The Exeter Rally

From Sonia Home Owners Justice Campaign

http://parkhomeownersjusticecampaign.blogspot.co.uk/p/stop-press-news.html

A good read for anyone considering purchasing a Park Home

Tingdene Parks Ltd

Tingdene Parks Ltd was named and shamed in Parliament as above, by Mr. Tom Blenkinsop M.P. The above was from last year.  On thursday 12th July 2012 Tingdene Parks Ltd was again named and shamed as the following link to Hansard shows

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmhansrd/cm120712/debtext/120712-0002.htm#12071258001920

From Campaign for Justice (Sonia McColl)

http://www.parkhomeownersjusticecampaign.co.uk/

Excellent report from Government Debate

Why the need for congress

Why the need for Congress

The following link is a page from jb residents Association

A view about UPOs

http://www.jbsresidents.co.uk/news2.html

Message from Congress

Message from Graham Budworth Re: Congress

Are you all prepared for Conference tomorrow? Don't forget that this is probably the first time where you can set the agenda for the future of an organisation (Congress) working to better everything that is currently detrimental to you as a park home owner. Please come with questions that you have wanted to ask in the past and present, hopefully you will get the answers that you are looking for. Please take this unique opportunity to meet others living in park homes all over the UK, lets all make some new friends. Look forward to seeing you there.
Graham Budworth NPHOC Chairman

Report from the Mirror

From the Mirror

http://blogs.mirror.co.uk/investigations/2012/06/yesterdays-report-from-the-mps.html

Hot news from the mirror

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Government Report

Government Report

This link takes you to the first of three reports on Park Owners by the Communities and Local government

It does not make good reading for those who are thinking of purchasing a Park Home or indeed those that already live in a Park Homehttp://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmselect/cmcomloc/177/177i.pdf

Communities and Local Government

As part of Communities and Local Government the following link takes the reader to a long awaited report on the problems associated with Park Homes and Holiday Homes

http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/communities-and-local-government-committee/publications/

News as it happens

As part of this series of posts, I will post news as it happens. For the past couple of years legislation supposed for the protection of Park Home owners and indeed Holiday Home owners has come under fire. Groups and Associations linked to owners have sought new and fairer upgrades of the law and the following relates to this;

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-18514416http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-18514416

Planning Permission

As mentioned previously for a Park Home to be classed as residential there must be planning permission. There are a number of owned caravan sites that allow residential living but do not have the appropiate licence to do so. Set out below are a number of points on this subject

Planning permission

Planning permission is required for any material change in the use of land (subject to exceptions). The parking of a mobile home on land is normally treated as a change of use of land. Planning permission is deemed to be granted for certain temporary or occasional uses of land for the siting of mobile homes, and the uses designated are those for which a site licence is not required (see above).

If there is a breach of planning permission, the local planning authority may serve an enforcement notice, and failure to comply with a notice is punishable by a fine. The local planning authority must serve the enforcement notice on the site owner and occupier, and the occupier or site owner can appeal the notice. The local planning authority has the power to enter on to land in cases of non-compliance and is able to remove mobile homes constituting an unauthorised mobile home site.[3]

[1] paras 1-11a Sch.1 Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960.

[2] s.5(1)(a) Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960.

[3] Midlothian DC v Stevenson [1985] (unreported).

What does a Park Home look like

What does a typical Park Home look like

This is a typical twin unit Park Home, this means that it is manufactured in two half pieces and literally joined together at the apex, this operation is usually carried out at the point of siting. What you cannot see is the chassis and wheels and the fact that the unit is actually jacked off the ground. The brick skirt you can see hides the above and also the service pipes, water, waste, gas supply and electrics. It is easy to imagine this as a prefabricated bungalow, but in reality it is a caravan, no more and no less, and it will be licensed as a caravan, not a home, not a mobile home, not a park home but simply a caravan

Differences between Residential & Holiday Home

What is the difference between a Residential Park Home and a similar construction used for say holiday purposes. A residential park home has to be built to a certain standard, to ensure it is suitable for all year round accomodation, the standard is stringent and over the years has been subject to change as materials used evolve.

