Government amendments to the Housing Bill carried out this week will help prevent park home owners - many of whom are elderly and vulnerable - being exploited and harassed by unscrupulous site owners.

The proposed rights will affect nearly 120,000 people living on more than 1680 residential sites (or parks) in England and Wales. Most residents in these parks own their mobile homes (or units) which currently cost anything between about £13,000 and £200,000 or more in areas of high demand. They do not own or have any legal interest in the land on which the units stand, instead paying the owner of the site a pitch fee, which generally covers services and maintenance as well, usually on a monthly basis.

The amendments are:

• To require a written statement of terms to be given to prospective occupiers before they enter into an agreement to station a park home on a site;
• To create a power by which the Secretary of State can add additional implied terms to the agreement and repeal and vary those in the Mobile Homes Act 1983;
• To place a time limit on the time in which a site owner has to withhold approval of a prospective purchaser;
• To remove “age” of a home as a criterion for ending an agreement, and to give discretion to courts to adjourn termination proceedings on the grounds of the condition of a park home to allow for repairs to be carried out;
• To bring the protection of park homeowners from eviction and harassment in line with that for tenants of houses.

Housing Minister Yvette Cooper said the amendments were a clear recognition of serious concerns over park home owners' rights: "According to residents' associations, one of the most common complaints is the harassment of park home owners when they want to sell their home. This often results in properties being sold at low prices to the site owner. Our new amendments will help put a stop to this practice as well as other abuses by site owners."
The amendments address five of the key recommendations of the Park Homes Working Party, set up by the Government, and have the support of the National Association of Park Home Residents.