Can you park a caravan or settle a mobile home in your garden?

Verified 08 April 2026 - Public Service / Directorate of Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

If you want to park a caravan or settle a mobile home in your garden, be aware that this parking or this installation is subject to city planning authorization in some cases. To find out, you must consult the MORE: titleContent of your commune. We take stock of the regulations and the possible steps to be taken.

The caravan is a habitable land vehicle intended for temporary or seasonal occupation for recreational use. It permanently retains its wheels and its traction bar. It is registered and the Highway Code authorizes its circulation.

The mobile home is a habitable land vehicle intended for temporary or seasonal occupation for recreational use. It permanently retains its wheels and its traction bar. It is registered to be towed, but the Highway Code prohibits its its movement.

Caravan

The procedure to be carried out depends on the parking time from your caravan:

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Less than 3 months per year

You can park a caravan in your garden less than 3 months a year without city planning authorization. You must not use it as a dwelling or an annex to your dwelling.

Please note

All parking periods, consecutive or not, are taken into account for the calculation of the 3 months.

More than 3 months per year

You have to file a advance notification (RFP).

The way to build your PD file differs according to your municipality:

General case

The folder of RFP must be deposited at the town hall:

  • By dematerialized means according to the arrangements made by the municipality (see the website of the town hall or on site)
  • Per letter
  • In person against receipt signed by the town hall.
On the internet

You can complete and submit your RFP application on the Internet:

Assistance for your planning permission application

Form

You can complete your RFP application using a form:

Prior declaration of constructions and works not subject to building permits

In Paris

You must submit your file to the Reception and User Service Office (Basu: titleContent) only by dematerialized means.

Reception and user service office (Basu) in Paris: one-stop shop

Warning  

If you settle a caravan on your property from which you have removed the means of mobility (wheels, pull bar), you must file a city planning authorization (prior declaration or building permit depending on the surface) at your town hall as for a construction.

Mobile home

The regulations are different depending on you keep or remove the means of mobility (wheels, traction bar) of your mobile home:

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Mobile home with its means of mobility

He is forbidden to settle a leisure mobile home in his garden.

The mobile home is only allowed in the following reception areas:

  • Specially developed residential leisure park
  • Holiday village classified as accommodation
  • Camping.

Mobile home without its means of mobility

You can settle a mobile home in your garden. It is considered a construction.

The city planning authorization to file depends on the floor or right-of-way surface from the mobile home

Up to 20 m²

You have to file a advance notification (RFP).

The way to build your PD file differs according to your municipality:

General case

The folder of RFP must be deposited at the town hall:

  • By dematerialized means according to the arrangements made by the municipality (see the website of the town hall or on site)
  • Per letter
  • In person against receipt signed by the town hall.
On the internet

You can complete and submit your RFP application on the Internet:

Assistance for your planning permission application

Form

You must submit your RFP to the town hall using the following form:

Prior declaration of constructions and works not subject to building permits

In Paris

You must submit your file to the Reception and User Service Office (Basu: titleContent) only by dematerialized means.

Reception and user service office (Basu) in Paris: one-stop shop

More than 20 m²

You have to file a building permit.

The way to build your building permit file differs according to your municipality:

General case

The building permit file must be submitted to the town hall:

  • By dematerialized means according to the arrangements made by the municipality (see the website of the town hall or on site)
  • Per letter
  • In person against receipt signed by the town hall.
On the internet

You can complete and submit your building permit application on the internet:

Assistance for your planning permission application

In Paris

You must submit your file to the Reception and User Service Office (Basu: titleContent) only by dematerialized means.

Reception and user service office (Basu) in Paris: one-stop shop

Assistance for your planning permission application

Who can help me?

Find who can answer your questions in your region

  • For more general information

    • accès

      For more information on this subject, you can contact Allô Service Public.

      Attention: the service does not have access to users' personal files and therefore cannot provide information on their progress.

    • horaires
      • Lundi : de 08h30 à 17h30
      • Mardi : de 08h30 à 12h15
      • Mercredi : de 08h30 à 12h15
      • Jeudi : de 08h30 à 17h30
      • Vendredi : de 13h00 à 16h15

    • Request a call

      coût Service free
    • service

      The informants who answer you belong to the ministry in charge of housing and city planning.

  • For more information on a file

    Town Hall

  • For more information on a file filed in Paris

    Paris: Reception and user service office (Basu)