Setting Up A Caravan Storage Site

Do you have empty land and are unsure of how to use it?
Caravan storage might be worth considering.

Whether you’ve got space for 10 caravans or 1000, caravan storage could help you maximise your land and bring in new revenue.

Here’s our quick guide to what you need to consider:

Planning

Initially, you’ll need to submit a planning application. In the majority of cases this will be for change of use for B8 Storage or Distribution. For any questions about what you need to submit in your application or which application type you should use, you should contact your local planning authority.

If you need contact details or are unsure which planning authority you should contact, you can use the Planning Portal’s search tool.

Security

There are a number of factors CaSSOA will consider when surveying and assessing a storage site in order to grant an accreditation. These include:

• Perimeter Protection
• Access Control
• Lighting
• Alarm Systems
• CCTV
• Administrative Procedures

As a minimum, CaSSOA sites must have full perimeter protection and access control.

Layout

As a rough guide each stored caravan should be allocated around 30 square metres of space, with the respective caravan jockey wheels set at a distance of at least 3 meter centres.

Individual parking bays should be approximately 8 metres in length, with the access roads at least 8 meters wide.  The space recommended between each caravan (hitch post to hitch post) is 3.5 meters.

Fire Protection

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 applies to caravan storage sites and stipulates that a fire risk assessment be carried out. A fire risk assessment can be carried out quite easily by the site owner and CaSSOA can provide assistance with the process.

Administration

Additional things to consider:

• Site records, customer information & contracts – for these you will need to consider Data Protection Laws, and there are also programmes available which can assist with this, such as Caravan Storage Manager.
• Insurance
• Site fees – It is always worthwhile, having a look into the rates of sites in similar areas, with a similar level of security.
• Business Rates – For more information click here.
• VAT – For more information click here.

Working towards the mantra ‘Together We Can Beat Caravan Theft’, CaSSOA has over 400 members nationwide actively promoting our ethos and providing superior caravan and motorhome storage facilities.

If you do decide to venture into caravan storage, show your commitment to the security standard of the caravan and motorhome storage industry by becoming a member of CaSSOA.

If you’d like to join CaSSOA or would like more information please email CaSSOA on enquiries@cassoa.co.uk or call us on 0843 216 5802.