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GPDO Part 5: Camping and Caravan Sites
Camping and caravan sites in GPDO Part 5 are covered by three specific permitted development rights in England. Part 5 sits within Schedule 2 to the General Permitted Development Order 2015 and links planning permission to separate caravan and camping licensing rules.
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Permitted development can avoid a full planning application, but only if the right applies and every relevant limit and condition is met. Planning Geek can check the planning history, Article 4 directions and other restrictions, and help with a lawful development certificate or prior approval where needed.
Camping and caravan rights in GPDO Part 5
Part 5 is short. It contains only three classes:
- Class A: use of land as a caravan site in the circumstances imported from paragraphs 2 to 10 of Schedule 1 to the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960
- Class B: development required by the conditions of a caravan site licence that is currently in force under the 1960 Act
- Class C: use of land by members of certain certified recreational organisations for recreation or instruction, together with tents for that use
Part 5 is therefore not a general permission to create a campsite or caravan park. The exact class and the separate licensing rule behind it both matter.
How Part 5 fits with the rest of the GPDO
England’s temporary recreational campsite right is Class BC of Part 4. It is not part of Part 5.
The wider planning questions around caravans also sit outside this Part. Whether a structure is legally a caravan, whether a caravan can be kept within a residential curtilage, and whether a lawful development certificate is sensible are covered in our separate Caravans section.
One useful trap illustrates the difference. Paragraph 1 of Schedule 1 to the 1960 Act gives a caravan site licensing exemption for certain incidental use within the curtilage of a dwellinghouse, but Class A does not import paragraph 1. Class A starts at paragraph 2.
Planning permission and site licensing are separate
Part 5 deliberately links the two systems, but they are not the same thing. Class A borrows specified exemptions from the 1960 Act. Class B grants planning permission for development required by conditions on a current caravan site licence. Class C depends on a recreational organisation holding a certificate under section 269 of the Public Health Act 1936.
Natural England also makes clear that an exemption certificate does not automatically cover extra infrastructure such as a car park or toilet block. Those works need their own planning assessment.
Checks before relying on Part 5
Check the exact class, the current licence or exemption certificate, the planning history and any planning conditions affecting the land. A relevant Article 4 Direction can remove permitted development rights. For some of the Class A exemptions, a paragraph 13 order under the 1960 Act can also remove the licensing exemption from specified land.
If Part 5 does not cover the proposal, another permitted development right or a planning application may be needed. Check the current cost on our planning application fees page. If a planning application or lawful development certificate is refused, our planning appeals section explains the next steps.
Relevant legislation for camping in GPDO Part 5
Links below go to official legislation or government guidance. Check the current text and any changes before relying on a permitted development right.
Camping Page Updated: 23rd September 2026