Historic change to protect park home owners from unscrupulous site owners
28 Apr 2014 10:34 AM
New powers to protect the rights of park home owners and
stamp out unscrupulous site owners have been brought into force, Housing
Minister Kris Hopkins announced.
Action taken by the government means that councils have
new powers to tackle poor conditions on park home sites. This marks a historic
shift for park homes residents with these changes to licensing laws being the
first in half a century.
Previously, councils had little power to step in and
normally could only prosecute through the courts. But now, councils will be
able to tackle problems early and give park owners a chance to put things right
by serving a notice outlining the action that needs to be taken, by a given
deadline.
With over 2,000 park homes sites across the country Mr
Hopkins said it was about time action was taken to give councils the ability to
protect park home residents and crack down on owners who do not maintain or
properly manage sites.
To
ensure fairness Mr. Hopkins reassured park home residents that where further
action was taken to ensure site owners followed council orders they would be
prevented from passing on any of the costs to residents
Housing Minister Kris Hopkins said:
For
too long park home residents have been left to the whims of site owners while
councils were powerless to step in when conditions were bad.
This government have taken action to shift power back to
residents, and thanks to our changes councils can now ensure that the site
owners that need to up their game do so, and provide the high quality service
expected, without passing costs on.
Where unscrupulous site owners refuse to clean up their
act, they will now face court action and substantial fines for their poor
performance.
A
fair deal for taxpayers
Mr
Hopkins also made clear that enforcing a fair deal for park home residents
should not fall unfairly on Council Tax payers or be used as a cash cow for
councils.
New
guidance has set the terms under which councils can charge for the licenses
they provide site owners. In particular, fees can only be used to recover the
costs of licensing park home sites – such as visits by inspectors, or the
costs of processing applications.
Councils will not be able to make a profit from these
fees – and may choose not to charge fees at all. Any fees set should be
consistent with other charges the council imposes, and councils could choose to
make certain exemptions, for example, for smaller sites.
The
minister was clear that where fees are charged, site owners and residents have
a right to expect a licensing service above and beyond that which they
currently receive for free.