If you are involved with the construction or maintaince of any of the above, you need to be aware of BS 3632:2005 Residential park homes. Specification , which has just been revised.
Since the last edition this industry has undergone considerable development in terms of size, services, equipment and materials used. The revision introduces technical changes to take account of present living requirements, following a full review of the standard.
The standard covers the manufacture of residential park homes, for use as permanent places of residence.
Its requirements are intended to make park homes:

• undefined
• stable and structurally sound
• weather-resistant
• meet statutory requirements
• with adequate ventilation, drainage, sanitation
• with adequate means of escape
• meet satifactory thermal and sound insulation criteria

The safe installation of electrical services and gas/oil-fired installations is also covered. Calculation and test methods are provided to determine the level of sound insulation and the efficiency of the fixed ventilation systems of park homes.
ISBN 0 580 46148 3

Once again it is most important to ensure what you are purchasing conforms with this standard. Failure to ensure this could result in a local authority not allowing you to reside permanently in your home, this also may involve the purchaser in very long civil disputes with the seller.

The Mobile Homes Act 1983

The most important written information that a prospective purchaser of a Park Home should consider, in fact should read and understand is the "Mobile Homes Act 1983", this Act is what regulates any agreement you may enter into with a Park Owner or a private sale. Whilst the Act may appear simple in itself, it's interpretation may mean a lot more. The basis of the Act falls into two categories, a) the Implied Terms and b) the express terms. The implied terms are what they sound like, it is what the Government has implied, these implied terms cannot be broken by either party, nor are they negotiable. The express terms however is a different matter, these are the terms that are agreed between the purchaser and the seller, the seller for the most part being a Park Owner. These terms may vary between parks, indeed there may be varying terms on the same park between current owners, they are also subject to change. A prospective purchaser must be in no doubt as to these express terms, which should be clear and void of ambiguity, these terms can mean the difference between a good purchase and happy existence or a very bad experience that can be hard or impossible to get out of. It is for this reason that a purchaser should seek and take the advice of a solicitor, it is all too easy to fall in love with a dream and sign for something that you dont really understand.

A good place to start is to use the following link

http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/housing/pdf/138271.pdf

This page gives a great guide to what the Mobile Homes Act 1983 is all about, make sure you visit and explore the contents, it is designed to protect your interests.

Park Home Life Continued

Park Home Life Continued…….

Whats the cost of a Residential Caravan? Well because they are marketed as Park Homes and errected to look like bungalows the prospective purchaser is led into believing they are buying something far superior to what they really are buying which is of course a caravan. As a lot of manufacturers are actually setting up their own parks the profit margins become immense. For example a double unit costing £45K ex works will probably end up on a pitch at a price of £145K, which gives a nett profit of £100K. The Park Owner will argue that they have bought the land and developed it to receive the Residential Caravan, hence the final price but dont forget that the purchaser will pay rent on that pitch for every month they are there, and of course the Park Owner still has a vested assett in the land. So it is definately a win win situation for the Park Owner, even more so for the unscrupulous one. It is extremely difficult to be able to buy a Residential Caravan at ex works price and get it sited on a licensed park, however if you have your own piece of land with planning permission then you are probably going to make a good purchase. Also if that piece of land forms part of a curtillage of an existing house and an interest can be shown to exist between that house and the Residential Caravan, then no planning permission is required, so there is food for thought.

Whats the value of a used Residential Caravan ? There is a lot of marketing hype about this one, however in general a Residential Caravan will decrease in value rather than gain. When it comes to selling dont forget that 10% commission to be paid to the Park Owner, its tempting to raise the price to cover the cost but in reality this does not really work, and you have to hope your Park Owner is not a Sale Blocker. At the time of writing the housing market is in a turnmoil with many values on a downward spiral, so it probably follows that Residential Caravans will be suffering the same problems in any event.

