English
Français
Español
PortuguêsHow to start a campsite in the UK
Six decisions stand between a field and a working campsite. This guide sets out what each one involves, in the order you will meet them, and points you to the detailed guide for your situation.
Most people who ask how to start a campsite are really asking six separate questions, and the answers depend heavily on which route they take. A five-van Certificated Location on a working farm and a thirty-pitch touring site are different propositions: different permissions, different costs, different paperwork, different income.
Work through the sections below in order. Each one explains the decision, tells you what usually determines the answer, and links to the guide that covers it properly. Everything here applies to the UK, and where the rules differ between England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland that is called out.
1. Decide what kind of site you are starting
This is the decision everything else hangs off. The small club-exemption schemes let you take a limited number of units without a site licence, which is why most people with a spare paddock start there. A full campsite is a bigger undertaking with a licence and, usually, planning permission behind it.
A CL, through the Caravan and Motorhome Club
Five caravans or motorhomes at a time on land you already hold. The usual starting point for farms and smallholdings.
Read how to start a CL site →A CS, through the Camping and Caravanning Club
The equivalent scheme run by the other club, with its own application route and its own rules on tents.
Read how to start a CS site →Not sure which suits you?
The two schemes look alike from the outside and differ in the detail that matters once you are open.
Compare a CL against a CS site →Both schemes cap how many units you may take at once, and that cap is the thing new owners most often misread. The detail is in the CL five van rule explained and the CS five unit rule explained. If you are still working out what a certificated site actually is, start with what a certificated site is.
2. Work out whether you need planning permission
Planning is where most campsite plans stall, and it is worth resolving before you spend anything. Whether you need permission depends on how many nights a year you intend to open, what you are putting on the land, and which nation you are in. Permitted development rights cover some short-season use, which is what the 28-day rule is about, and those rights have changed in recent years.
Structures change the picture again. A pod, a shepherd's hut or a safari tent is treated differently from a pitch you park a caravan on, so glamping usually needs its own conversation with the planning authority.
Read what the 28-day rule allows and what changed in 2023, and if you are putting up structures, glamping planning permission. In Northern Ireland the system is different again: see campsite planning permission in Northern Ireland.
3. Find out whether you need a site licence
A site licence is separate from planning permission, comes from your local authority, and carries conditions about spacing, access, water and fire safety. The club-exemption schemes exist precisely so that small sites can operate without one, which is a large part of their appeal.
Whether the exemption covers you depends on the scheme you join and how you actually operate. Our guide to campsite licensing in the UK sets out who needs a licence, who is exempt and what the conditions typically involve.
4. Cost the ground work honestly
The pitches themselves are rarely the expensive part. Services are. Electric hook-ups, a chemical disposal point and somewhere for waste all involve real installation work, and guests increasingly expect them. Price these before you commit to a pitch count, because the per-pitch cost falls sharply as you add pitches.
Electric hook-ups
What installing hook-ups involves, what it typically costs and how to work out whether it pays back.
Read the electric hook-up guide →Chemical disposal
Every site taking caravans and motorhomes needs somewhere to empty a toilet cassette. Here is what is required.
Read the chemical disposal guide →Insurance
Taking paying guests onto your land changes what your existing policy covers. Check this early.
Read the campsite insurance guide →5. Understand what a site actually earns
Income depends on your nightly rate, your occupancy and how long your season runs, and the three interact. A site that is full for eight weeks can earn less than one that is half full for six months. Getting the rate right matters more than most new owners expect.
For worked numbers on a small site, read how much a CL site earns. When you come to set your own rates, how to price your campsite pitches covers the approach. On the tax and rates side, whether you pay business rates on a campsite is worth reading before you open, not after.
6. Decide how you will take bookings
Plenty of sites open on a paper diary and a mobile number, and for a five-van CL that can work for a season. It stops working at the point where two guests want the same weekend and you are up a ladder when the phone rings. Deciding this before you open is easier than migrating a season's bookings later.
Once you are running, managing a CL site day to day covers the rhythm of a small site: arrivals, deposits, guest details and the jobs that repeat every week.
CampSuite™ is free for up to 100 pitches, which covers every CL and CS site comfortably, and it is the full product rather than a trial that runs out. If you would rather see how it fits a five-van site specifically, read the walkthrough for a five-pitch CL or a five-pitch CS.
Starting a campsite outside England
Planning, licensing and tourism registration are devolved, so the route differs by nation. Northern Ireland has its own planning system and its own listing landscape: see how to start a campsite in Northern Ireland. In Scotland and Wales a visitor levy is being introduced, which affects what you charge guests once you are open. Our guide to the Scottish visitor levy and guide to the Wales visitor levy cover where each stands.
Ready to take your first booking?
CampSuite™ is free for up to 100 pitches, so a new CL, CS or small touring site pays nothing. Replace the paper diary with a calendar you can check from your phone, and stop two guests landing on one pitch.