How did you first become interested in mobile homes or to give them the posh name Park Homes? Chances are that you were attracted by the masses of glowing advertisements appearing in the press. Or, perhaps you were overawed by the highly coloured, glossy adverts and feature articles appearing monthly in one of the specialist park home magazines. It is also possible that you may have a friend or family member who is fortunate enough to live on one of the rapidly disappearing number of parks still owned by a good and caring owner and they recommended park homes to you. Whatever the reason one can fully understand, having believed this wonderful publicity, how anyone could not be persuaded that the Park Home Lifestyle could be the lifestyle of their dreams especially the elderly and retired, to which this advertising is directed, who may be realising that now the family have left home they are finding that their bricks and mortar home is now too big, expensive and difficult to maintain and that the time has come to downsize.

Sell up your bricks and mortar, buy a park home and spend your Autumn years enjoying a worry free life in peace and tranquillity ! That’s the message that screams out from every advert, article, and also from the mouths of enthusiastic salespersons and charming park owners desperate to sell their over priced product. “We’ll even make it easy for you to sell your family home by offering a part exchange deal with cash adjustment“ is a commonly used incentive to encourage you to buy. Unfortunately they don’t specify in whose favour the cash adjustment will be. No doubt by the time they have charged you the highest price possible for the park home and paid you the lowest price for your conventional home, the resulting difference will end up to be negligible anyway. It is possible that by their careful manipulation of figures on such deals that you could in fact end up owing them money.

Another very deliberately misleading piece of advertising is contained in a monthly specialist Park Home Magazines designed to trap the unwary concerns regular articles featuring various parks. This involves comparing the sale prices of park/mobile homes on a particular site with the price of bricks and mortar homes in the local area to give the impression that by choosing a park home you will be saving X amount of pounds. Although it may be true that the initial purchase price of a park/mobile home is, in some cases but not always, lower than that of conventional housing in the area, the implied comparison is false as it does not compare ’like with like’ for the following reasons……

(1)….. When you buy a conventional home it usually includes the land it sits on, which you also own and are free to do with what you like. It also comes with Title Deeds which are registered with the Land Registry. Unlike a conventional home, a park/mobile home is not a permanent structure and does not come with Title Deeds and the land it sits on is owned by the owner of that land (park). You will never own or have any interest in that land which you occupy by agreement with the park owner subject to payment of a fee. (pitch fee)

(2)…… A park/mobile home whatever its size or cost is in fact officially classed as a CARAVAN and is of wooden construction built on a steel chassis with wheels and as such has to comply with the official definition of a Caravan/mobile home, which states that it has to remain capable of being moved from place to place at all times. In fact park/mobile homes are officially defined as a vehicle adapted for human habitation and includes touring caravans, Holiday static caravans and lodges, motor homes, and horse drawn caravans, but excluding tents and railway carriages. (This can easily be verified at any local authority offices or elsewhere on this website)

(3)…… Being officially classed as a caravan, park/mobile homes are a CHATTEL not housing, and as such are not covered by the Housing Act. They are in fact subject to a unique form of legislation the MOBILE HOMES ACT 1983/2006., which governs the terms of the Agreement (contract) entered into by the homeowner with the park owner for the right to station the home on his land. The actual park is licensed by the local authority as a CARAVAN SITE governed by the CARAVAN SITES AND CONTROL OF DEVELOPMENT ACT 1960. (again this can easily be confirmed by a call to any local authority office or elsewhere on this website)

Although the misleading price comparisons outlined above are very serious there are many other even more serious and deliberate omissions of vital information contained within park/mobile home advertising, which the unwary will only find out about later once they have paid their money over to the charming park owner and have either moved in or are about to move into, what they had been led to believe, having been convinced by the advertising, was to be the home of their dreams. One thing is certain, by the time they begin to realise that things are not as they were led to believe in the adverts, it is too late and they are trapped, and escape could cost them their home and their life savings.

