Throughout the UK today there are many multi-million pound industries that operate very successfully by supplying services or manufacturing products to the complete satisfaction of their customers or clients. Indeed it is safe to say that if they did not supply the goods or services as specifically demanded by their customers, or failed to comply with all the rules and regulations, imposed by Government, Local Authorities and other regulatory bodies, governing the operation of their particular industry, they would very soon go out of business.

However, as always there has to be an exception and that is the very prosperous multi-million pound Park Home Industry. This has to be the only industry that successfully operates by reversing normal business practices in that it dictates to its customers what they will have and when or if they are going to get it and impose strict and ruthlessly enforced conditions governing every aspect of how they are permitted to occupy it. (home) In short, the customer, (the mainly elderly, vulnerable Park Homeowner ) rather than being king as in any other business, is treated with what amounts to contempt by the park home industry and only exists to produce an ever growing source of revenue to fill their masters (Unscrupulous park owners) already overflowing pockets and then disposed of when either they have drained their unfortunate victims finances, has died or their home has reached 10 years old and he needs their home off the plot in order to replace it with yet another new home complete with another innocent victim (sucker) ripe for exploitation and so the cycle starts all over again.

For the purposes of this article and to avoid confusion I will explain that the park home industry consists of two main sections each dependant on the other. Firstly there are the park home manufacturers which I will come to later. This leaves the most important element and the cause of most of the problems, which infest this rapidly becoming discredited industry, THE PARK OWNER, who owns the land where, apart from a very few isolated and rare exceptions, every park homeowners home has to be stationed upon. I should point out at this stage that there are two very different types of park owner. One the good park owner who operates his park according to the requirements of the Mobile Homes Act and treats his residents with courtesy and respect. Whilst it may be true that there are still quite a significant number of these honest and caring park owners still left, they are rapidly disappearing at an alarming rate.

This is possible due mainly to the fact that the unsavoury antics of the less scrupulous park owners are inevitably having an adverse effect on their businesses by also tarnishing their reputations. As most good park owners parks consist of older homes due to the fact that the residents will be happy and contented therefore homes are very rarely sold or changed, they are very liable to succumb to a very favourable offer and sell the park., which obviously as it consists mainly homes over 10 years old will be ripe for development with dire consequences for the existing residents. Unfortunately for these helpless residents it is almost certain that their park will have been sold to one of the rapidly growing number of the second type of park owner, the Unscrupulous Park Owner.

As the real object of this article is to highlight the apparent introduction of a 10 year limit on the life of a park home, so I will not take up further space exposing the activities of Unscrupulous Park Owners, who are the ones most likely to implement the “10 year age restriction”, here, as a detailed report on UPO’s is available on this Website entitled Unscrupulous Park Owners.

PHRAA was first alerted to the existence of 10 years being regarded by the industry as the age when a park home was classed as an older home in an answer to a legal question sent to a park homes magazine a couple of years ago. A reader had asked “at what age does a park home become defined as an older home“? The answer, given by Alicia Dunne, who was at that time Director of Policy for the National Park Homes Council (NHPC), one of the two powerful national park & holiday homes trade associations, to whom most park owners belong, who together “regulate” the park home industry, was 10 years.

It is vitally important that all existing park homeowners and prospective park owners reading this are made aware of the powerful influence these two Park Home Industry Trade Associations, namely, the British Holiday & Home Parks Association (BH&HPA) and National Park Homes Council, (NHPC) who work exclusively for Park Owners, have on Government Park Home Policy. It is they, helped by their powerful Legal Teams, Lobbyists and unlimited financial resources, that the Government listens to when deciding future park home policy, certainly not the park homeowners representatives. For proof of this one only has to be on the receiving end of the recent 2006 amendments to the Mobile Homes Act to experience the detrimental effect this new legislation is having on the welfare of thousands of long suffering elderly and vulnerable park homeowners, to realise that the aspirations of the park owners have been afforded, by Government, total priority over homeowners.

For some time after that 10 year age limit statement little more was heard, until recently that is. It can be no coincidence that almost immediately following the introduction of the 2006 amendments, PHRAA came to notice, from our research, that the 10 year life span limit for park homes is becoming widely adopted by park owners throughout the country. PHRAA was also disturbed to notice that at least one multiple park owning company is already including a clause in their Agreements (contracts), to the effect that all homes over 10years old, were required to undergo a full structural and condition survey, to be conducted by a surveyor stipulated by the park owner, at the homeowners expense. The homeowner is also required to supply a copy of this Surveyors report to the park owner free of charge. No doubt that if it has not happened already, conditions of this nature will very soon appear in the Express Terms of all contracts issued to homeowners. To anyone considering the purchase of a park home, read, study and make sure you fully understand this vital document carefully before you buy.

If park owners continue to get away with producing contracts to new homeowners containing this type of clause, or illegally inserting such terms into existing contracts it will result in homeowners finding it almost impossible to sell their homes on the open market, as the park owner will show a copy of the surveyors report, which remember they were forced to pay for, and was conducted by a Surveyor stipulated by the park owner, therefore certainly could not be said to be “independent”, to any prospective buyer. This would mean that the only person you would be able to sell your to, would be the park owner, for a fraction of its true market value. Another consequence would be that the park owner would use this survey report to support his action through the Courts, to evict you from the park, using another clause in the Act, that the condition of your home is detrimental to the park, or as you will see later, claim that it is no longer fit for occupation. Not only that, but every park homeowner should realise that for each year out of the 10 that passes, the market value of the home depreciates and will become more difficult to sell until the ten year period is reached. Then the home becomes worthless and will have to be replaced. To spell out exactly what this means to a park homeowner, you purchase a brand new park home today for anything between £100,000 to £300,000, then when the home reaches 10 years of age, the park owner informs you that he is applying to the court for an order for your home to be removed from the park as because of its age it is no longer fit to remain on the park and you will either have to replace it with a new home or get off the park. It would appear from this that the park home lifestyle is rapidly approaching the stage where it should be regarded as an extremely costly, and where a UPO is involved, traumatic transitional step from “bricks and mortar” to old folks home in ten years.

