this could equally be one section

that included the floor and all of the walls, with the roof section fitted on the horizontal plane to the lower section.

1.6 The Mobility test is further clarified by Ellis v London Borough of Richmond Upon Thames

APP/L5810/X/15/3140569 (2016) where the inspector finds that “The mobility test does not require a mobile home to be

mobile in the sense of being moved on any wheels and axles it may have. It is sufficient that the unit can be picked up intact

(including its floor and roof) and be put on a lorry by crane or hoist. In the case of twin-unit mobile homes the whole unit must

be physically capable of being transportable by road, the illegality of any such transportation on the public highway being

irrelevant”.

1.7 Further, Ellis v Richmond Upon Thames (as above) also finds that “ any attachment to services is not the same as

physical attachment to the land, as invariably disconnection from such services is a simple matter which can be achieved

within minutes, in the event that the mobile home needs to be moved. The mobile home would not acquire the degree of

permanence and attachment required of buildings.” In this sense, it can be stated that a caravan unit would only be

deemed to have taken on a degree of permanence if it was robustly anchored to the ground. Based on the

assumption that such attachment would constitute operational development, and render the caravan unit a building,

it would be reasonable to say that any fixing / anchoring would need to be at least to the vertical strapping

requirements as outlined in Approved Document A of the Building Regulations 2010 (as amended).

1.8 Section 13(2) of the 1968 Act (amended October 2006) outlines the following maximum dimensions for

twin-unit caravans;

1. length (exclusive of any drawbar); 20m,
2. width; 6.8m
3. overall height of living accommodation (as measured internally from the floor at the lowest level to the ceiling at the highest level); 3.05m

It is well established in case law that the length and width dimensions are external measurements of the main

structure of the unit and do not include any overhangs of eaves / gutters etc. The height measurement is made clear

as the internal measurement, there is no guidance on the overall height of the unit, either to eaves level or to ridge,

although a measure of reasonableness should be adopted here.

1.9 At the time of writing no known case law points to the size of a single-unit caravan. For the purposes of this

document it has been assumed that a single-unit caravan would have the following maximum dimensions;

1. length (exclusive of any drawbar); 10m,
2. width; 3.4m
3. overall height of living accommodation (as measured internally from the floor at the lowest level to the ceiling at the highest level); 3.05m

^[1] In Byrne v SoS and Arun D.C (1997) it was ruled that the act of joining the two sections together should be the final act of assembly in the case of a twin unit caravan. There is no requirement within the ruling for the process of construction of the two separate parts to take place away from the site.

In order for use to be able to review your case and provide a confirmed fee quote, we will need the following information as a minimum;

Your name and address, including post code and email address

What is the proposed use of the caravan

Have you applied for a caravan application in the past

Have you had, or do you know of any enforcement actions for unlawful land use in relation to the property

Details or example of the proposed unit you want to site on your land

Some form of site plan showing your house, the extent of your land ownership / garden, and the approximate location of the caravan unit. This can be an annotated Land Registry plan, a site plan from a previous planning application or simply a hand drawn plan.

A photograph of the proposed location for the caravan, ideally in relation to the main house.