Visitor levies in the Highlands and Wales: what static caravan owners need to know

Visitor levies are moving closer in two areas popular with static caravan owners. Highland Council is consulting on a proposed levy that would include campsites and caravan parks, while in Wales the national rates are set and each council decides whether to introduce the levy locally.

Does this affect owners? Based on the official guidance, it depends mainly on how your caravan is used.

The Highland proposal

Highland Council opened a statutory public consultation on 7 September 2026 on a tiered fixed-amount levy. According to the council’s announcement:

• £2 per room or area per night could apply to hostels, campsites and caravan parks.
• £5 per room or area per night could apply to hotels, guest houses, B&Bs, short-term lets and similar accommodation.
• The levy would apply across the Highland Council area for nine months of the year, excluding December, January and February.
• Accommodation providers would keep 5% of the levy to help cover administration costs.

The consultation closes on 30 November 2026, and no decision has been made. If a scheme is approved at The Highland Council’s meeting on 10 December 2026, a statutory 18-month implementation period would follow before the levy could begin. You can read the documents and respond through the Highland visitor levy consultation page.

What Highland park operators are saying

Some campsite and caravan park owners have asked the council to exempt them. Speaking to STV News, Darren Redfern, co-owner of Dornoch Caravan Park and a representative of the Highland Caravan and Campsites Association, said he feared motorhome owners might use car parks, pub stops and lay-bys instead of formal sites. He told STV: “What they do have is the ability to exempt campsites until a solution is found.”

STV reports that Highland Council says it is engaging with the Scottish Government on legislative changes that could let more visitors, including motorhome users, contribute.

Do Highland static caravan owners pay?

The Visitor Levy (Scotland) Act 2024 allows councils to charge a levy on the purchase of overnight accommodation. The national Guidance on the Visitor Levy for Local Authorities (August 2026), published by VisitScotland and prepared under the direction of Scottish Ministers, deals with private static owners directly. It says “those who own static caravans for their own personal use would not be liable. However, if they sub-let their accommodation, they would be liable to pay the visitor levy”.

VisitScotland’s FAQs for accommodation providers add that where an owner sub-lets a privately owned holiday home on a park, “the caravan or holiday home owner is the accommodation provider and therefore the liable person under the legislation.”

The Highland scheme is still a proposal, so check with the council and your park once a decision has been made.

Wales: rates set, councils decide

In Wales, the Visitor Accommodation (Register and Levy) Etc. (Wales) Act 2025 lets each council decide whether to introduce a visitor levy. GOV.WALES guidance sets two rates:

• A higher rate of £1.30 per person per night for most accommodation, including pitches for caravans, motorhomes and campervans, lodges and caravan parks.
• A lower rate of 75 pence per person per night for tent pitches and shared, dormitory-style accommodation. Under-18s are disregarded at the lower rate only.

Councils can only start the levy on 1 April or 1 October, and no earlier than 1 April 2027. At the time of writing, the Welsh Revenue Authority’s page on checking whether your council charges the levy lists one council, Cardiff, from 1 April 2027, and no councils currently consulting.

One Welsh caravan site goes adults-only

The Monmouthshire Beacon reports that Ashford Price, owner and chairman of the National Showcaves Centre for Wales at Dan-yr-Ogof, has decided to make Dan-yr-Ogof’s caravan site adults-only. According to the paper, he said wardens had told him they would refuse to collect money from parents arriving with babies, and the change was made to avoid potential confrontations. He asked: “What is the logical reasoning and difference between a baby sleeping in a tent or caravan?”

That is one business’s view. The question arises because under-18s are only disregarded at the lower rate, not the higher rate that applies to caravans.

Do Welsh static caravan owners pay?

The GOV.WALES technical guidance on what counts as visitor accommodation is clear. In an example of a park with privately owned statics, it says those permanently at the park “are not within the scope of the levy, unless they are sub-let on a short-term basis for business, leisure or educational trips.”

Another example says that where an owner uses the caravan “solely for himself and his family members, it would not be classed as visitor accommodation”. Short-term means stays of 31 nights or less, which need not be consecutive. If you sub-let on that basis, the guidance says you become the visitor accommodation provider and would need to register and meet your levy obligations.

Practical steps for owners

• If only you and your family use it. The official guidance in both nations indicates you would not be liable.
• If you sub-let. Check whether your council charges the levy (Wales) and watch for Highland’s decision in December (Scotland).
• Check your agreement. Your pitch agreement may have its own rules on sub-letting, so speak to your park before taking bookings. Our guide to selling a static caravan with a pitch licence explains why these terms matter.
• Weigh up costs. For letting owners, a levy would sit alongside site fees and running costs.

Reviewing your costs?

If you are deciding whether to keep your holiday static caravan or lodge, ask for a free, no-obligation static caravan valuation. Static Caravan Buyer charges no commission when we buy your caravan. We cannot promise to buy every caravan. We aim to contact you within 24 hours, and to make an offer within 48 hours after that contact. Payment is made on collection day before the caravan is loaded.

Call us free on 0800 644 5000 or visit www.staticcaravanbuyer.com. Please note we buy holiday static caravans and lodges, not residential park homes.