Can You Sublet A Park Bungalow?

This is one of those areas where Park Bungalow ownership works very differently from traditional property. If you own a house or a flat, you can generally let it out (subject to any mortgage or lease restrictions). But with a Park Bungalow on a residential site, the rules are much tighter. Here's why, and what your options are if your circumstances change.

The restriction on subletting comes from two places: the law and the park rules.

Under the Mobile Homes Act 1983 (amended by the Mobile Homes Act 2013), a residential Park Bungalow must be your only or main residence. This is a fundamental condition of the pitch agreement you sign when you buy the home. It's what qualifies you for the legal protections the Act provides, including security of tenure, regulated pitch fee reviews and the right to sell or gift your home.

If you were to rent the home out to someone else, it would no longer be your main residence. That would put you in breach of your pitch agreement and could give the site owner grounds to take action, potentially including applying to the county court to terminate the agreement altogether.

On top of the legal position, virtually every residential park has its own set of park rules that explicitly prohibit subletting. These rules are referenced in your pitch agreement and form part of the legally binding contract between you and the site owner. The wording varies from site to site, but a typical rule will say something like "subletting or sharing of the whole or part of the home is strictly forbidden."

Subletting means renting out your Park Bungalow, or part of it, to another person in exchange for payment. This applies whether you move out entirely and let someone else live there, or whether you stay in the home and rent a room to a lodger.

It also covers informal arrangements. Even if no formal tenancy agreement is drawn up, allowing someone to live in your home in exchange for regular payments could be treated as subletting by the site owner.

Short-term holiday letting through platforms like Airbnb is also not permitted on residential sites. The planning permission and site licence for a residential park are specifically for year-round residential use, not for holiday or commercial letting. Using the home for short lets would breach both the site licence conditions and your pitch agreement.

Having guests or family members stay with you on a temporary basis is a completely different matter. Park rules typically allow bona fide guests to stay for short periods, though the exact allowance varies from site to site.

If a family member needs to stay with you for a longer period, for example to provide care, most site operators will be understanding and flexible. It's always best to speak to the site management in advance and explain the situation. Open communication goes a long way, and most developments will accommodate genuine care arrangements without any issue.

The key distinction is that guests aren't paying rent and the home remains your primary residence. As long as those two conditions are met, having people stay with you is perfectly fine.

It might seem restrictive, but the rules against subletting exist to protect the character and security of the community. Residential Park Bungalow developments are designed for owner-occupiers, and most sites cater specifically to people aged 45 or over who are looking for a quiet, low-maintenance lifestyle.

Allowing subletting would fundamentally change the nature of these communities. It could introduce short-term tenants who have no long-term connection to the development, create higher turnover, and undermine the sense of stability and trust that residents value. The security features that many developments invest in, from gated access to on-site management, are designed around a settled community of owner-occupiers.

There's also a practical consideration. Park Bungalows are built to BS3632 residential standards, which means they're constructed for year-round residential living by the owner. The maintenance obligations in your pitch agreement require you to keep the home in a sound state of repair. If you're not living there, it becomes much harder to meet those obligations, and any issues that arise are likely to go unnoticed for longer.

Life doesn't always go to plan, and there are situations where you might no longer be able to live in your Park Bungalow full-time. Perhaps you need to move closer to family, go into temporary care, or spend an extended period away for health reasons.

If you find yourself in this situation, the most important thing is to talk to your site management as soon as possible. They'll be able to explain your options and may be able to accommodate a temporary absence, particularly if it's related to health or care needs. Occupiers who are temporarily absent from their home are still considered to be in residence under the Mobile Homes Act, so a short-term absence won't automatically put your agreement at risk.

If the situation is more permanent and you know you won't be returning, your main options are to sell the home or gift it to a family member. Both of these are fully supported by the Mobile Homes Act.

When selling, you have the right to choose your own buyer. The site owner can't block the sale, although a 10% commission on the sale price is payable to them. You'll need to use the official Notice of Proposed Sale form and provide certain information to the buyer. For a detailed breakdown of costs involved, this guide to the cost of living in a Park Home community covers what buyers need to know.

Gifting to a family member is another option. Under the Mobile Homes Act, you can assign your pitch agreement to a qualifying family member without needing the site owner's consent, and no commission is payable on a gift.

It's worth noting that the rules are different in holiday parks. Some holiday park operators do allow owners to sublet their caravans or lodges, often through a managed letting scheme. But holiday parks operate under completely different planning permissions and site licence conditions. The homes on those sites aren't designed for permanent residential use, and the owners don't have the same legal protections under the Mobile Homes Act.

If you're specifically looking for a property you can rent out, a holiday park might be worth exploring. But a residential Park Bungalow is a home, not an investment property, and the legal framework reflects that.

You can't sublet a residential Park Bungalow. The law requires it to be your only or main residence, and the park rules on virtually every residential site will explicitly prohibit subletting in any form.

If your circumstances change and you can no longer live in your home, you have clear options available to you: sell it, gift it to a family member, or speak to your site management about a temporary absence. These are all well-established routes that the Mobile Homes Act supports.

For more on how Park Bungalow ownership works, including your rights and responsibilities as a resident, the Regency Living FAQs are a good place to start.