Contact your local district council for a licence if you live in Northern Ireland and want to use your land as a caravan site.
You don’t need a licence to run a caravan site if:
- you have a caravan that you don’t live in on land around your home
- a person brings a caravan onto the site, stays no more than 2 nights and there aren’t any other caravans on the site
- 3 or less caravans are on the site for no more than 28 days a year
- forestry workers, builders, travelling showmen or seasonal workers (like fruit pickers) stay in caravans on the site
- the site is owned, occupied, supervised or approved by an organisation like a caravan club that has a caravan licence exemption certificate
Restrictions
You must have planning permission for the caravan site before you apply for a licence.
The district council may put conditions on the licence like:
- restricting the length of time caravans are allowed on the site
- restricting the total number of caravans
- saying what type of caravans are allowed
- saying where caravans and any buildings should be
- providing and maintaining toilet and washing facilities
- providing and maintaining equipment to use in case of a fire
- making changes to landscaping on the site (eg planting bushes or trees to protect privacy around the site)
- doing works on the land (eg improving road access)
If you disagree with the conditions, you may be able to appeal to a local magistrates court.
You can’t apply if you’ve had a caravan licence withdrawn in the last 3 years.
Changes
The district council can change these conditions at any time. If the council asks you to return the licence to do this, you must send it back it within 7 days.
Inspections
You must allow a district council inspector onto your site so that they can see:
- what conditions your licence should have and what work should be done on the site
- whether you are keeping to all the conditions on your licence
You’ll get 24 hours notice of an inspector’s visit.
How to apply
Contact your local district council to apply for a licence. Tell them which land you are going to use for the site.
Send in any other information the council needs (eg a site plan, where the caravans are going to be put and any washing facilities) along with your application.
You may be charged a fee for a licence.
Your licence will last as long as you’ve planning permission for the caravan site.
Displaying your licence
You must display the licence clearly on your caravan site .
Fines and penalties
You may be fined up to £2,500 if you:
- don’t get a licence
- break any licence conditions