Not renowned for its generosity or good nature towards homeowners, this industry is certainly sending out a message of late that it is crisis. Thousands of £££’s knocked off the price of new homes are a common sight – though you need to beware of possible hidden charges to compensate, that may beset you once they have your money. A leopard never changes its spots that easily!

The front cover splash of a magazine cries out “hundreds of homes for sale”, but it is stark contrast to simultaneous claims within, implying a bustling industry that is growing by the minute. For amongst the huge pile of abodes gathering dust are those from owners who can’t wait to escape from the harsh regime of unscrupulous landowners! From personal experience recently, such behaviour is dramatically affecting another sector of the industry, which I witnessed at an ‘open day”. Unlike the last time I visited the same spot, on this occasion, just when there should have been visitors at least milling around the free refreshments on offer on this sunny day, not one single visitor! This coincided with the sight that only one other home appeared to have sited and sold since almost a year ago. Our contacts on another two parks where open days have been staged report of few visitors.

At times like these, there is a greater danger of reviews of parks being over embellished indeed, a recent comprehensive report was met with anger by some residents, who cited, amongst other gripes, flooding issues, caused by inadequate drainage, leading in some cases to raw sewage backing up into the bath and toilet!

The blame for this crisis rest firmly on the shoulders of the park operators, whose unacceptable behaviour over the years has let their whole industry down. Unfortunately, through no fault of their own , it has equally affected the fortunes of the better operators who are out there somewhere. What would you do if you were in their shoes? There comes a time in every ones life when difficult decisions have to be made, and it is at times like these when you must do the best for yourself and your family. You forget your “customers’, the homeowners, who’ve provided you with a comfortable living all these years. And if, quite by chance, or moments after you’ve decided to call it a day, and brought in a selling agent, some stranger, invariably in a large 4x4, cruises around and offers you the sight of real money – perhaps more than you thought your park was worth – wouldn’t you be foolish not to snatch it with both hands? Would you hesitate, and ask the right questions to ascertain whether he will treat those aging residents with the reasonable care you gave them, which they continue to deserve?

For that is the process that has taken place many times before, and in the current fragile business climate, is showing no signs of abating. So, what does that spell for the industry as a whole? One of our astute correspondents recently put her finger on her prediction for the future. When one also looks at what the government is doing.... or rather, what it is not, then the picture becomes even more depressing. This is the point when more than one red warning light starts flashing in your head, and with good reason.

Her belief is that lobbyists are “sweet-talking” within the corridors of power to those influential respective ministers and MP.s, into making way for more parks. We have already witnessed the rise in the change of use, with the wholesale eviction of holiday home owners as a result. A letter included from her own MP confidently states there is ‘realistically, no imminent likelihood ‘ of any changes to legislation that will ease the effects of the greater burdens and restrictions that were woven into the legislative changes of 2006, adversely affecting homeowners in certain situations. In her own words it served merely to paper over a few cracks. So, we now have a clearer picture emerging, whereby unscrupulous operators, who seem always to have money available at a moments notice, taking advantage of the currently depressed park home market, by acquiring an even greater stronghold upon the very industry they’ve already severely tarnished. But with a government always banging on about the need for more “affordable” housing (affordable to whom) and the incessant lure of many advertisments urging you to “release the capital tied up in your home”, there is a constant danger of elderly people falling for the hype of park home living, especially if read of the “promises” to come. You could be forgiven for thinking will come to the rescue again, so soon after it ’cured’ the problems in 2006. It would have done, had it listened intently to US, instead of pandering to the industry.

If you broadcast, as the government are currently, that the present discussions include the setting up of a Tribunal to “resolve” all the legal difficulties residents currently encounter, together with being able to “eradicate” the activities of the UPO (unscrupulous park owner) by introducing a “fit and proper” person test is, in our correspondents view, “placatory”. It is to create a vision whereby it will be seen to ‘strengthen the sales by renewing confidence in the market’. But, she feels, it is ‘not designed for established residents, but for prospective purchasers’. I concur with that broad understanding, and would add the fact that, early on in the consultation process, the following happened:

PHRAA requested that a “fit and proper” person examination should take place retrospectively, together with giving all local authorities a duty, rather than their present discretionary power of enforcement. Thus at a stroke, the vast majority of the problems suffered would have been addressed by such changes. BOTH THE INDUSTRY (BH&HPA & NPHC) AND GOVERNMENT REJECTED these proposals entirely!! The fact that now, coming back after the horse has bolted, the same two groups are now suddenly IN FAVOUR of the very same original proposals WE made, speaks volume as to the measures of trust that one can place at their respective doors. In order to tackle the grave injustices that between them, they totally dismissed years ago.

But there is no mention of the examination of park owners to ensure they have no criminal record, for example, being made retrospectively. And what of the trust one can have in a tribunal that has NEVER BEFORE encountered the unique legal framework of park home living? We understand this will comprise of three individuals; someone from the legal profession, a surveyor and a ‘lay’ person. When I pressed the point at a recent meeting as to how the possibility of novices, in terms of their involvement with a new form of law procedure, would ensure cases brought before it were fairly considered, it was met with a period of silence. A remark was then made to the effect that there would be a period of “settling down”. So who wants to be the first dozen in the queue, desperate for a fair solution to their plight? On the question of who qualifies as a lay person, I was told by the BH&HPA spokesperson , that ‘I could be one’. On that basis, then surely that organisation could be represented too. Even greater reassurance then of who is more likely to succeed? So that’s why they were in favour of a Tribunal system being formed. What a ‘result’ for prospective buyers; but particularly so for established homeowners with serious problems caused by one of their members that must be. Nothing changes does it?

Compiled for PHRAA by Colin Packman President of PHRAA June 2008.