Why does the Park Home Industry target semi retired and retired people? One of the reasons for this is that the industry relies on this segment to have the money to purchase outright. This is usually acheived by equity in an existing private house. You dont need a solicitor to purchase a Residential Caravan, which is of a benefit to the Park Owner and probably a detriment to the purchaser. It is hard to think of anyone parting with that amount of money without first consulting a solicitor, but sadly this appears to be the case. Another ploy by the industry is to take a purchasers existing house either in part exchange or the Park Owner will make an arrangements to sell your house for you, again it needs to be stressed that the advice of a solicitor should be sought if entering into this kind of agreement. For the unscrupulous Park Owner the more vunerable and older the purchaser the better it is for them.

Is there a safe way to purchase a Residential Caravan ? There are steps you can take to protect yourself. Always seek the advice of a solicitor and let him handle the money side of things. Have a good look at the Park you have chosen and check with the local council that all planning permissions have been granted and the development is in order, it may cost the purchaser if things are wrong. Check the council licence agreement to make sure you have residential status, this is very important where a mixed holiday/residential park exists. Check with the local Trading Standards to see if any complaints have been received or being investigated against the Park Owner. Have a chat with the prospective neighbours, if they are willing to talk and are happy with the park they will be glad to tell you, if they appear shy or evasive there is a good chance the Park Owner is unscrupulous. Talk to local shopkeepers, they will have first hand knowledge of unhappy residents. Do not consider moving to a park that does not have a residents association functioning, remember there is always saftey in numbers. There is much information on the internet that can be used as a useful resource, a useful website is" can you trust them" which can be found at the following link,

http://www.canyoutrustthem.com/index.php?go=details&id=13861&adv=&city=&company_type=&company_name=&search_comments=&search_company_name=&search_country=

Another useful website can be found at Park Home Residents Action Alliance, the site is extensive and a great resource that will cover just about everything you will want to know, you can also become a member at a low cost, those who run this site actually live in Residential Caravans and have first hand knowledge of many of the problems encountered, the link for this is at,

http://www.phraa.co.uk/latest/disclaimer-notice-phraa.html

The National Caravan Council can be found at

http://www.nationalcaravan.co.uk/home/index.asp

The BH & HPA can be found at.

http://www.bhhpa.org.uk/

Park Home Life Continued

Park Home Life Continued………………

So what protection does the Residential Caravan Owner have? In short, currently very little. There are two regulatory bodies involved in the Residential Caravan Market. Firstly there is the National Caravan Council (NCC), this body self regulates the Residential Caravan Manufacturer, secondly there is the British Homes and Holiday Park Association (BH & HPA), this body self regulates the Caravan Park Owners. Increasingly manufacturers are setting up their own parks so these two bodies have virtually become one, but make no mistake, both of these self regulatory bodies protect the manufacturer and park owner more so than the Residential Caravan Owner. As previously stated the Residential Caravan Owner on a licensed park comes under the remitt of the Mobile Homes Act 1983, and although it sets out a number of things that a Park Owner should or should not do, it does not afford much individual protection to the Residential Caravan Owner if things unfortunately go wrong. A growing concern is the fact that in many cases a Residential Caravan does not automatically transfer to next of kin upon the death of the owner, alarmingly it is reported that some ownerships are not allowed to be put into joint ownership, thereby giving an unscrupulous Park Owner an advantage over the surviving partner, in any event assignment to another member of the family is sometimes subject to a minimum age of 45, which again can give an unscrupulous Park Owner a financial advantage

