Park MOBILE HOMES Guide **Checked Oct 2015**

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PARK (MOBILE) HOMES GUIDE

 

Documents Source: https://www.gov.uk/park-mobile-homes

 

 

 

PART 1 - YOUR RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS

 

 

Your rights and obligations

 

Your rights and obligations are listed in a written agreement with the park (or site) owner. This sets out:

 

Ø your minimum legal rights and obligations, like your right to keep your park home on its pitch

Ø the rules, charges and services

 

You have 28 days to review it before signing.

 

Even if you don’t have a written agreement, you still have all the rights set out in the Mobile Homes Act of 1983.

 

Keeping your home in good condition

 

You must:

 

Ø repair your home when necessary

Ø keep the outside of your home and pitch clean and tidy, including any fences or out buildings that you own or use on your pitch

 

Site licence

 

Privately owned sites must have a licence from the local council. The park owner must clearly display the licence. It will usually have conditions for:

 

Ø how many homes can be in the park

Ø services and amenities

Ø health and safety

 

To complain about conditions in your park, talk to the park owner first. If the issue isn’t sorted out, contact your local council.

 

You could be forced to leave if you live on a site without planning permission for residential use.

 

PART 2 - RENTING A PARK HOME

 

Rented homes, including park homes, come under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1988

 

If your landlord collects rent from you, this means you have a rental contract even if it isn’t in writing.

 

You don’t have a written contract

 

If you don’t have anything in writing you should be able to stay for a year from the date you moved in.

 

You have a written contract

 

If you have a written contract it should say how long you can live in your home.

 

During this time your landlord can still ask you to leave if:

 

Ø your contract says they can ask you to leave with 4 weeks’ notice

Ø you break the rules (‘terms’) of your contract and it says the owner can ask you to leave as a result

 

When your contract ends

 

Your landlord can ask you to leave as long as they give you 4 weeks’ notice. If you don’t leave the owner can ask the court for an ‘eviction order’ which forces you to leave.

 

Your landlord asks you to leave

 

If your landlord tries to evict you (force you to leave), you will have more rights to stay if you live on a ‘protected site’. A protected site is a mobile home park which has planning permission to have residents living there throughout the year. A holiday park isn’t a protected site.

 

Your right to stay also depends on:

 

Ø what your rental contract says

Ø if your home is counted as a ‘dwelling house’ and therefore covered by certain tenancy laws

 

Your home is counted as a ‘dwelling house’

 

You may have rights from tenancy laws if your home is counted as a ‘dwelling house’.

 

To be a dwelling house your park home must be:

 

Ø your permanent residence – where you live most or all of the time

Ø connected to mains supplies of electricity or water

Ø unmovable or so large that it can’t be moved in one piece – eg you can’t drive it or tow it away yourself

 

The type of tenancy you have depends on the date you moved in and started paying rent. You will have either:

 

Ø a regulated tenancy – this is if you moved in and started paying rent before 15 January 1989

Ø an assured or assured shorthold tenancy – this is if you moved in and started paying rent after 15 January 1989

 

Getting advice

 

Tenancy rights can be complicated and depend on your situation. You should get legal advice if you think your landlord is treating you unfairly.

 

You can also contact a Citizens Advice Bureau or charities such as Shelter or Age UK if you have questions.

 

Community Legal Advice helpline

0845 345 4 345

 

Shelter housing advice helpline

0808 800 4444

 

Age UK Advice helpline

0800 169 6565

 

PART 3 - CHARGES

 

Pitch fee

 

You have to pay a ‘pitch fee’ to the park owner torent the land your park home sits on.

 

The park owner can propose changing it once a year. They must give you 28 days’ notice in writing.

 

If you and the park owner can’t agree on a new fee, the park owner can apply to a residential property tribunal.

 

Until the tribunal reaches a decision, you should continue to pay your current fee.

 

Gas, water, electricity and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)

 

The Office of the Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem) sets the amount you can be charged for gas and electricity.

 

The park owner can’t charge you more than the price Ofgem sets, plus any connection charges set by the utility company.

