The Office of fair Trading is consulting on new guidance aimed at park owners who run seasonal holiday caravan parks for static caravans.

Some holiday caravan owners have been getting a poor deal on contracts for the resale and stationing of these holiday homes and the OFT wants to tighten the regulations on park owners to ensure owners get a better deal.

Businesses are required to comply with the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations (UTCCRs) ensuring that they use fair and clear terms in their standard agreements with consumers.

The draft guidance has been designed specifically for the holiday caravan sector following complaints about unfair terms. In particular, problems were found with terms permitting variations to the agreement, terms restricting sale of second-hand caravans, and terms allowing unrestricted increases in pitch fees.

The draft guidance explains the requirements of the UTCCRs and gives examples of unfairness that do not comply with the regulations and ways of revising them. Examples of terms that potentially could be consider unfair include those which:

• Seek to unfairly exclude the park owners' liability.
• Unreasonably restrict caravan owners' rights to assign their licence to occupy a pitch to a third party, such as a family member.
• Insist caravan owners upgrade their caravans, regardless of condition.
• Put unreasonable restrictions on use of caravans such as forbidding guests.
• Without good reason, tie caravan owners to purchasing services supplied by the park owner such as caravan accessories or the supply of LPG.
• Vary the services provided as part of the contract such as leisure clubs and facilities.