So are all Park Owners this bad? Consider this, the situation appears to have got so bad that two seperate parliamentry groups are attempting to get new legislation passed to protect the Residential Caravan Owner. Firstly in Northern Ireland John McCallister MLA, Deputy Leader of the Ulster Union Party has spent a considerable amount of time producing what is known as the McCallister Bill, which is a private members bill, which is due to be passed any time now, the Bill has received widespread cross party support. Here on the mainland a Parliamentry Adjourment debate is taken place, led by Annette Brooks M.P. and again receiving wide spread cross party support, and again this is due to be passed any time now. What has motivated these Bills? It would appear that most M.P.s who have a Park Home facilities within their own constituencies has received numerous complaints, and this is not of late, it fact it spans three decades. Both Bills aim to acheive a fairer system for Residential Caravan Owners and Static Caravan Holiday Owners. Particular attention is being paid towards the "Written Agreement" that already exists under the Mobile Homes Act 1983, the blocking of sales and the unprecedented vetting of prospective purchasers, and when things go wrong a quicker and usually free access to justice by way of independant tribunal, so Residential Owners do not have the massive expense and financial imbalance through the court system, which is another tool currently used by the unscrupulous Park Owner. The setting up of Residential Caravan Owners Associations will also be made easier, in fact the Goverment and local authority enforcement agencies such as the OFT and Trading Standards are to encourage these associations to develop. Not good news for the Park Owner, as usually these are discouraged at park level as it gives Residential Caravan Owners a say in how the park is run, also if there is more than 51% membership of the association then that association has a right to be involved in the setting of annual fees. Another hope from these two bills is that the Office of Fair Trading Guidelines covering Static Holiday Caravan Sites will be turned into actual legislation, which will help to clarify what is sometimes seen as ambiguous wording.

To be Continued ...............

Park Home Life Continued

Park Home Life Cont ………

Now that we have established what a Park Home is we can turn our attention to the piece of land that it rests upon. This is commonly known as a pitch, and although you may have purchased your Residential Caravan outright and therefore own it, you will not own the land it sits upon. It is extremely rare in the U.K. to be able to purchase a "pitch" freehold on a licensed site. It is not in the interest of the Park Owner to do this. It is also extremely rare to be able to lease this "pitch", again it is not in the interest of the Park Owner, furthermore a lease may incuur rights under a landlord and tenant act, which again most Park owners would seek to avoid. Usually you are granted a term of years that you can keep your Residential Caravan on a "pitch", and for that you will have to pay a monthly "pitch fee" which will be subject to annual rises, which may be fair or unfair, increasingly Park Owners are been accussed of being excessive when it comes to calculating "pitch fees". In addition to the "pitch fee" council tax is also payable usually at band A level. Both off these costs per year will probably average £2.5K per annum. You will also be subject to numerous rules and regulations made by the Park Owner, some of these rules are designed for living in harmony and are common sense, however there are a growing number of unscrupulous Park Owners who are manufacturing rules and regulations to suit their own purposes, which examples of will be given later. Normal rules and regulations include such things as to how many visitors you may have, especially children which are normally subject to weekend visits only especially if they are sleeping overnight, whether or not you can wash your car on site and repairs to motor vehicles are usually barred except by recognised breakdown services, how you would like to arrange your garden and plants or shrubs are usually subject to permissions, whether or not you may have permanent visitors residing with you such as family members, the list can be never ending, but certainly some Residential Parks in the U.K. are getting seriously bad press for the way they run their sites. If you want freedom of movement and actions then perhaps Park Home life is not for you. Many Residential Caravan owners are experiencing problems if they decide they want to sell up and move on, firstly they have to have permission from the Park Owner, secondly the owner has to pay 10% commission to the Park Owner if such a sale is agreed. Currently Park Owners have the right to vet any prospective purchasers and can refuse with little reason to allow a sale. Furthermore this problem has become so wide spread that a phrase has grown up to be known as "Sale Blocking", whereby the unscrupulous Park Owner can virtually stop any chance of an owner selling what is effectively theirs, in the hope that eventually the Caravan owner will become so fed up, they end up selling the caravan to the Park Owner for a fraction of its true value, this then allows the Park Owner to sell to anyone he likes for a vast profit. Another problem that is increasingly coming to light is, that the unscrupulous Park Owner wants to have a turnover of Residential Caravans, so after a given period of time pressure is brought to bear on current owners to upgrade their existing Residential Caravans to new ones, when the owner shows reluctance to do so then Rules and Regulations change and this then becomes bullying or harrassment. There are many recorded cases of this type of behaviour and the reader will be directed to information sources at the end of this article.