As I have already said, buying a £100,000 - £300,000 park home is as easy as buying a can of beans off a supermarket shelf only taking the amount of time it takes to write out your cheque or take the money from you wallet. In fact, upon reflection, it is probably easier and quicker than buying a can of beans from the super market because you don’t have to stand waiting to pay at the checkout as the park owner will snatch the money from your hand in the blink of your eye, and always remember, there is no “cooling off” period where you can change your mind when buying a Park Home.

But, what none of the advertising tells you, selling it again for whatever reason, can and frequently does, take years and can involve the seller in months or even years of court action against an unscrupulous park owner who by using the powers bestowed upon him by park home law, (Mobile homes Act 1983/2006) has in practice awarded him total control over whether you can sell and who you can sell it to. By using these powers, (described in detail elsewhere on this website) the park owner is empowered to block every attempt made to sell the home until such time as the helpless homeowner is forced to, either give up and stay put, or accept a derisory offer from the park owner. which may be as little as a few hundred pounds for a home professionally valued at many 10’s of thousands of pounds. The park owner, again not mentioned in the adverts, and with the help of the law, can also dictate who you can leave your home to, and what happens to it should you pass away. (see also elsewhere on this website) For this reason and for many other reasons to be revealed, or perhaps I should say “exposed” later in this article, PHRAA firmly believes that every park home should, by law, display a warning notice similar to that displayed on tobacco products stating that BUYING A PARK HOME CAN SERIOUSLY DAMAGE YOUR HEALTH, WEALTH AND FUTURE HAPPINESS, as many thousands of disillusioned Park home buyers will testify.

Bearing in mind that you will be paying £100,000 -£300,000 for the park home you would expect that a product with such a high price tag which will also be your home for many years to come, would be guaranteed to last for many years. NOT SO! Park homes are only guaranteed for 12 months by the manufacturer. Like any other product the guarantee period commences from the date the home is sold and its buyer takes ownership of the product. However, due to the fact that a prospective park home buyer is unable to purchase the home direct from the manufacturer, he/she has to buy the home from the park owner. This means that the park owner is, as far as the manufacturer is concerned, the customer and the guarantee period begins from the date the park owner takes delivery of the home. The potentially serious and very often devastating consequences for the home buyer are obvious should problems occur after purchase. As the guarantee period starts from the date the park owner takes delivery of the home, the longer the home remains on the park before attracting a buyer, the shorter the period remaining on the guarantee. In many cases the home may remain on the park for many months, even years, (we know of cases where homes have remained unsold for 4 years) meaning that the guarantee has little time remaining or has expired. Recent cases brought to PHRAA’s attention prove beyond doubt that after the 12 month period has expired the manufacturers refuse all liability. This leaves the buyer in an untenable situation with the manufacturer claiming that any faults are the park owners liability and the park owner claiming that the manufacturer is responsible. The unfortunate homeowner is faced with either paying for remedial repairs out of his own pocket or embarking on lengthy, traumatic and very expensive legal action against either or both.

Park home advertising will assure prospective buyers that most park operators are members of the 10 year Gold Shield Warranty Scheme operated by the two park home industry’s trade organisations which claims to cover new home against structural faults for 10 years. However in PHRAA‘s experience based on reports from homeowners trying to make a claim and PHRAA‘s own attempts to achieve same, this much advertised scheme is not worth the paper it is printed on. Indeed PHRAA actually challenged the schemes main operators (National Park Homes Council. (NHPC) in writing about two years ago, to provide PHRAA with information as to how many homeowners have successfully claimed . To date no reply has been forthcoming.

So what else is carefully not mentioned in the glossy park home adverts, smooth talking salespersons and charming park owners to vulnerable prospective park home buyers. For the purposes of this article I will list a few of the major omissions of direct consequence to the future of the innocent buyer.

(1)….. As mentioned earlier no mention is made of the fact that a park/mobile home is officially classed under current GOVERNMENT PARK?MOBILE HOME LEGISLATION as a CARAVAN and that the park the home is stationed on is classed as a CARAVAN SITE. Indeed some sites in the UK are known as XXXX Caravan Park. Very often if not always, official communications from local authorities or service providers to residents such as Council Tax demands, electricity and water bills etc, will be addressed Mr. & Mrs. Y, Plot No. Z at XXXX Caravan Park. It is then hardly surprising given the intensity of park home advertising that many park/ mobile home residents will not accept the fact that that beautiful park home, whatever its size and quality, they have invested their life savings into is actually a caravan as defined in law?

