Where to Advertise a Static Caravan for Hire (2026)
For hosts
Where to Advertise Your Static Caravan for Private Hire in 2026
Caravan directories, Airbnb, Vrbo, request-led platforms and Facebook compared for owners: 2026 fees, park rules and the 2027 short-let register.
Updated October 2026
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Overview
If you own a static caravan and want it to earn its keep, the question is rarely whether people will rent it. It is where to put it in front of them, and how much of each booking you hand over for the privilege. The options fall into four groups: specialist caravan directories with a flat yearly fee, the big holiday platforms that take a percentage, request-led platforms where guests post what they want, and Facebook groups and repeat guests. Most owners who let successfully use more than one.
This guide compares them on cost, effort and the kind of guest each one brings, using published 2026 prices. It also covers the two things that trip owners up before the first guest arrives: what your park allows, and the national register for short-term lets that England is due to have in place by March 2027.
Start with your park agreement, not the advert
Before you pay for any listing, read your licence agreement and park rules. Parks take three broad positions on private hire. Some do not allow it at all. Some allow it only through their own letting service, for a commission. Most allow private hire, with conditions.
Tell hosts what you are looking for
Post your dates, area and budget once. Verified hosts send you their best offer, and there is no guest fee.
The conditions are worth reading closely, because they shape which advertising channels make sense. Shorefield's published park rules are a useful example of what a permissive park can still require. Owners may sub-let, but only for holiday occupation of no more than 21 days at a time and never in the closed season. Sub-let homes must have smoke alarms, a carbon monoxide alarm and a 1kg dry powder extinguisher. A keybox is required for contactless check-in, a copy of the park rules must be in the caravan, and adverts must describe the park and its facilities truthfully. Gas certificates there can only be issued by the park operator, and public liability cover of at least £5 million is a condition of the licence.
Two consequences follow. A 21-day cap rules out month-long winter or contractor stays on that park, and a rule on how the park is described means checking before you use its name or logo in a listing title.
If your park runs its own scheme, compare it with going private before you decide. Our holiday park letting schemes compared guide sets out how the main operator schemes work and what they deduct.
Caravan hire directories: a flat fee and no commission
Directories are the traditional route for private caravan hire and remain the lowest-cost option if you are comfortable running bookings yourself. Published prices for three of them in October 2026:
Directory
Price
Commission
Bookings handled by
static-caravan.co.uk
£69 for the first advert for 12 months; £35 a year for each additional advert
None stated ("no commission or booking fees")
Owner
rentaholidaycaravan.com
£50 a year; featured placement £20 a year extra
None mentioned
Owner
myholidaycaravan.co.uk
From £125, one-off
None mentioned
Owner (buyer enquiries)
The last row is a common source of confusion. The £125 package on myholidaycaravan.co.uk is for owners selling a caravan, with the advert live until sold. It is not a hire listing, so check what you are buying before you pay.
static-caravan.co.uk includes a price and availability calendar, up to 16 photos, video uploads and page view statistics. rentaholidaycaravan.com offers an optional availability calendar and visitor statistics. Neither takes payment for you, so you need your own booking terms, deposit and cancellation policy, and a safe way to receive money.
Best for: owners on parks with strong summer demand who already have booking terms and do not mind answering enquiries by phone or email.
Large booking platforms: reach, at a percentage
The big platforms bring the most visitors and take care of payment, but they charge on every booking, and their fee structures changed in 2025.
Airbnb runs two structures. Under the split fee, the host pays around 3% of the booking subtotal and the guest pays a separate service fee at checkout. Under the host-only fee, the guest sees no separate fee and the host pays the whole charge, typically between 14% and 16%. From 27 October 2025 many hosts who connect through property management software moved to a 15.5% host-only fee, and new software-connected hosts have only been offered the host-only structure since 25 August 2025. The rate that applies to you is shown against each reservation in your transaction history.
Vrbo charges 5% commission plus 3% payment processing on pay-per-booking listings, about 8% in total, on the nightly rate and mandatory extras such as cleaning. Vrbo no longer accepts new annual subscribers.
Booking.com sets commission per property and shows it in the partner extranet. Check the figure for your listing before you go live rather than relying on a general rate.
Best for: owners who want volume and will price the commission into the nightly rate, accepting less control over the guest relationship.
Request-led platforms: guests say what they want first
A newer model turns the advert round. Instead of guests browsing listings, they post a request with their dates, party size and the price they have in mind, and owners whose caravan fits are notified and can send their best offer. Offer2Stay works this way, with a 10% all-in host commission and no guest fees, and it covers static caravans, lodges and holiday parks alongside contractor accommodation.
The model suits the parts of the year that directories and big platforms handle badly. A guest looking for a week in late October, a family wanting a caravan near grandparents over Christmas, or a contractor crew wanting a base for a month (where your park allows stays that long) will say so in the request, and you decide whether the figure works for you. Setting a minimum nightly figure in advance means you only see requests worth answering; our guide to setting a floor price explains how to choose one.
