Need a Hand on Park? Getting Support as a Static Caravan Owner

Something is not quite right with the boiler.

Or the step up to the decking feels loose.

Or you have just arrived for the weekend and the water is not coming through.

Does the park fix stuff or do I get my own people in?

Who do I ring if something goes wrong?

What am I actually paying my site fees for?

If those questions have ever crossed your mind, you are in the same place as most owners at some point.

Here is the reassuring bit.

Min‑Y‑Don has a team behind it. [Matt and Natalie] know the pitches by number and the owners by name.

A maintenance crew who keep the grounds, roads, and infrastructure in working order all year round.

And a community of other owners who look out for each other in ways you might not expect.

You handle the inside of your holiday home. The park handles the static caravan maintenance around it.

It is a partnership. And the park's share of that partnership is bigger than most new owners realise.

By the time you finish reading, you will know exactly who handles what, who to call when something needs attention, and the one thing experienced owners say changed how they feel about the practical side of ownership:

knowing someone is always close by.

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Your Park Manager: Who They Are and What They Do

[Matt and Natalie] are based on or near the park, know the owners by name, and are your first point of contact for almost everything on park.

Think about the last time you needed a hand with something at home.

You probably rang someone you know. Someone who has been there before.

Someone who could point you in the right direction without making you feel daft for asking.

That is your park manager.

Not in a call centre. Not in a head office two counties away.

They know the owners, the pitches, and the quirks of individual holiday homes across the park.

Their role goes well beyond the day you collect your keys.

They coordinate maintenance requests. They schedule the annual safety checks. They advise on everything from decking regulations to where the nearest decent timber merchant is.

If you are thinking about personalising your holiday home, your park manager is the person to start with.

They know what is permitted on your pitch and can save you a wasted trip to the DIY store.

(Our personalisation guide covers this in more detail.)

Now here is the part people miss.

We see it every season. A new owner pops into the office with a question they think is too small to ask.

It never is.

Nobody minds you asking.

Across our holiday home parks in Wales and Shropshire, every park operates to the standards set by HARPA (the Holiday and Residential Parks Association) and guided by the NCC Best Practice Guidance (3rd Edition, February 2025).

That is not a badge on a wall. It means your park manager is backed by a recognised framework for how parks should be run.

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Static Caravan Maintenance: What the Park Handles vs What You Handle

The question that comes up more than any other, especially from owners in their first year, is this:

"We weren't sure who was responsible for what."

The split is simpler than most people expect.

The park's obligations are not optional extras.

Under the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960, site licence conditions require parks to maintain roads, fire safety distances between units, and utility standards.

The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 adds further duties around safe infrastructure and risk management.

In other words, the park does not maintain the roads because it feels like it. The law says it must.

Your share of the partnership, your owner responsibilities, is simpler.

Keep the inside of your holiday home clean and ventilated. Look after your decking. And report anything that does not look right.

But here is the part people forget.

A small leak reported on a Friday afternoon is usually a quick fix.

A small leak left until April is a damp problem that costs ten times as much to put right.

In our experience, the owners who mention things early are the ones who never have a serious repair bill.

If you are looking for guidance on keeping your holiday home's interior fresh, our simple refresh guide walks through the practical jobs season by season.

And our ventilation and moisture guide explains how good habits prevent the problems that lead to costly repairs.

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What Do Site Fees Actually Cover?

"What am I actually paying my site fees for?"

It is one of the first questions new owners ask. And it is a fair one.

Your site fees fund the grounds, roads, facilities, safety compliance, security, waste collection, and seasonal support that keep the park running.

It is the cost of the infrastructure and services you use every visit, even when you are not on park.

This is what your annual fees are working for:

• Grounds maintenance and landscaping across the park
• Road and path upkeep
• Waste collection and recycling
• Access to communal facilities (clubhouse, play areas, laundry, where available)
• Security patrols and presence
• Communal lighting
• Drainage and sewerage maintenance
• Fire safety compliance (fire points, extinguishers, risk assessments)
• Seasonal grounds preparation before and after the season

According to Intasure, an independent insurance provider, these categories are standard across well-run parks in the UK.

What most owners tell us is that they had no idea how much goes on behind the scenes.

The grass does not cut itself. The roads do not repair themselves after a hard winter.

The fire extinguishers do not check themselves every quarter.

Our team works on the park infrastructure year-round, including during the months when most owners are not visiting.

That is the part that catches people off guard. The park does not stop when you lock up and drive home.

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Annual Safety Checks: Gas, Electrical, and Fire Safety

Not every Gas Safe registered engineer is qualified to work on a static caravan.

That surprises most people.

Gas work on holiday homes requires specific qualifications beyond the standard domestic Gas Safe badge: CCLP1 or CoNGLP1 certification, plus LAV (Leisure Accommodation Vehicle) and RPH (Residential Park Home) qualifications.

Using an engineer without these certifications can void your insurance and create genuine safety risks.

This is exactly why the park coordinating the check matters.

The park coordinates your annual gas safety check and recommends electrical testing every three years.

A qualified engineer visits the park on a scheduled round.

You pay for the inspection. The park arranges everything else.

One thing worth knowing: the annual gas check is required by park rules as a condition of your licence agreement.

It is not a legal requirement for owner-use-only holiday homes under the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998.

It is, however, a legal requirement if the unit is ever let or rented to others.

Either way, the park requires it for good reason. And having a qualified, caravan-certified engineer check your gas appliances once a year is straightforward peace of mind.

