60 Day Rule Camping Explained for UK Glamping Sites

You may not need full planning permission to try a campsite. The 60 day rule for camping lets you use land in England as a temporary campsite. You can open for up to 60 days a calendar year, with up to 50 pitches. You have to tell your council first and meet some conditions. It covers tents, motorhomes and campervans, not permanent glamping units.

What the 60 day rule for camping allows

The 60 day rule is a permitted development right that lets landowners in England run a temporary recreational campsite for up to 60 days in any calendar year. Planners call it Class BC. It extended the old 28 day limit for temporary campsites, which is why people still search for the “28 day rule”.

Permitted development means the planning permission is already granted by national rules, so you don’t submit an application. You still have to follow the conditions, and the council can take action if you don’t.

This is general information, not planning advice. Your local council’s planning team, or a planning consultant, has the final say on your land.

Conditions to meet for the 60 day rule

You can use the rule if you stay within the 60 day and 50 pitch limits, notify the council and provide basic facilities. Miss one and you may need full planning permission after all.

The notification should be in writing and include the dates you plan to open and a site plan showing your toilet and waste disposal facilities. Some councils have a form. If yours doesn’t, email the planning team and keep the reply.

Tents and structures under the 60 day rule

Tents, motorhomes and campervans are what the rule is for. Anything built, fixed down or left on the land is a structure, and the rule isn’t meant to cover it.

Where the 60 day rule for camping doesn’t apply

It doesn’t apply on every piece of land. Some land is excluded, and some needs extra approval first.

• Flood zones 2 and 3. You need prior approval from the council about flood risk before you can use the rule, each year.
• Sites of Special Scientific Interest. A 60 day campsite on a SSSI isn’t permitted development and needs a full planning application, as the Lake District National Park Authority explains.
• Other protected land. The right also excludes scheduled monuments and the sites of listed buildings, and some areas have local restrictions. Your council can tell you which apply to your field.
• Outside England. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own systems.

A camping licence is separate

Planning permission and a camping licence are different things, and having one doesn’t give you the other. Under the Public Health Act 1936 exemption, as councils such as East Cambridgeshire describe it, you don’t need a licence if the site is used for camping in tents for fewer than 42 days in a row, or fewer than 60 days in any 12 month period. Ask your council’s environmental health team whether it applies to you, especially if you plan to take motorhomes too.

Also check your lease or tenancy if you don’t own the land, and tell your insurer what you plan to do.

Using the 60 days to test demand

The best use of the 60 days is as a cheap trial. You find out whether guests will pay to stay on your land before you spend on a planning application, groundwork or a hut.

Here is a simple way to run it.

1. Pick your dates, such as bank holiday weekends and a busy stretch in the school holidays. Keep a count of days used.
2. Set a price per pitch and a minimum stay, and note what guests ask for.
3. Take bookings on your own page, with an availability calendar and a short enquiry form, so you can see where enquiries come from.
4. Track occupancy, enquiries and what guests say in reviews.
5. At the end of the season, you’ll have real numbers to take to a planning consultant or your council.

You don’t need a big site for a pop-up. One clear page with photos, prices, rules and a way to book is enough. If you later want a fuller site for a permanent campsite, our campsite website design page covers what that involves.

Next steps after the 60 day trial

If the trial goes well, you can look at permanent options. That might be a full planning application for more days, or for accommodation such as pods or huts. A planning consultant can use your season’s figures to make the case.

Millie the Hut, a shepherd’s hut in the Welsh Marches, took 42 direct bookings in its first year on a site we built, saving the owners over £3,000 in commission. A pop-up campsite can start small in the same way.

Planning rules and thresholds on this page are accurate as of October 2026.

FAQs

Is the 60 day rule the same as the 28 day rule?

No. The 60 day rule is a newer right written for temporary campsites, and it came in on 26 July 2023. The older 28 day rule is a general right to use land temporarily. They have different conditions, so ask your council how they apply to your land before relying on either.

Do the 60 days have to be in a row?

No. The limit is 60 days in a calendar year, and they can be spread out. You could open for a few bank holiday weekends and a busy fortnight in August. Keep a simple record of the days you open, because the council may ask, and you cannot go over the total.

Does the 60 day rule apply in Wales or Scotland?

No. This right is part of the planning rules for England. Wales and Scotland each run their own planning systems with their own rules for temporary camping. If your land is there, contact your local council’s planning team before you take any bookings.

Can I put glamping pods or shepherd’s huts on the land under the 60 day rule?

Not safely. The right is aimed at tents, motorhomes and campervans. Pods, huts and cabins are usually treated as structures, which tend to need their own planning permission. Ask your council in writing before you buy or hire anything that stays on the land.

If you’re planning a pop-up season, send us your website and we’ll tell you, for free, what’s stopping it getting bookings.