To be continued ..............

Park Home Life

Park Home Living

A Good Life or a Future of Strife?

All across the U.K. there is a growing number of what is known as Park Homes springing up, usually these are grouped together in mini estates and are marketed mainly towards a particular age group, for the semi-retired and retired persons. These estates are commonly known as Semi Retirement or Retirement Parks or Villages. There is much confusion as to what a "Park Home" actually is, so to put the record straight it is a Caravan built to a residential specification, under the following official definition.

"“Caravan” means any structure designed or adapted for human habitation which is capable of being moved from one place to another (whether by being towed, or by being transported on a motor vehicle or trailer) and any motor vehicle so designed or adapted, but does not include..."

However it does not look like a caravan, it looks like a "Bungalow", it has a brick skirt all around it, how can it be a caravan. Residential Caravans come in two styles, a single unit or a double unit, either way the singular unit is built upon a rolling chassis which has wheels, at the factory it is fitted with a tow bar. Whichever style it is, it will be transported on special low loaders to where it is to be sited. If you purchase a single unit, the structure a caravan will be placed on a concrete pad using the tow bar and wheels, the same can be said for a double unit but once in place the two single units are bolted or fixed together to form the double unit. Once this has been done, the caravan is jacked up and supported on outer legs so the wheels are off the ground, extra jacks are placed underneath for stability. The caravan is then "tied" to the concrete pad for more stability. It is important to note that under law the wheels cannot be removed, otherwise it would cease to be classed as mobile. When this has been done the tow bar is removed and placed underneath the caravan. The concrete pad is laid in such a way as to extend the dimensions of the Caravan, otherwise known as a manufacturer's footprint. This allows the Park Owner to then place a brick skirt around the Caravan and mask the fact that this structure has been built on a rolling chassis and that the wheels are still in place although slightly off the ground. So the end result looks like a pre-fabricated bungalow. Still not convinced, every Park Home establishment has to be licensed by the local authority, this is called a "Site Licence" and is granted to the Park owner under the "Caravan Site and Control of Development Act 1960", such licence has to be displayed in a prominent place protected from weather environment, upon that licence will be the words "Residential Caravan Licence", and that licence will be subject to conditions exercised by that particular local authority. Every Residential Caravan so placed is protected by the "Mobile Homes Act 1983", so it can be seen, whatever one thinks or however a Residential Caravan is marketed, it is not classed as a building as would be a bricks and mortar structure for example. There have been attempts to have this definition changed through Parliament and the Courts, however as the following example shows, there is much reluctance to do this;

This issue was settled in 1998 in the case of Measor v. Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions. The case was heard in the Queen's Bench Division of the High Court and is therefore binding on planning inspectors. In it the Judge stated:

"In my judgment, it would conflict with the purpose of the Act and common sense to treat mobile caravans as "buildings" as of right. While I would be wary of holding that, as a matter of law, a "structure" that satisfied the definition of, for example, a Mobile home under s.13(1) of the 1968 Act could never be a building for the purpose of the [Town and Country Planning] Act 1990, it seems to me that Éby reference to the definitions in the [Caravan Site and Control of Development] Act1960 and the 1968 [Caravan Sites]Act it is clear that in the present case the caravans lacked that degree of permanence and attachment to constitute buildings

Despite the Courts being anxious not to state that a caravan or mobile home could never be a "building", generally they are not. The Measor principle has been restated and approved in a number of cases since 1998.

To be continued ....

Why the need for Congress

The following link is a page from jb residents Association

A view about UPOs

http://www.jbsresidents.co.uk/news2.html