This outrageous and rapidly growing practice is PHRAA believes, a direct result of the removal of the widely abused (by Unscrupulous park owners)  “5 YEAR RULE” Clause from the Mobile Homes Act 1983 which has now been replaced by “ FORTHWITH “.

To anyone not familiar with the deleted 5 Year Rule Clause I will offer a brief explanation as follows…..

Prior to October 2006 when a park home was purchased from new a 5 Year cycle began from that date. This enabled the park owner to monitor the condition of the exterior of the home and should the home be allowed to fall into disrepair,  possibly through lack of maintenance etc., the park owner could write to the homeowner, at the end of a five year period in the cycle, stating that in his opinion the home would become detrimental to the appearance of the park by the end of the next 5 years, after which he would then apply to the Court for the Termination of the Occupiers Agreement on those grounds.  This method effectively gave the occupier 5 Years to carry out any work necessary to the home in order to return it to a tidy condition.

Unfortunately, as with most of various terms contained within the Mobile Hones Act this particular quite reasonable clause has been widely abused by Unscrupulous Park Owners and used against park homeowners, especially those wishing to exercise their right to sell their homes on the open market. Unscrupulous park owners were writing letters containing the threat outlined above,  to their residents, regardless of how well kept their homes were, which as a copy of the letter would be shown to a prospective purchaser, this proved to be a very effective means by which a park owner could block a sale. Obviously no prospective buyer would proceed with a sale thinking that in 5 years time that the home would have to be removed from the park.  This same 5 year clause was also used by the park owner to imply to a prospective purchaser,  that the home was subject to a 5 year lease arrangement and would have to be removed from the park later,  or frighten the little old lady living on her own, (the Unscrupulous Park Owner’s favourite target) into believing that she would have to get out of her home when the five year period expired.

 PHRAA, and I believe the other two national park home residents associations, called on the Government to abolish the 5 year rule citing its widespread abuse as set out above. To PHRAA’s horror that despite PHRAA’s many submissions protesting against the insertion of  this new clause, the Government Policy makers replaced the previous 5 years notice period with “FORTHWITH” as from October 1^st 2006, which is, as PHRAA predicted, already proving to have a devastating effect on park home owners in the few short months it has been in force. It also appears that this amended clause, requested and welcomed by the park owners and their trade organisations was also agreed and supported by the other two national park home residents associations behind PHRAA’s back.

As a direct result of this change Unscrupulous Park Owners are targeting the homes of vulnerable residents, employing the services of a well known Park Home Surveyor to produce a report on the condition of the home without the permission,  or in some cases even the knowledge of the homeowner concerned.

This dubious activity is being increasingly used where a home is up for sale and the occupier has moved into other accommodation,  such as Sheltered Accommodation etc., or perhaps has died so the home is being sold by the relatives, but is also used while the occupier is still in residence.

A typical case in point concerns a home where the owner had sadly passed away and the relatives are attempting to sell.  The home, in beautiful condition having had several thousands of pounds worth of improvement work carried out recently, is valued and marketed at £85,000 by a local Estate Agent.  The park owner, without the permission of the sellers, employed the surveyor who, no doubt following the instructions of the park owner, produced a ten page report, ( a copy of which is in our possession), which stated that the home was in such a bad state that it was as good as condemned.  A copy was then presented to the relatives by the park owner,  causing extreme distress.

There are at least two reasons why the park owner will commission this type of covert survey……

1….. He will show the report to every prospective purchaser as an almost certain guaranteed way of putting them off buying the home in order to obtain the home for himself for a fraction of its true market value. He will then be able to remove the home from the plot, replacing it with a brand new one at a vast profit to himself. He may resell it for its true market value or rent it out.

2…… He will send a letter to the homeowner using the FORTHWITH Clause in the new Legislation, enclosing a copy of the Surveyors report,  stating that because of the condition of the home it is now detrimental to the Park and giving the occupier 28 Days Notice of his intention to apply to the Court for the Termination of their Agreement (Contract) on those grounds.  Included in this letter may well be a Schedule of Works based on the contents of the Surveyors Report to be completed within the 28 day Notice Period. The receipt of such a notice by the helpless victim is usually enough to frighten them into abandoning their home to the park owner.

The Park Owner has no right whatsoever to enter on to a residents pitch except in an emergency, such as, Fire, to repair a burst water pipe or other service connection, deliver a letter etc. The 2006 Amendment to he Act specifically states that to enter on to the pitch for any other reason, the park owner must give the resident 14 days notice. The park owner certainly does not have the right to have a Survey carried out on the home or interfere with it in any way. THE HOME IS THE PROPERTY OF THE HOMEOWNER NOT THE PARK OWNER. Neither has the Park Owner any right to insist that a homeowner has a survey carried out on his home for any reason or enter the home.

As this activity is a growing trend all residents should be on their guard. Keep an eye open for unusual or suspicious activity by strangers, Surveyors Companies, with notepads, camera’s etc poking around on your neighbours pitches, in particular the very elderly, those living alone and any homes which are empty and up for sale by the occupier. Any suspicious activity of this nature, whether on your home or your neighbours, should immediately reported to the Police.

If you or any of your fellow residents have been a victim of this outrageous scam, please let PHRAA know, as we are building up a file.  All information passed to PHRAA is treated in the strictest confidence.