POSITIVE PROGRESS

 If you’re a fairly new member of IPHAS, you may think that the trials and tribulations currently afflicting park home dwellers are a new phenomenon. How wrong can you be? IPHAS was founded over 30 years ago to tackle the problems that were prevalent at that time, but ‘residential difficulties’ go back much, much further. In fact, park home living started immediately after the Second World War when, due to the severe housing crisis – the result of people being bombed out of their homes –  touring caravans, old railway carriages, coaches and lorries were just some of the vehicles that provided accommodation for many unfortunate people. It wasn’t long, though, before an industry grew up constructing ‘mobile homes’ which provided fairly basic accommodation, and these homes were purchased by individuals and mostly sited on land owned by other people. These land owners (many of them farmers) quickly appreciated that they could charge rent to those who wished to put their homes on their land, and it wasn’t until some 20 years later that there was any legislation to protect those opting to live this way (either through necessity or choice).

1960 saw a law come into force concerning site licensing and in 1968 there was more legislation protecting residents from eviction, but it wasn’t until 1975 that the first Mobile Homes Act was introduced (the result of a Private Member’s Bill introduced by Tom King MP, now Lord King of Bridgwater). This Act was subsequently amended in 1983 and did give considerable legal protection to those who had taken up the park home lifestyle. 

In the 1970s, Joan and Ernie Aylott had, for many years, enjoyed camping and motor home holidays with their children and the family regularly visited the annual caravan show held at Earls Court in London. On one of these visits, they saw residential caravans (park homes as we now know them) for the first time and were so impressed with their size, layout and luxury features that they decided to investigate

the possibility of moving to one as their retirement years approached.

That research took about two years and when they were satisfied that they knew all there was to know about the homes, the parks and the legal situation, they embarked on a tour of some 33 parks and eventually decided on one in Dorset, largely because of its very beautiful surroundings.

But despite all that time devoted to park home research, Joan and Ernie found that there were still things they didn’t know about the lifestyle. For instance, when they started to dig a pond in their garden they quickly discovered, during a visit from their park owner, that they should have had his permission before embarking on a project such as that. They were also guilty of breaking the park rules when they allowed one of their sons to stay with them for a few months (the park was for retired people only).

These experiences led Joan and Ernie to find out more about park home living – its joys and its pitfalls – and they joined one of the national residents’ associations where they met Roy and Beryl Waite. In November 1993 the four of them decided to form their own national residents’ association, calling it The Independent Park Home Advisory Service (IPHAS, for short). At that time they were particularly grateful for the support they received at Parliamentary level from the late Lord Graham of Edmonton, who became vice-president of IPHAS. Sadly, in subsequent years, both Roy and Beryl Waite passed away, but Joan and Ernie soldiered on, creating a team of advisors who were able to use their extensive knowledge of the legal and lifestyle aspects of park home ownership to advise residents in all parts of the country on a wide variety of park home-related issues.

In1998, the Government took significant action to address abuses on mobile home parks. At the instigation of Lord Graham, a Park Homes Working Party Group was set up that year. The group comprised representatives of residents’ associations (which included IPHAS) and others representing the park homes industry, plus civil servants with responsibility for the park homes sector. This Working Party listed all the problems on parks that had been reported to them and discussed what could be done to resolve the various issues.  Its first report was produced in 2000. IPHAS was one of the national residents’ associations to represent residents’ views at the meetings and have continued to have an input into Government deliberations since then.    

The Working Party reported stalemate on the subject of the commission due to the park owner on the on-site sale of a park home. The residents’ associations sought to have the figure reduced without a corresponding increase in pitch fees. Those representing the park owners wanted no reduction in commission at all. As a result, the Government tasked an independent company to conduct some research. IPHAS and other residents’ representatives had an input into this research and after the research company issued its report, which concluded that there was no case for changing the commission, IPHAS sent a detailed, critical response to the Government.

The 2004 Housing Act included a section on mobile homes, improving the rights of residents to sell their homes on site and changing the implied terms so that the age of the home was no longer a factor in deciding its condition. It also stated that buyers of homes on site should see the ‘agreement’ at least 28 days before the decision to buy was made. 

Over the years refurbishment companies have improved the insulation of park homes by fitting cladding to the exterior walls, but this had made some homes wider than the maximum width (20ft) defined in the legislation. IPHAS brought this to the attention of Government and in 2006 the definition was changed so that the maximum width became 6.8 metres (approximately 22ft).

In 2011 further improvements were made to the implied terms of residents’ agreements with the park owner, and the jurisdiction of property tribunals was extended to include park home disputes. Previously, disputes were resolved in a county court which could cost the resident bringing the case thousands of pounds. The change to the tribunal system meant that disputes could be resolved under the Mobile Homes Act 1983 for only a few hundred pounds, with no costs awarded. Following a campaign by the Park Home Owners’ Justice Campaign and a rally in London about sale blocking, a Parliamentary Select Committee was set up in 2012 to look at all the problems relating to park home living. IPHAS and other residents’ representatives gave written and oral evidence to that Select Committee.

The Mobile Homes Act 2013 significantly changed the provisions in the 1983 Act and introduced new rules about selling, pitch fee reviews, park rules and site licensing. This Act included many improvements which were of benefit to all residents but, Alan Savory, senior consultant with IPHAS at the time, commented that there was still much work to be done.

Since Alan Savory’s retirement in June 2020, the IPHAS team (now led by Ken Carroll) has worked hard to address the other problems still being experienced by park home residents. IPHAS has been very active in raising issues which result from park home owners not being domestic consumers of energy (i.e. they buy their energy through their park owner) and their concerns regarding compensation for damage caused by Storm Arwen in 2021.  

IPHAS was also instrumental in getting the Government to extend the ‘fit and proper person’ legislation to owners and managers of park home estates, and is still lobbying for a change in the rate of commission on the sale of park homes to be reduced from its current 10% of the purchase price to something deemed to be ‘more affordable’. Another of its successful campaigns resulted in pitch fee reviews coming into line with the Consumer Prices Index instead of the outdated Retail Prices Index, and IPHAS is still anxious to see commission on the sale of a home reduced, without an increase in pitch fees.  

Although IPHAS works to ensure that its members are aware of their rights and responsibilities when embarking on the park homes lifestyle, it happily concedes that a substantial proportion of park owners operate in an efficient and professional way, showing a caring attitude to their residents. If, however, there is a dispute between a resident and their park owner, IPHAS will offer the inquirer advice about their legal rights and may be able to suggest ways of resolving disputes without recourse to a First Tier Property Tribunal, but if such action is unavoidable an IPHAS team member will be able to help with advice on tribunal procedures and paperwork. An indication of IPHAS’s reputation for independence and fairness to all is the fact that, in the past, some park owners have asked IPHAS for guidance on changes to the law and how they should apply it in dealings with their residents.

Should a dispute between a park owner and a resident arise, IPHAS advisors are usually able to suggest ways of handling the matter without going to a First Tier Property Tribunal. If such action is unavoidable, an IPHAS team member will be able to assist the resident with the complexities of the tribunal procedures, and the associated paperwork.

So, to sum up, you (as an IPHAS member) can feel confident that, should any problems in connection with your park home arise in future, one of the team will be there to help and support you (as has been the case over the past 30-plus years).