HOUSING MINISTER HAS GOOD NEWS FOR RESIDENTS

1.    The new ‘Model Standards’ for parks are to be published on 3 April.

2.     Fact sheets in ‘plain English’ are shortly to be published and distributed to residents. These will cover: sale of park homes; residents’ associations; pitch fee reviews; and residents’ rights.

3.    Low-cost disputes resolution. Plans are under way to transfer the jurisdiction of the court to the Residential Property Tribunal Service for resolving disputes on park home estates. This will be simpler and cheaper – but disputes that could result in termination of agreements will continue to be handled by courts so that residents have a right to appeal.

4.    'Fit and proper person' in site licensing. Improvements to the licensing system will include a ‘fit and proper person’ requirement for park owners in the site licence, but this may be delayed until 2010.

The latest meeting of representatives of the All Party Group for the Welfare of Park Home Residents on 19 March was very positive and the Housing Minister, Iain Wright MP, declared his intention of holding similar meetings every six months. He had positive progress to report on four items which had been of concern to residents, and discussions ranged over other matters, too.

Model Standards

The new ‘Model Standards’ for parks will be published on 3 April 2008 and will take effect immediately. These ‘Model Standards’ are guidance which local authorities should bear in mind when issuing licences for parks. They cover such matters as spacing, density, footpaths and roads, fire precautions, car parking, etc. Obviously the licences have to be varied to take account of individual conditions on parks, but the Model Standards are indicators of ‘best practice’. The new standards will include guidance on application and enforcement for local authorities.

There was discussion about lack of policing and enforcement of site licence conditions by local authorities and the consensus was that ward councillors should be notified of instances as well as local MPs.

 ‘Plain English’ fact sheets

Facts sheets in ‘plain English’ will shortly be published for the use of residents. Subjects covered will be: sale of park homes; residents’ associations; pitch fee reviews; and residents’ rights. Distribution is expected to be to individual parks by local authorities. The fact sheets will also be available on the internet. 

 Low cost dispute resolution.

It is anticipated that by April 2009 the jurisdiction of the court in park home disputes will be transferred to the Residential Property Tribunal Service (RPTS). This will provide a means of resolving disputes on park home estates in a simpler and less expensive way. Under the RPTS system there would be a fee for taking a case to the Tribunal. If the case is won, the fee will be refunded; if it is lost the money goes to the other party. There are no court costs and legal representation is not necessary. The tribunal will consist of a lawyer, a surveyor and a lay person with a specialist interest in park homes. Residents’ association representatives urged the Housing Minister to make sure that disputes that could result in termination of agreements (and a resident losing his/her home) were still dealt with by the courts so that there was a right of appeal.

‘Fit and proper person’ criteria in site licences

Chattels

There was discussion about a park home being defined as a ‘chattel’ in law and whether it could be changed to something more appropriate. While accepting that the wording was unfortunate, Iain Wright said that altering it would involve a very fundamental change to the laws of property and could not be done. 

‘Any other charges’

Lord Graham raised the matter of ‘any other charges’ in the revised Implied Terms. He had received a letter from Mark Coram (DCLG), which stated that this refers to any matters not covered in the pitch fee itself. For example, on some sites charges for gas, electricity and water are covered in the pitch fee whereas on others they are not.

Also some parks were increasing the pitch fee by including other items which had been the subject of legislative changes such as training for office staff, provision for maternity leave etc., and it seemed that ‘any enactment’ during the past twelve months could be taken into account in a pitch fee review. There was a call for these words to be removed. 

 Pitch fees on assignment

Cases were highlighted by the residents’ association representatives of site owners charging new residents as much as £40 more a month than the previous owner who had assigned the agreement to them. The law is quite clear that when an assignment takes place the new owner is entitled to pay the existing pitch fee until the next review.  

Residents’ association representatives also drew attention to another malpractice in respect of sale of homes where some park owners were increasing the prices of homes when the incoming resident was about to move in. This could be any figure up to £15,000 more than the price agreed originally and quite often the park owner demanding this extra amount would refuse to hand over the keys until it had been paid. 

During the week following this meeting, Richard Younger-Ross, Liberal-Democrat MP for Teignbridge (South Devon) raised the question of park home sites in an adjournment debate at Westminster .

 Various MPs cited instances of unfair practices on their parks, particularly when residents wanted to sell their homes, and there was a call for better protection for residents and that communication of their rights and responsibilities could be greatly improved.

Commission

Reference was made by several MPs concerning the fact that although two thirds of those who responded to the Government’s consultation about commission supported the view that it should be reduced to 7.5% or lower, the Government had retained the status quo. Richard Younger-Ross hoped that the Government would look at the commission rate again, although he accepted that if it was lowered dramatically there might have to be a compensatory adjustment in pitch fees.

 Residents’ associations

Recognition of residents’ associations was raised by Richard Benyon (MP for Newbury) who said that some of his constituents had been unable to form residents’ associations on their parks because of unbearable pressure from park owners.

 The need for reform

In response to the scores of questions and points raised during this debate by MPs, Housing Minister Iain Wright said that a debate of an hour and a half was too short and he would press for a three-hour debate in the future to tease out in more detail the important issues that had been raised.

 This adjournment debate has received coverage on various radio programmes including Radio 4’s ‘You and Yours’ and also on ‘Radio Devon ’.