Upwardly mobile

Published 15th May 2009

Under new proposals announced by Housing Minister Iain Wright, those who live in mobile home parks are to get more protection from dishonest site owners and easier access to justice to sort out any disputes...

There are around 200,000 mobile home residents living in 1,600 parks across the UK. Whilst these residents own their home, they don't own the land it sits on.

The site owner owns the land and collects ground rent from residents. The site owner also has to give their permission when a resident wishes to sell their home. This has caused problems in the past for some, as the permission has not been forthcoming.

The Amendment to the Mobile Homes Act 1983 came into force in England in October 2006 and was designed to tackle rogue site owners, but did nothing to tackle the problem of blocked sales and it remains an issue.

Now, new proposals announced by Housing Minister Iain Wright aim to ensure that all park home residents across the country have reputable licensed site owners or managers and are able to easily challenge them on issues such as selling permission and pitch fee increases without having to go through the costly courts system.

There will be a 12-week consultation on improved site licensing, ending in August 2009, which will take into consideration views of park home residents.

There are also suggestions to make it a cheaper and easier process when residents need to challenge unfair charges or actions. The aim is to transfer the disputes from county courts to Residential Property Tribunals, which should speed up the whole process too.

Mr Wright said, "Park home residents, many of whom are elderly or vulnerable, deserve well managed, safe sites and protection from unscrupulous or unprofessional site managers who may exploit and intimidate them.

"Our proposals aim to do just that - we want a licensing system that raises the standards of park home sites, creating a thriving and well run park home sector, whilst at the same time eradicating dishonest and inept site owners," he added.

Source: ' TheMoveChannel '

View All Latest News