What we hear from owners who have been through a few rounds of annual service checks is always the same: you barely notice it happening.

The engineer comes to you. The park manages the diary. You get a certificate. Done.

If you want to understand your heating system in more detail, our guide to smarter heating covers the practical side.

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What Happens in an Emergency?

Every park has an emergency protocol. Your park manager is your first call, and most parks have an out-of-hours emergency number for evenings and weekends.

Here is how it works in practice.

It is 9pm on a Saturday.

You open the bathroom door and there is water on the floor.

The pipe under the basin has split.

Now what?

Your park manager is your first call. For out-of-hours emergencies, most parks have an emergency support contact number.

Your holiday home insurance may also include 24-hour emergency cover for burst pipes, gas leaks, and security incidents.

What to do depends on the type of emergency.

Plumbing (burst pipe, leak, flooding): Turn off the water at the stopcock inside your holiday home. Mop up what you can.

Call your park manager or the park's emergency contact number.

If the damage is significant, call your insurer's emergency line as well.

Gas (smell of gas, suspected leak): Turn off the gas supply at the meter. Open windows and doors.

Do not use any electrical switches. Leave the holiday home.

Call the National Gas Emergency line on 0800 111 999.

Then call your park manager.

Security (break-in, suspicious activity, alarm triggered): Call 999 if there is an immediate risk.

Then call the park's emergency contact.

Security patrols are part of the park support infrastructure on well-run parks.

The park is not empty when you are not there.

Other owners are around. Security walks the park. The maintenance team knows every unit.

One thing we hear regularly from owners surprises people who have not experienced it yet.

"Security checked our alarm when it went off. We were 100 miles away."

That is not unusual. It is how a park community works.

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Your Owner Community: The Support You Don't Expect

Other owners on park are part of your support network too, from shared WhatsApp groups to neighbours who keep an eye on your holiday home when you are not there.

A storm warning goes round the WhatsApp group at 6am.

By 7, three neighbours have checked each other's decking furniture is tied down.

Nobody told them to. Nobody asked.

That is not something you read about in any buying guide. But it is one of the things experienced owners mention first when you ask what they like about park life.

The NCC estimates there are over 365,000 caravan holiday homes on parks across the UK.

On a well-run park, those owners are not strangers. They are your neighbours. And the community they build is one of the underappreciated benefits of ownership.

The park creates the conditions for this. Shared spaces. Social events. Communal facilities that bring people together naturally.

But the community itself is built by owners.

Someone recommends a plumber. Someone else spots a loose panel on a neighbouring unit and sends a message.

A group on the same row organise a barbecue that turns into a standing arrangement every other Saturday.

What we notice, year after year, is that the owners who get to know their neighbours settle in faster and enjoy ownership more.

It is not obligatory. Nobody is knocking on your door if you prefer your own space.

But it is there. And most owners we speak to say they wish they had known about it sooner.

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Seasonal Support: Start of Season and End of Season

These are the two moments each year when the static caravan maintenance support structure is most visible.

The park team is busiest at season start and season end. And that work is for you.

The drain-down is one of the most valued services we offer.

Our maintenance team works through every unit, draining the water system to prevent pipes freezing and splitting over winter.

Industry pricing for this service typically falls between £60 and £97, depending on the park and what is included.

It sounds like a small thing.

But the average escape-of-water insurance claim on a static caravan is £3,261.

Not the worst case. The average.

The drain-down exists to make sure that claim is never yours.

If you want the full guide to closing down for winter, our end-of-season close-down article walks through every step.

And our opening-up guide covers what to check when you arrive back in spring.

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The question most owners start with is simple.

Who do I call?

Now you know.

Your park manager. The maintenance team behind them. The safety checks that happen without you having to chase them. The community of other owners around you.

The first time something needs attention, it can feel uncertain.

By the second time, you know the number. You know the name.

By the third, you do not think about it at all.

It is just part of how static caravan maintenance works on a park where someone is always close by.

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If you have a question about anything covered here, speak to your park manager. They are there for exactly this.

Thinking about ownership? Book an Experience Day at any of our 10 parks. Call 01743 830998 or visit salopcaravansites.co.uk.

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Common Questions About Park Support

What maintenance does a static caravan need?
The park handles grounds, roads, facilities, and infrastructure. You handle the interior of your holiday home: cleaning, ventilation, cosmetic upkeep. Annual gas and electrical checks are coordinated by the park.

Does the park maintain my holiday home for me?
The park maintains everything outside your holiday home: grounds, roads, communal areas, utilities, and drainage. The inside is your responsibility, but your park manager can always point you in the right direction for tradespeople or advice.

What do my site fees cover?
Site fees fund grounds maintenance, road upkeep, waste collection, facility access, security, communal lighting, drainage, and fire safety compliance. They are the cost of the infrastructure and services you use every visit.

Who do I contact if something goes wrong?
Your park manager is your first point of contact. For out-of-hours emergencies, your park has an emergency contact number. Your holiday home insurance may also include 24-hour emergency cover.

Do I need to arrange my own gas safety check?
On most well-run parks, the park coordinates the annual gas safety check for you. A qualified Gas Safe engineer with caravan-specific qualifications visits the park on a scheduled round. You pay for the inspection. The park arranges everything else.

What happens in an emergency on park?
Contact your park manager or the park's emergency number. For gas emergencies, turn off the supply, ventilate, evacuate, and call 0800 111 999. Security patrols and other owners provide additional presence. The park is not empty when you are away.