 

For water, the park owner can only charge what the water company charges plus a reasonable administration fee.

 

Charges for LPG aren’t regulated.

 

Part 4 - SELLING OR GIVING AWAY A PARK HOME

 

Read detailed information on buying, selling or gifting your park (mobile) home.

 

Selling

 

When you sell your home the site owner gets up to 10% of the selling price (known as a ‘commission’) and you’ll need to:

 

Ø give the buyer certain information - eg about the commission and pitch fees

Ø tell the site owner about the sale

Ø assign (transfer) the pitch agreement to the new owner

Ø tell the buyer to complete a ‘Notice of Assignment form’ so they can pay the commission to the site owner

 

There are certain park home forms for buyers and sellers you must complete to do the above.

 

Park homes don’t need an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC).

 

Giving away

 

You have the right to ‘gift’ (give away) your park home and pass on your agreement to a family member. Use the ‘Notice of gift form’ to send the site owner proof of how you’re related to the family member.

 

Inheritance rules

 

Anyone will be able to carry on the agreement when you die if they are either:

 

Ø a family member living with you at the time you die

Ø your husband, wife or civil partner

 

If none of the above apply, whoever inherits your home will also inherit your agreement. But they must get approval from the site owner to live there.

 

Disputes

 

The Residential Property Tribunal service can help you solve disagreements about park homes, eg if the site owner objects to the sale.

 

Part 5 - PARK REPAIRS AND IMPROVEMENTS

 

Site owners are responsible for:

 

Ø keeping common areas (like shared paths) in good condition

Ø repairing the area where your home sits (the‘base’)

Ø maintaining any services they supply to your home or pitch (like sewerage)

 

Park improvements

 

If the park owner plans to make improvements, they must:

 

Ø give you at least 28 days’ notice in writing and let you know how you can comment on the plans

Ø tell you if it will affect your pitch fee

 

Even if most residents disagree with the proposed improvements in writing, the park owner can still go ahead. But the site owner can’t recover the costs of the improvements through a pitch fee review - unless a residential property tribunal agrees to this.

 

Part 6 - RESIDENTS ASSOCIATIONS

 

You can set up a ‘qualifying’ residents’ association to represent homeowners in the mobile home park where you live.

 

Qualifying residents’ associations have certain rights and should be consulted when park owners want to spend money on improvements or change how they run the park.

 

Park owners must give at least 28 days’ notice of any changes and take the association’s concerns into account before they make changes.

 

Setting up a qualifying residents’ association

 

Your association must include at least half of the home owners in your park. Residents who rent their homes can’t join.

 

It will have to keep certain records and documents, like:

 

Ø an up-to-date list of members

Ø a constitution

Ø any other rules of the association

 

It will have to elect a:

 

Ø chairman

Ø secretary

Ø treasurer

 

Apart from administrative decisions taken by the chair, secretary and treasurer, decisions are taken by voting.

 

You need to ask the park owner to ‘acknowledge’ your association. If they don’t, you can apply to a residential property tribunal. If the tribunal agrees with you, it will order the park owner to acknowledge your association.

 

If your association doesn’t meet the qualifying conditions, it won’t have the same rights. It can continue to meet, but the park owner won’t have to talk to the association about park operations and management.

 

Part 7 - SETTLING DISPUTES

 

If you have a dispute with the park owner that you can’t work out, you can go to a residential property tribunal. Decisions made by the tribunal are legally binding.

 

If your agreement says you must use an arbitrator, ignore it. You must use a residential property tribunal instead.

 

The tribunal can settle disputes over:

 

Ø changing a resident’s agreement

Ø changing the pitch fee

Ø moving a park home

Ø damage and repairs to the site

Ø transferring ownership of a park home to someone else

 

Residential Property Tribunal Service

0845 600 3178

Monday to Thursday, 9am to 5pm

Friday, 9am to 4:30pm

 

To apply, fill in the relevant application form. The form tells you where to send it and if there’s a fee.

 

Download more detailed guidance on park homes and the tribunal.

 

This is the Park Mobile Homes Guide in PDF:

 

 

Edited May 29, 2013 by stu007