
Glossary of technical caravan sales terms
Being a provider of holidays and holiday homes, you’d think we’d become immune to the jargon in and around the industry. We’re really not. Such is the level of growth in the market, new terms and abbreviations pop up all the time and we can be just as surprised as anyone!
With this in mind, we’ve put this handy glossary together to help you (and remind us) what some of the more technical language actually means in the world of static caravan and luxury lodge ownership. There’s no need to memorise these terms if you’re looking to buy a model of your own, or fret if you don’t recognise any of them. Our friendly caravan sales’ teams help you every step of the way throughout the buying process, keeping the jargon to a minimum where they can!
Account
This refers to the account you’ll have with us. It’s nothing to do with your bank account, more something on our system that where you’ll be billed for costs like your site fees.
Bookings
In the world of ownership, ‘booking’ will be used to refer to a customer that uses your caravan for a holiday when you let it out through our Fixed or Flexi letting schemes.
Decking

A favourite addition with our owners, decking is the elevated platform that sits on the outside of the caravan. The place to bask in the sun when the weather allows. A huge range of different decking designs are available with us.
Drain down
This term refers to the process of removing water from the caravan to prevent frost damage in instances of cold weather. We’ll look after this process for you as part of your site fees.
Finance
This is how we make it easier for you to purchase your holiday home. Caravan finance makes the full cost of a model more affordable through instalments, eliminating the need to pay the whole cost upfront. The coolest caravans can be yours for just a 10% deposit with a 5.71% fixed repayment rate (10.6% APR representative). We only work with Financial Conduct Authority lenders.
Fixed and free-standing furniture
You’ll often see this term banded about in the brochures. Traditional and lower grade caravan furniture is fastened to the walls of the caravan. Free-standing is moveable so there is added element of being able to customise your caravan interior in more expensive models
Fixed letting
A letting option that gives you complete peace of mind and gives you a nice round figure for what you’ll earn from offering your holiday home to our guests.
Fleet

The quintessential caravan jargon. You may hear our team use this term to refer to caravans that we own and use to host our holidaymakers. Usually short for ‘holiday fleet’.
Flexi letting
A higher risk option but with potentially higher returns. This avenue allows you to let your holiday home on any given date.
Fold-out bed
A hidden bed that often hides as part of the sofa in a caravan’s living room. You’ll often see examples like a two-bedroom place advertised as sleeping six. This includes two people sleeping on the fold-out bed in the living room.
Insurance
Taking out caravan insurance is a wise move. We look after this process for you but you’re free to look into your own provider should you wish.
Luxury Lodge

The ultimate places to buy in both the Haven offering and the industry. Usually sitting over two caravan units, luxury lodges are even more of a home from home with added extra comforts and a higher price to match.
National Caravan Council (NCC)
A not-for-profit body overseeing all elements of the caravan and holiday park industry. The NCC set out the standards of best practice that holiday caravan/holiday lodge owners should expect from a park operator. Members of the NCC follow and adhere to these guidelines.
Owners
This is how caravan owners are referred to at our parks. Owners are referred to in terms of caravans, not people. The term ‘one owner’ will effectively mean one caravan with a party of owners in the same family etc.
Season

This is the amount of time and period of our parks open during the year. Broadly speaking, this time period is March-November but there are slight variations between locations.
Site fees
Site fees are a key cost of running your static caravan or luxury lodge. They’re best described as the amount you pay to keep your holiday home sited on its pitch at the park for a year. These fees vary between parks and the amount to which they add up also depends on the type of holiday home you have, the size and the specific location it sits in the park you’re an owner at.
Static
Often a shortened version of ‘static caravan’, this term refers to the type of caravans Haven sells- caravans that aren’t on wheels and generally don’t move parks.
If you have questions about buying a holiday home, please don't hesitate to contact us. Call us or request a call back, we'd love to hear from you.