(2)….. You may also have noticed that none of the advertising, illustrates the fact that a park home or lodge is built on a steel chassis and wheels. Park /Mobile homes in order to conform with the law, (definition of a caravan) have to be constructed in this manner. You will have noticed that all the advertising material shows park homes ready sited, whether it be photographs of park home or assembled homes on exhibition at the various national or manufacturers shows, they will be complete with a brick skirting from the floor area to the ground or concrete pad the home is stationed upon. This skirt effectively disguises the chassis and wheels. It is therefore not surprising that many residents are not aware unless they saw the home being assembled on site or had cause to struggle under the home through the small access hatch installed somewhere in the brick skirting, that the home had wheels.

(3)……. Much park home advertising does not inform prospective buyers that they are only buying the home and the price does not include ownership of the actual plot of land known as the PITCH. (an outdated term for the tiny piece of land the home stands on which is a hangover from touring and camping sites) This is owned by the park owner. Therefore it can come as a real shock to the buyer, usually when they are fully committed to purchase, that they will have to pay the park owner a specified amount of money, known as the pitch fee, usually monthly or weekly for the right to station their home on his land. We have known cases whereby a new park home resident was not made aware that he had to pay a pitch fee until the park owner came banging on his door to collect same. Imagine what an unpleasant shock that would be just after you have moved in?

(4)….. Whilst on the subject of the plot (pitch) the advertising also omits to mention is that although you may have a tiny piece of land surrounding your home, it does belong to the park owner and not yours to do with as you like. You will need his written permission for everything you may wish to do on that pitch. If for example you wish, having been encouraged by the fantastic monthly gardening features in the park home magazines, to create a flower bed or two to brighten up your pitch or to nurture as a hobby or pass time, forget it. Try it and you will soon be told in no uncertain terms what you can or cannot do on your plot. If you dare question the point you will be told that your pitch fee only covers the actual area of the concrete pad your home occupies, not the surrounding pitch.. However, having said all this you are still obliged by the terms of your Agreement (contract) to keep your home and pitch in a clean and tidy condition with the penalty for failure to comply being the park owners application to the Court for termination of your Agreement. Eviction in other words.

(5)….. Still on the subject of your pitch. Nothing in the advertising mentions that because your home is on his land, the park owner can tell you what you can and cannot do with your home. For example you may wish to do certain maintenance or upgrading work on your home in order to keep it in good condition. He can dictate to you whether or not you can carry out this work and/or who you employ to carry out such work. He can also dictate how often and what colour you repaint the exterior of your home. Even dictate who you can have to stay or visit you. In short, because he owns the land, he assumes complete control over nearly every aspect of your life with as the current park home law stands, impunity. Park home advertising omits to tell you that when you move on to a park home site, you immediately lose most of the rights, protection and help from the law, you previously took for granted in bricks and mortar. From now on, with an unscrupulous park owner, the only law you will obey is that as dictated and ruthlessly enforced with the help of his very “clever” specialist legal experts, by the park owner.

|(6)…… One final but vital piece of information not revealed in the advertising material is the fact that the amount of the Pitch Fee will automatically increase annually by the amount of the Retail Price Index (RPI). When one considers that current pitch fees can vary between approximately £100 - £200 + per month an increase of say 4-5% can soon mount up to approach mortgage repayments. Add this to annual rises in Council Tax demands, increasing electricity, water and other service charges especially LPG Gas supplies, currently not subject to price control, and the park home industry advertised claim that park homes are cheap to run becomes a myth. As we all know our pensions do not rise by anything like these figures, meaning that your remaining savings will rapidly disappear. So what happens if you suddenly find you can no longer afford to live in your park home and decide to sell up releasing the capital invested in your park home? This is when you may receive another devastating shock again not revealed in the adverts as set out in (7) below.

