A manufacturer fault ruined our home and contents, are we entitled to compensation?
My wife and I and I decided to buy a park home as it appeared to be an ideal solution to our circumstances, i.e. stress free, low maintenance, and a ten-year Gold Shield Warranty if any problems should occur.
We purchased a new home on site in October 2002 and hoped to begin our new ‘idyllic way of life.’
Then, in early 2003, we found the coats in our cloakroom, on the outside wall, were wet with damp. Our manufacturer sent round an engineer who said that the problem was cold air from the outside reacting with the warmth of the inside wall. I was under the impression that insulation was meant to stop that and feared that maybe the insulation was insufficient, but the engineer assured it was adequate. Since then, however, we have been unable to use our cloakroom.
In late 2003, the clothes in a free standing wardrobe, by the outside wall in the bedroom, smelt musty and the bottom of the same wall in the built-in wardrobe in the second bedroom was going black with mould. Again we contacted our manufacturer, who once more sent out an engineer. This time he concluded that the clothes in the built-in wardrobe were to close to the wall and this was restricting airflow. However, he made no mention of the free standing one. We had shelves built in the wardrobe to avoid anything touching the wall and hoped that was that.
By January 2005, things were so bad we asked the site manager to contact Gold Shield for us, to try and sort the problem. By this time our manufacturer said that because the home had a plywood skirt, capillary action was the cause and we needed to have a brick skirt built with a 25mm gap etc.
Following this report the original plywood skirt was then removed and replaced that summer with a professionally built brick skirt, with an air gap around, plus airbricks at regular intervals.
We believed the problem had been solved once and for all and waited for a period of time for the house to dry out in order to redecorate because of the damage that had been caused by the damp.
Unfortunately, the damp problem has not improved and is in fact now even worse than before. So much so, that in some areas mould is even appearing inside and out of freestanding furniture.
I employed an independent park home surveyor to check my home in April 2008 and have again contacted Gold Shield to restart the original claim. They have told me they fully accept my surveyor’s findings and are writing to the manufacturer accordingly.
We are afraid our manufacturer will once again come up with excuses rather than admit that the problem is their fault and we will end up living in a home that will slowly fall apart and become totally valueless.
The state we are still in is now starting to affect our health. The reason we bought a park home was because I was left disabled following a stroke brought on by stress, and this seemed the ideal lifestyle to avoid another one, the situation is not helping me at all.
In your opinion do you think we have a claim to reject the home as ‘Not of Merchantable Quality’ after this length of time, though obviously at today’s price of a new sited home?
Or, would it be regarded as blighted if I tried to sell it, even if it was repaired?
Could we claim compensation and what would you regard as reasonable, to include cover for damage to clothes, surveyor’s costs, redecorating, carpets damaged by mould and also the amount of stress we have both had to endure for the last 4 plus years?
Can I swap my home for another on my park?
I’m thinking of swapping my park home with another home on my site. If I swap, am I still obliged to pay the site owner 10 per cent?
Can a park owner demand a survey is carried out on my home?
A friend’s residential park owner is demanding that a survey be done on his home. My friend does not want a survey yet and, when a survey is required, he would prefer to use a surveyor of his own choice.
But the park owner insists that he has a right to put in a surveyor to survey the home after giving 14 days notice and he quotes paragraph 14 of the new Implied Terms. Surely this cannot mean that the park owner can do anything he wants on my pitch just by giving 14 days notice?
Can I sub-let my holiday home?
We moved into our park home two years ago and were the first occupants on the site. We made sure we signed an agreement with the site owner.
In this agreement, under the heading ‘Hiring/ Sub-letting’ it states: ‘The hiring out of your holiday home/ timber lodge is not permitted’.
After living there for 14 months, our next-door neighbours had a disagreement with the site owner and moved out. They currently rent their home and claim that this is with the site owner’s permission. They also claim that their contract was amended to enable them to do this.
We live on a small site and we imagined that we’d all have the same contract. We would like to know if the neighbours or the site owner are in breach of contract by allowing this as we are now faced with the prospect of a procession of different renters staying next door.
Should I pick up the bill for park improvements?
Some residents on my park have experienced sewage and electrical problems which have been ongoing for the past few years.
Last year, the park was sold to new owners. Recently, the new park owners put forward a proposal to upgrade the sewage, electrics and roads. This will initially be funded by the site owners but, after a year, an additional £9.25 will be added to residents’ plot fees and included in the annual pitch fee review for ever more. Residents rejected this proposal arguing that this work should be carried out as part of necessary park maintenance not ‘upgrading’.
We also fear that the new owners want to get rid of the smaller homes and replace them with large new ones and that the upgrading work would be necessary for this purpose. On top of this, the new owners have not replaced the outgoing park manager. They have also recently informed us that we will have to grit the roads ourselves in future. We have not received any reduction in fees for this.
Does my elusive park owner forfeit the right to claim back the ground rent charges?
I read, with interest, your column in the September issue of PH&HC, where you answered a question on tracking down an evasive park owner.
I currently have this problem and took the course of action you advised by withholding the ground rent after writing to the owner and warning him of my intention to do so.
Since then, I have seen the owner just once and he made vague excuses about why he could not give me his address. Three months have elapsed and I still do not have his address.
My query concerns the wording used in your advice column that, ‘the pitch fee shall be treated for all purposes as not being due from the occupier to the owner at any time before the owner does so comply’.
I had assumed that once he provides a legitimate address, I must pay him all of the money previously due. But, does he in fact forfeit the ground rent that would have been due for any month prior to his providing an address?
I have spent a fortune doing up my park home, how much commission is the park owner entitled to?
Ten years ago, I bought my park home from the site owner for £10,000. It was so cheap because it was in such an appalling condition. In fact, it was not suitable to live in. Since then, I have put a lot of time and effort into renovating it. This included a new roof, plus a new bathroom, kitchen and central heating fitted and all the flooring and walls have been replaced, too. Altogether, I have spent £40,000 on my home.
When I eventually sell my home, do I have to give the site owner 10 per cent of the £10,000 that I paid for it? Or, do I have to give him ten per cent of the money I have spent on it as well?
Am I allowed to erect a wooden fence and shed on my plot?
We would like to erect a wooden fence and a shed on our plot. What is the exact ruling on this? We don’t want to get into trouble with our park owner or the local council.
How do we start a residents' association?
I have been approached by the residents on our park home site about forming a residents’ association. As far as I can see there has never been one on the park before. Could you give me some guidance about how to set up an association. We have been taken over recently by new owners and we are a bit concerned as to what could happen. I buy the magazine regularly and have read many interesting points of view. As a result, we think that an association is a good thing.
Can our park owner charge whatever he likes for the resale of piped LPG gas?
A leak has developed on the LPG supply pipes on our park. Steps have been taken to replace some of the gas pipes over a two-year period. This has caused a great deal of disruption and inconvenience to residents.
Our last quarterly bill showed another big increase; a total of almost 50 per cent over the past year. I challenged the site owner and tried to point out that residents should be notified in advance of such increases, providing official documentation from his suppliers. He said there is no legislation covering the resale of piped LPG and no notice is required. In addition, he said he could charge whatever he liked and could charge each resident different prices if he so wished. Is he right?
