The problems of people trying to buy and sell park homes are set to be highlighted in a Private Member’s Bill on Friday.
Sponsored by Peter Aldous, Tory MP for Waveney, Suffolk, the Bill seeks to tackle issues that people living in park homes currently face.
According to watchdog Consumer Focus, which is supporting the Bill, problems include operators who vet buyers and block sales.
The Government estimates that around 160,000 people live in approximately 1,950 park home sites across England.
Many people retire to live in a park home: a new Consumer Focus report highlights that the vast majority of residents are aged 61 and over, with more than a quarter aged 71 and over.
Specialist estate agents – for example, Seekers in Aldershot, Hampshire – often handle transactions of park homes, covering the whole of the country, but local agents are also instructed.
Gemma Bowen, head of Consumer Focus investigations, said: “Our research found that the lives of many residents were blighted by poor standards of maintenance, aggressive site operators, high living costs and over-inflated bills.
“The fact that many residents are older people makes this all the more concerning. Site operators have the power to vet potential buyers which gives some the opportunity to block sales. This practice can cause considerable financial loss and distress for sellers, and the sales process of park homes must be reformed.”
The research showed that sale blocking by the site owner is common.
More than a quarter of residents (28%) felt they could not buy and sell their homes freely. Residents can only sell their home after the incoming buyer has been approved by the site operator. Unscrupulous operators can use this veto to block purchases, and then sell the potential buyer one of the homes they own on the park.
Alternatively, site owners can repeatedly block sales to then pressure residents to sell cheaply, often causing considerable financial loss.
Home owners also report being overcharged for utilities, along with issues relating to maintenance and security.
Local authorities also told Consumer Focus that penalties are not severe enough for rogue site owners, and it is almost impossible to revoke a licence.
Comments
you should know Ray Sherringhams full of them and old folk! and soon to be, lots of supermarkets!!!!!!!!!!!
Park Homes? They are posh Caravans - sometimes two bolted together - pure and simple!
Site owners also demand a percentage of the sale value for doing nothing. My last sale of a park home netted us a mere £1000+VAT and the site owner netted £10,000!
A few years previous, the seller didn't pay us and we had to trace him and go to court. Sometimes being paid by a solicitor on completion is a good thing, trust me.
Site owners should not be allowed to say who lives on a site and who doesn't and equally demand a fee when a park home is sold, except maybe a £25 admin fee or something.
They should also have a ground rent limit linked to say the local council tax rate for that area! They rob park home owners blind and get away with it every time. The sooner they are restrained, the better.
Reform in this sector is urgently needed. The fees charged by some site owners are ridiculously high
I no longer handle park home sales, largely due to the problems referred to above, I have had direct experience of most of them, with clear instances of site managers trying to switch sell the buyers onto something they have for sale themselves. It had also seemed wrong to me that solicitors were not involved to deal with the conveyance.
In principle a park home is little different to a caravan (a comment which the owners don't seem to care for very much), so I do understand the reasons for teh current process .... and so of late I have always referred vendor enquiries to specialist companies.
If the conveyance rules change and to me seem fair to all concerned, I will again handle them. If they don't, I won't. Its quite nice being an independent independent!