It is important that every prospective park homeowner is made aware that the age of a park home is taken from the date of manufacture, not the date of purchase. Not only does this effect the time remaining of the 10 year period, it also reduces the validity of any guarantee or warranty in place on the home by a corresponding period. For example, the home is purchased and sited by the park owner. As he is the first owner, the manufactures guarantee, normally valid for the first 12 months, will have expired in many cases before he sells the home to its first occupant. Likewise, the terms of the 10 year Gold Shield Warranty Scheme issued with new park homes will also be affected.

As all park homes can only be purchased through the park owner, many may have been sitting on the park for many months, even years, awaiting a buyer. PHRAA knows of parks where “so called” brand new homes have been awaiting a buyer for over four years and are still not sold. A year or even two years is commonplace. In your own best interest be sure to check the date of manufacture given on the identification plate, located somewhere on the home, or check with the manufacturer before you part with any money, its too late afterwards, Although buying a park home, as it is a chattel, is as easy as buying any other chattel, such as a TV, Fridge or a can of baked beans it has one major drawback. Unlike buying a TV, Fridge, car or a can of beans if you find you don’t like it or it develops faults, you can’t take it back!

So if this particular Local Authority holds the view that park/mobile homes need to be replaced when they reach 10 years of age because they do not satisfy decent homes standard, how many other Local Authorities throughout the country are already, or are about too, adopting the same policy? Is it any wonder park owners, especially the unscrupulous variety, are inserting 10 year age limit clauses in their contracts when they are receiving support and encouragement from the Local Authorities who issue park/ mobile home site licenses?

Park/ mobile homes are very often referred to by Government, park owners, the park home industries trade organisations, indeed even local councils as evidenced by the statements contained in the above leaked Email describing mobile homes as “a form of AFFORDABLE HOUSING”. Affordable? Affordable to whom? Certainly not to the average elderly park home owner who, having been taken in by the glossy park home advertising, has been persuaded that it would be the best decision they could ever make in their lives if they sold up their bricks and mortar and invested a large proportion, if not all, of the released capital in the purchase of a park home in which to spend their well earned retirement years. How can it possibly be claimed to be affordable to invest say £150,000 in a park/mobile home today, which in ten years time, except perhaps for scrap value, becomes worthless and may well, unless the occupier has another £150,000 plus (at today’s figures) available to replace the home, have to be removed from the park making the occupier homeless? How many average mainly pensioner park homeowners can afford that sort of money, which equates to approximately £1,250 per month in depreciation alone Add to this the fact that the homeowner is obliged to pay a form of annually escalating ground rent (pitch fee), averaging (at present) around £120 per month, to the park owner for the right to station their home on the park owners land, plus other various charges, which would add a further cost, in rent alone, of at least £14,400 plus over the 10 year period at today’s prices.

The obvious question raised by this article has to be, Why is the useful age of a park home now being defined as 10 years? THE ANSWER IS “PURE GREED”.

As any park homeowner will know a park home, provided it is well maintained has an indefinite lifespan. 30,40,50 years and still perfectly habitable, is quite common even now. There can be no other reason for this attempt to limit the lifespan of park homes other than greed on the part of park owners, especially the unscrupulous park owners, who will benefit by being able to clear their parks of homes and residents every 10 years, at little or no cost, replacing them with brand new homes, which they will sell to another set of innocent buyers at a profit to themselves of approximately £100, 000 on each home.

Others standing to benefit are the park home manufacturers who will obviously be assured of a constant stream of orders for new homes. Quite what it says for the quality of their enormously expensive product if it is to now be regarded as only having a limited lifespan of 10 years, I dread to think. But no doubt they will be happy that the lifespan of residential park/mobile homes will be brought into line with the 10 year lifespan limit imposed on many holiday home sites, as many who have owned homes on such sites will be well aware.

As I mentioned earlier in this article PHRAA first learned about the 10 year age limit on mobile homes from an answer to a readers letter published a couple of years ago in a park home magazine written by a high ranking officer of the National Park Homes Council (NHPC) one of the two Park Home Industries Trade Associations. As jointly these two very powerful and influential trade organisations (BH&HPA and NHPC) regulate the industry and work directly with Government to form park home policy, we can only assume that the idea for the introduction of a 10 year defined lifespan on park homes originated from them. As usual it is apparent that the Government have responded to the demands of the industry rather than take into account the detrimental and devastating consequences of their one sided, industry biased, park home policy decisions have on the blatantly exploited, long suffering, elderly and vulnerable,250,000 plus park homeowners, or to give them their official status as they remain classified by Government, Caravan Dwellers, living in Caravans on Caravan Sites who as a direct result of these policy decisions continue to be treated as second class citizens, denied even their basic human rights.

The most important factor that the Government, Park Owners, the Park Home Industries powerful, or should I say arrogant, Trade Organisations fail to take into consideration is that the park homeowner is the customer, therefore the key element in the park home industry. Without park homeowners there would be no park home industry

Your views and experiences please.

Compiled and produced for PHRAA by Ron Joyce. General Secretary June 2008