Meta description: Use England’s Class BC 60-day campsite right to add pitches at your pub or hotel in 2026. Check Wales, site limits, notice and flood rules.
Hello, pub landlords and rural hospitality owners. Got spare land beside your pub or hotel? A field of tents could give guests another reason to stay, eat and drink on site.
In England, Class BC may let you run a pop-up campsite for up to 60 days a year. Wales has a separate right, with extra limits that can rule out a nearby field.
Check the rules before you set dates or take bookings. This is a practical guide, not site-specific planning advice.
The 60-day right for pubs
A pub campsite can link a night outdoors with a meal, a drink or breakfast in the morning. Campers on site are potential pub customers each night. With up to 50 pitches in England, every head is a covers opportunity.
The right can suit a spare paddock, overflow car park or adjoining field. It can also support wider farm diversification through camping.
For a tent-only site, the caravan-site licensing regime under the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960 does not apply to tents, which are not caravans under section 29(1). Keep the proposal within the planning rules, and check any other requirements that may apply to your operation.
What Class BC allows in England
Class BC permits recreational campsite use for no more than 60 days in total in a calendar year. You can provide up to 50 pitches and moveable structures reasonably needed for the campsite.
The right does not apply on a scheduled monument, in a safety hazard area or military explosives storage area, on a Site of Special Scientific Interest, or on a site of a listed building. It also excludes caravans, except motor vehicles designed or adapted for human habitation. Tents and campervans or motorhomes may fit the rule; towed caravans and static caravans do not.
Class BC does not allow permanent works. Keep facilities and structures temporary and moveable. Check the legislation and your local planning authority’s guidance before you install anything.
The Welsh Class BA reality and the 100m buffer
Do not assume the England rule applies across the border. In Wales, Class BA allows up to 60 days on ordinary land, but only 28 days within a National Park, Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty or World Heritage Site. Camping has also been removed from the old 28-day Class B right, except in connection with a festival.
The main issue for many pubs is the 100m buffer zone campsite Wales rule. Class BA does not permit development on land within 100 metres of a “protected dwelling”. That means a dwellinghouse or flat occupied by someone other than the campsite owner or operator.
Map the proposed camping field against nearby homes before you plan a season. If a neighbouring cottage sits within 100 metres, Class BA is off the table for that field. Full planning permission is the route to explore. The rule is a particular concern for village pubs surrounded by homes they do not own. The 2026 Welsh Order sets out the full definition and restrictions.
Wales also bans Class BA camping in Flood Zones 2 and 3. Its annual process requires an application for a determination before work begins, covering toilets and wastewater, waste disposal and vehicle access. You must wait for written notice that prior approval is not required, the 28-day period to pass without the specified notice, or prior approval to be granted.
Which land qualifies?
Start with a clear site boundary. Consider a spare paddock, a section of overflow parking or an adjoining field. Draw where pitches, access, toilets, waste facilities and any moveable structures will go.
Check whether the proposed campsite land is a site of a listed building. A listed pub makes this worth careful attention. Separate the campsite field from the pub’s listing and curtilage question, and get planning advice before relying on Class BC.
Check other site restrictions too. Permitted development rights campsite UK rules do not remove the need to consider access, safety, environmental matters or any other permissions relevant to your site.
Send the annual notification in England
Before starting in each calendar year, notify your local planning authority in writing. Include a site plan that shows the toilet and waste-disposal facilities, and list every date the site will be in use.
Make the plan easy to check. Mark the boundary, access, pitches, facilities and waste arrangements. Keep the dates clear. The authority must pass the notice to the relevant fire and rescue authority.
Give yourself time. Prepare and send the notice weeks before your season, not days before opening. Keep a copy of the notice, plan and council correspondence with your operating records.
Check flood risk first
Riverside pubs and low-lying fields may fall within Flood Zone 2 or 3. In England, Class BC requires prior approval before you begin in either zone, each calendar year. You must provide a site-specific flood-risk assessment, including warning and evacuation arrangements.
Do not treat the annual notice as a substitute for this approval. Check the map and process early. Read our prior approval guide for Class BC in England and Class BA in Wales before you commit to dates.
Compliance traps to avoid
Small changes can take you outside the right:
- A 61st day: Class BC permits no more than 60 days in total per calendar year.
- A 51st pitch: England’s limit is 50.
- A towed caravan: Class BC does not permit it.
- A permanent shower block: Permanent works are not permitted under the right.
Count days with care. Council guidance says days when campsite facilities remain on the land count towards the limit, even if the site is unoccupied. Remove temporary facilities when they are not in use, and keep a record of dates.
Operating beyond the limits may breach planning control and lead to enforcement. Check local guidance, including Cornwall Council’s temporary campsite advice and Folkestone & Hythe’s guidance.
Quick checklist for your 2026 pop-up campsite
- Confirm whether your land is in England or Wales.
- Check exclusions, listed-building status and local restrictions.
- In Wales, map the 100m distance to protected dwellings.
- Check flood-zone status before choosing dates.
- Keep within the relevant annual day limit and pitch rules.
- Plan temporary toilets, waste facilities and access.
- Send the English annual notice, or complete the Welsh determination process, in good time.
- Keep approvals, plans, dates and records together.
The temporary campsite 60 days rule can help pubs and hotels make more use of spare land. But the details matter. Check the site, prepare the paperwork and speak to your local planning authority before you open.
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