What are the rules about mobile homes and what else you can put in your garden?

A Scottish council will not remove a static caravan parked in a driveway despite it breaching planning rules.

The mobile home which has been parked outside a home in Perth without planning permission will not be removed by the council due to cost despite complaints from neighbours.

The static caravan has been parked on a driveway for over two years.

Residents reported the planning breach to the local authority, with an enforcement notice served in October 2023.

It required residential use of the caravan to stop and ordered it to be removed from the driveway by December 7, 2023.

Edinburgh & East

‘Too expensive’ for council to remove static caravan parked without permission

Letham residents were dumbfounded when a large static caravan was tightly manoeuvred onto a neighbour’s driveway in February 2023.

However, in April last year the council decided to close the case with the caravan still in place.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said it approached the council about the planning breach in November 2024, as it pledged to explore “alternative options” to deal with the breach.

In a statement, Perth and Kinross Council said the costs of safely removing the caravan mean no further enforcement action is planned.

They said it was due to its location and challenges with access, but that the enforcement notice remains in place and the matter may be revisited.

The Scottish Government introduced a new licensing system for mobile home sites in May 2017 – giving local councils new powers for granting, managing and revoking licences.

What are the rules on mobile homes in Scotland?

Any caravan placed on land for more than 28 days typically requires planning permission, mainly if it’s used for habitation or business purposes.

There are a number of situations where mobile homes are exempt from licensing, but the exemptions often relate to their use for reasons other than residential occupation, such as recreation.

Mobile homes can be used as living accommodation in gardens and driveways, as long as the occupiers of the mobile home do not form an independent household from the dwelling house.

For example, this could be people living in a caravan while they build or renovate their home.

They are also exempt from licensing in situations where agricultural land is used as a caravan site to accommodate workers on the land for a particular season – but not throughout the year.