Park homes
Stroud District Council has over 40 mobile home and caravan sites in the district. These sites are inspected regularly by council officers and a license is issued under the Caravan Sites and Development Act 1960. This inspection is to ensure that the site is being managed in accordance to its site conditions.
The Mobile Homes Act 2013 has given greater safeguards to mobile home owners on residential park sites.
The safeguards include the removal of the requirement for the site owner to consent to the sale or gift of a mobile home on his or her site, but if you bought or were gifted your home before 26 May 2013, you will need to tell them who your buyer is.
It also ensures that any increase (or decrease) in site fees is published and is inline with Retail Price Index, unless there are exceptional circumstances. They must give you 28 days notice of any annual change in fees.
Your rights also improved on the 26 May 2013. There is new protection against harassment, illegal eviction and the giving of false information.
Mobile Homes Act 2013
On 26th March 2013 the Mobile Homes Act 2013 was enacted. This new law has introduced a number of changes, which have been implemented in stages with the last stage coming into force on 1st April 2014.
Some of the changes implemented include the following:
- a seller of a park home no longer needs to seek approval of the buyer from the site owner
- new forms are to be completed if a site owner wants to increase pitch fees
- certain site rules have been banned and there are new procedures for a site owner to follow if they want to make a new site rule, which has been specified in the Mobile Homes Act (Site Rules)(England) Regulations 2014
- it has been made less onerous to prove an offence of harassment of an occupier of a park home
- it has created a new offence of providing false or misleading information to deter the purchase of a mobile home going ahead.
The legislation also brings in a duty for the Local Authority to maintain a register of the site rules for each of the caravan sites in their district.
Park homes register and fee policy
- Park Homes Fee Policy (35 KB)
Site rules
- 1 Hiltmead Lane, Moreton Valence, Gloucester (95 KB)
- Beeches Park, Minchinhampton (115 KB)
- Berkeley Vale Park, Hook Street (123 KB)
- Dursley Vale Park, Cam (114 KB)
- Green Park, Green Lane, Hardwicke (125 KB)
- Hope Mill Park, Hope Mill Lane, Brimscombe (113 KB)
- Poplars Park, Dursley Road, Cambridge, Gloucester (138 KB)
- Redstones, Haywicks Lane, Hardwicke (26 KB)
- Riverside Park, Churchend, Eastington (14 KB)
- The Hill, Merrywalks (91 KB)
Requirement for Park Manager to be a Fit and Proper Person
The Mobile Homes (Requirement for Manager of Site to be Fit and Proper Person) (England) Regulations 2020 (https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2020/9780348209556/contents) introduced a fit and proper person test for mobile home site owners or the person appointed to manage the site, unless exempted by the Regulations.
From 1 July 2021 until 1 October 2021 protected sites, i.e. residential parks or mixed use parks with residential pitches, operated on a commercial basis, must submit an application to the local authority to demonstrate that it is being managed by a fit and proper person. A person operating a site who fails to comply with the fit and proper person test is guilty of a criminal offence and, on summary conviction, would be liable to a fine up to level 5 (unlimited). Applying for inclusion on the Stroud Distict Council Fit and Proper Person Register does not require a fee for the 2021/22 period.
The applicant wishing to be included on the register will have to show that there are suitable financial and management arrangements in place for the site and to provide information relating to their conduct. Stroud District Council will be following the government’s non-statutory guidance when making this assessment (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mobile-homes-fit-and-proper-person-test-guidance-for-local-authorities).
Under the legislation the fit and proper person must be the person with day-to-day responsibility for managing a site, whether that is the site owner or a person appointed to undertake the task on the owner’s behalf.