The short version
People use these three names as if they mean the same thing. They do not, and the difference is worth getting straight before you spend serious money. A static caravan and a holiday lodge are both for holidays and leisure. A lodge is simply the larger, higher-specification version: timber-clad, wider, and a lot more like a proper home inside. A park home is a different thing again, built to a residential standard and lived in as someone’s permanent main home.
| What matters | Static caravan | Holiday lodge | Park home |
|---|---|---|---|
| Main use | Holidays and leisure | Holidays and leisure | Permanent main home |
| What it looks like | Compact, more caravan-like | Larger, timber-clad, house-like inside | House-like, residential finish |
| Build standard | BS EN 1647 (leisure) | Usually BS EN 1647; some built to BS 3632 | BS 3632 (residential) |
| Site licence | Holiday | Leisure, often 12-month | Residential |
| Open all year? | Depends on the park | Yes where the park holds a 12-month licence | Yes |
Static caravan
A static caravan is a holiday home that stays on one pitch rather than being towed about. Most are built to the BS EN 1647 leisure standard and sit on a holiday park for holidays and short breaks, not as a permanent address. They are the most affordable way onto a park, and for a lot of people that is exactly the point.
Holiday lodge
A lodge is best thought of as the top end of that same family. Legally it is still a caravan if it stays within the size limits (up to 20m by 6.8m), but you would not know it to stand in one: timber cladding outside, a fitted kitchen, proper insulation, often two or three bedrooms and a real feel of a house. That is why a lodge holds its own against a small bungalow for comfort while staying on a leisure footing.
One point worth clearing up, because it trips people up: the build standard and the site licence are two separate things. A lodge can be built to a high specification and still sit on a leisure licence. What decides whether you can live somewhere permanently is the park’s licence, not how well the lodge is made.
Park home
A park home is built to the BS 3632 residential standard and sits on a park with a residential licence. That is the one you can live in permanently as your only home, put on the electoral roll, and treat as your main address. Residential park living is protected by the Mobile Homes Act (the government sets out the rules for park homes on gov.uk). It is a different market, a different licence, and usually a different kind of park.
So what is a lodge at Bawtry?
Ours are leisure lodges. The park runs a 12-month leisure licence and is open all year round, so your lodge is yours to enjoy whenever you like, summer or the depths of winter. Many are built to a residential specification (BS 3632), so they hold their warmth when the weather turns and feel like a proper home inside.
If a bolt-hole you can use all year, on a quiet, family-run park near Bawtry, is what you are after, that is exactly what we sell. Have a look at the lodges for sale, every one priced openly, or read our guide to buying a lodge.
See the lodges for sale, every one priced up front.
What is a leisure lodge?
A leisure lodge is a timber-clad holiday home built for year-round leisure use, larger and higher specification than a static caravan. It sits on a pitch at a holiday or leisure park, such as Bawtry Lodge Country Park, and is used for holidays and breaks.
Is a lodge just a big static caravan?
In legal terms a lodge is still a caravan if it stays within the size limits, so yes, it is part of the same family. The difference is specification: a lodge is larger, timber-clad and finished much more like a house, with better insulation and usually two or three bedrooms.
Can you use a lodge all year round?
Yes, you can use it all year round where the park holds a 12-month leisure licence, which Bawtry Lodge Country Park does, so there is no part of the year when it is off-limits. That is different from living there permanently as your only home, which needs a residential licence and a park home.
What is the difference between a leisure licence and a residential licence?
A 12-month leisure licence, like the one at Bawtry Lodge Country Park, means the park is open all year round, so you can come and go whenever you like. A residential licence is a different kind of park altogether. Bawtry is a leisure park, open every day of the year.
Are the lodges at Bawtry park homes?
They are leisure lodges rather than residential park homes: open all year for holidays and leisure, built to a high, house-like specification, and on a 12-month leisure licence.
Where is Bawtry Lodge Country Park?
Bawtry Lodge Country Park is on Thorne Road in Austerfield, near Bawtry, in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, postcode DN10 6RD. It is around five minutes from the market town of Bawtry and close to the A1(M) and the M18.