Best for: filling shoulder and winter dates, and owners who prefer to respond to specific requests over maintaining a year-round listing. You can list a caravan for free.
Facebook groups and repeat guests: free, with care
Park-specific and regional Facebook groups cost nothing and are where many owners start. The weakness is trust on both sides. Guests are wary of fake listings, and genuine owners lose bookings because guests cannot tell them apart from scams. If you advertise in groups, make it easy for guests to verify you: use your own name, show the caravan's pitch number and park, take payment by bank transfer to an account in your name, and send written booking terms before taking a deposit. Our guide to the signs of a fake holiday let listing shows what cautious guests look for.
Repeat guests are the best channel of all. Keep a simple list of past guests who were good to host, and offer them next year's dates before you advertise anywhere else.
What each channel costs on one booking
An illustration, not a benchmark: a seven-night booking at £600 including cleaning.
Channel
What the owner pays on this booking
Directory (static-caravan.co.uk or rentaholidaycaravan.com)
Nothing per booking; £50 to £69 a year in total
Airbnb split fee
About £18 (3%); the guest pays a separate service fee on top
Airbnb host-only fee at 15.5%
About £93
Vrbo pay-per-booking
About £48 (5% plus 3% processing)
Request-led platform at 10% all-in
£60
Facebook or repeat guest
Nothing
The directory looks best on paper once you have more than one or two bookings a year, but it only costs least if it actually fills the dates. The real comparison is fee against nights that would otherwise sit empty. For a fuller view of what a caravan can earn across a season, see our static caravan rental income guide or run your own figures in the calculator.
What changes in 2027: the short-term let register
England does not yet have a register for holiday lets, but it is coming. On 3 September 2026 the Culture Secretary told MPs that a mandatory, mainly online register for short-term and holiday lets would be up and running in full by March 2027. Owners will provide details of the accommodation and the person responsible for it, and will pay a registration fee.
Several points were still unconfirmed at the time of writing: the fee, whether owners who let only occasionally will be exempt, and how holiday caravans on licensed parks will be treated. It has also been suggested that booking platforms may be expected to check registration numbers and remove unregistered listings, but that model has not been confirmed either. Councils are expected to use the register to support enforcement of existing safety rules.
For now, nothing needs doing beyond keeping your safety paperwork in order, which you will almost certainly need to evidence when registration opens.
Paperwork to sort before the first guest
Whichever channel you choose, have these in place before you take a booking:
Written permission to hire, or confirmation in your park rules that private hire is allowed, and any limits on stay length or season.
Insurance that covers hire. A standard caravan policy may not cover paying guests, and public liability cover is essential; some parks set a minimum.
An annual gas safety certificate, displayed in the caravan, plus a working carbon monoxide alarm wherever there are gas appliances.
Fire safety equipment: at least one smoke alarm, tested regularly, and an in-date extinguisher. Keep a copy of the park operator's fire risk assessment.
Electrical safety checks at the interval your park requires.
Booking terms covering deposit, balance, cancellation, damage and the park's own rules for guests, such as facility passes.
If you are thinking about letting through the winter months, our guide to winter static caravan rental covers closed seasons, heating and longer stays.
Sources
The figures and rules above come from the following, checked at the time of writing.
Shorefield static park rules — https://www.shorefield.co.uk/ownership/ambassadors-information-portal/static-park-rules
static-caravan.co.uk: advertise your caravan — https://www.static-caravan.co.uk/advertise-your-caravan
Where is the best place to advertise a static caravan for private hire?+
There is no single best place. Caravan hire directories cost £50 to £69 a year with no commission and suit owners who handle their own bookings. Airbnb and Vrbo bring more visitors but take a percentage of each booking. Request-led platforms suit shoulder and winter dates, and repeat guests and Facebook groups cost nothing. Most successful owners combine two or three.
Do I need my park's permission to rent out my static caravan?+
Yes. Check your licence agreement and park rules first. Some parks do not allow private hire, some allow it only through their own letting scheme, and most allow it with conditions such as a maximum stay length, no letting in the closed season, required safety equipment and a minimum level of public liability insurance.
How much commission does Airbnb take from caravan owners in the UK?+
Around 3% under the split fee, where the guest also pays a service fee, or typically 14% to 16% under the host-only fee; many software-connected hosts moved to 15.5% from 27 October 2025. Your transaction history shows the exact rate.
Will I need to register my static caravan as a holiday let in England?+
The government has said a short-term let register will be fully running by March 2027, with a registration fee. Whether caravans on licensed holiday parks are included, and whether occasional lets are exempt, had not been confirmed by October 2026. Keep your gas, fire and insurance documents up to date so you are ready either way.
Can I let my static caravan to contractors?+
Only if your park allows stays of the length a crew needs. Some parks, Shorefield among them, cap sub-lets at 21 days and holiday use only, so check the rules before accepting a work booking. Where longer stays are allowed, contractor bookings can fill quiet months; Offer2Stay is one platform where crews post requests that caravan owners can respond to.