(7)…… When you sell your park home you are required by law, (Mobile Homes Act 1983/2006) to give the park owner 10% of the sale price of your home. This outrageous rule applies even if you were to sell the home the day you purchased it. For example if you paid £100,000 for your home today and sold it again tomorrow for the same amount, you would have to pay the site owner £10,000. (10%) Unfortunately, this same rule applies if you have been forced ,by the unscrupulous park owners illegal blocking of your sale, to sell the home to him for a pittance. Imagine the general publics reaction if when they sold their bricks and mortar they were obliged, by law, to give say the local council or the company who built the home, 10% of the price they sold your home for. It is hardly surprising that many distressed park homeowners contact PHRAA because they were not aware of the existence of the 10% rule until being informed by the park owner when they wished to sell.

(8)….. Without doubt the most misleading information a prospective park/mobile home purchaser is given is the assurance implied by the advertising and the smooth talking sales person that “there is absolutely nothing to worry about when you buy a park home as you are fully protected by the Mobile Homes Act 1983 and the new amendments of 2006“. This Act, you will be assured, affords the homeowner absolute security of tenure, together with a mass of other rights, including the right to sell, under the terms of the binding Agreement (contract) known as the “WRITTEN STATEMENT” entered into between homeowner and park owner at the time of sale. Unfortunately although at first glance, this Act appears to the novice to protect the homeowner, in practice, especially where the park is owned by an unscrupulous owner, is so ambiguous, park owner biased, loophole ridden and unenforceable law document ever issued by Parliament as thousands of distraught homeowners have found to their cost and have lost both their homes and savings, even ended up bankrupt, and/or thrown into temporary council accommodation through absolutely no fault of theirs other than daring to stand up for their rights. Rights they would take for granted in any other walk of life but denied them by the park home industry. I will not attempt to detail here all the failures of the Act where it affects the homeowner as some are mentioned in the preceding text and others covered in detail elsewhere on this website. Suffice it to say here that the Government in its wisdom have decreed that the only method of enforcement is placed wholly on the shoulders of the homeowner. Just to make the point clear, it is the helpless homeowner (victim) that is charged with the responsibility of undertaking, long, traumatic and very expensive legal action against the unscrupulous park owner.

Such is the ineffectiveness of park home law, from the homeowners point of view, that taking action against the park owner is, in practice a very risky undertaking however rock solid their case may appear. Even defending themselves from an ,frivolous or otherwise, action brought by the unscrupulous park owner is thwart with danger for the homeowner and can, and frequently does, result in disaster for the homeowner. We know of cases where the homeowner has actually won against the park owner, but has then been ordered by the court to pay the costs of the case including the park owners. This has resulted in one homeowner having to sell their home to meet these costs and another, an 80+ year old being declared bankrupt owing £30,000 Court costs.

How can this be so I hear you ask? The fact that it can and does is all because of the Mobile Homes Act 1983/2006 which, as I have already stated is so park owner biased, riddled with loopholes that the unscrupulous park owners “clever” specialist legal teams are able to manipulate it to the total benefit of their clients. Unfortunately for the homeowner, he usually has to try and find a local solicitor with at least a little knowledge of park home law which is very difficult. Many local solicitors take one look at this useless and discredited legislation and refuse to take the homeowners case. Even if they do, they stand little or no chance when up against the park owners legal team. For the park homeowner trying to obtain justice is at best a risky undertaking, but for most impossible!

There are many other, detrimental to the homeowner, aspects of the park home lifestyle not revealed in the park home advertising, many of which are covered in detail elsewhere on this website, but others such as Council Tax etc., will be the subject of future articles to be published in the near future.

One final word of warning, which again you won’t find in the advertisements or be told by sales persons, but could have serious consequences for the homeowner. You may have been lucky and have bought a park home on a site with a good and caring park owner. But be aware, a park home site is a business and that business can be sold. Unfortunately for the residents they are usually unaware that their park is even up for sale. Usually the first they know is when they find a strange person on the site who announces that he is the new park owner. This for most is when their troubles begin and it will not be long before they realise that the park is now owned by one of the unscrupulous park owners who are rapidly buying up parks, and that life for residents has changed overnight from paradise to hell.

Compiled by Ron Joyce, General Secretary PHRAA. Published February 2009