Can the site owner charge us different site fees?
Q I purchased my home last year and friendly conversation with neighbours has revealed a vast difference in site fees among us.
We pay about £150 per month while others pay much less. This is regardless of pitch size.
When the site opened the plots were released in phases with increasing pitch fees to match. But this policy was swiftly given up as the site is now fully developed and still only half full. New residents can now choose anywhere. The situation seems very unfair as we all have exactly the same amenities. Is there any way we can put pressure on the site owners to equal things out a bit without causing bad feeling with our neighbours?
Is it illegal to site a home on a manhole?
Q Our home has been sited on top of a sewage manhole. Surely this is illegal as I thought manholes had to be accessible at all times?
Does this mean that if the manhole has to be worked on they would have to move my home?
Can we claim our deposit back
Q My partner and I viewed a sited park home from the outside. We were unable to view the inside as the property was being rented and the tenants were not home. We made an appointment for the following day but were told other clients were viewing on that day.
We were given the number of one of the park’s employees to discuss finance. When we spoke with them, they advised us to put down a refundable deposit as others were viewing and could
snap up the property. When I explained that we had yet to see the inside of the property he assured us the deposit was refundable should we change our minds. He then put us in touch with a finance company.
When we finally viewed the property we discovered it was very basic and it would need a lot of money spent on it to bring it up to scratch. The following day our finance forms arrived and we were shocked at the rate of interest: it was so high.
When we took into consideration the work required and our ages we decided we would be out of our depth. We called the park, explained the situation and requested our deposit back. They seemed fine with that but the deposit never arrived. When I chased it up I was then told the deposit was non- refundable unless finance had been denied. The park owner then became very rude and accused me of being a liar.
We never received any receipts and never signed anything. Can you advise?
Are we paying too much for our electricity?
Following a recent article in PH&HC about how much annual electricity bills typically are in a park home, I think we may be paying too much. Our home’s electricity bill ranges from £1,500 to £2,000 per annum. At our park in Essex, most people are paying a similar level to us for their electricity.
The meters were put in by the owners. We have asked the owners to look into the electricity and meter costs for everybody and they say there is absolutely no problem as far as they are concerned.
Could you please let us know what we can do, if anything, to check that we are paying the right amount?
Can I sell my home for less than the market value?
In the current slow sales climate I am investigating ways of leaving my current park by the quickest route. In my view, my current landlords should not own or run a park. I realise this opinion will put me in a difficult position, should a potential purchaser ask pertinent questions.
I feel very angry towards some of the existing residents, who I chatted to before purchasing my home. Since I moved into my home, they have all related horror stories regarding this site, any of which would have immediately persuaded me to go elsewhere for this, my fourth park home. I believe I knew the right questions to ask other residents when looking to buy a home on a park, but unfortunately was given the wrong answers to them!
If, in my hurry to leave this site, I decided to sell well below the market price, could this provide problems with the sales commission that is due to be paid to the park owner upon sale of a home?
Who is responsible for the costs of the sites new electrical equipment.
Our park owner wants to upgrade all of the electrical equipment on our park site and wants all the park home owners to pay towards the cost - the total of which will be around £200,000.
Although the park owner does not make any profit from electrical charges, he does charge every home £3.60 per month for maintaining the electrical system.
I would appreciate your advice as to who is responsible for the costs of the new electrical equipment.
What does the 10 per cent commission cover?
The last time we communicated was regarding the case against my park owner, with the police involved. The outcome of the court case was that the owner received a prison sentence of 12 years, his brother 11 years and about five other people involved also received sentences.
We are still in the process of selling our home. I know we will have to pay the owner commission, however my main query is regarding the amount of this. I know the maximum should be 10 per cent, but 10 per cent of what amount?
Looking at the contract with the owner, it states that commission is due on, ‘The mobile home alone’. Assuming there have been no additions to the home since it was purchased, does this mean exactly what it says?
As you will be aware, there is also a charge for putting the home on its pitch, on top of the purchase price. Is this amount also included in the mobile home’s sale, for commission purposes?
For instance if the home originally cost £50,000 and it cost an additional £40,000 to site it (£90K in total), when it comes to resale, should the original £40,000 siting fee be taken off the amount that commission should be paid on?
The idea of having to pay commission on the siting element seems unreasonable, particularly as the owner has already been paid once.
Can a site owner block a home's sale for no reason?
Recently, one of our more elderly residents died and his home has been put on the market for sale by his relatives at a price of around £40,000. We have heard that our park owner has threatened to block the sale, without giving any reason for doing so. We suspect he wishes to buy the property cheaply and rent it out.
There are already many homes on the park rented out, as other residents have died and their homes have been bought cheaply by the park owner. Some of the properties are in a poor condition and should have been replaced.
As home owners, we are concerned that some of the rented properties detract from the appearance of the park, owing to their age and lack of maintenance, with our park owner refusing to spend any money to improve them. We feel that this reflects negatively on the value of our own homes.
We are unable to contact or talk to our park owner as he refuses to answer any letters or recognise our residents’ association and therefore we are unable to take up the above case with him and inform him that he is acting against the law by attempting to block a sale of a resident’s home, except where he has good reason to object.
The sellers are not members of our association, since it was their relative who owned the home and recently died.
Should I be concerned about buying a home on a park which is in administration?
My wife and I have decided to move into a residential park home in Cumbria and we have two parks in mind. Friends of ours on one of these parks have been urging us to pay a deposit on a plot there, but recently all the owners have received notices saying that the park has gone into administration.
Likewise, when I looked on the internet, both parks are up for sale. Should I be concerned about buying at one of these parks?
Can our site owner charge us for site maintenance?
Our park opened in the late ‘90s. Since then we have had the problem of no effective surface water drainage on the roads. During periods of prolonged rain, sections of the roads become badly flooded.
Our local district council has been threatening our park owner with court action to make him remedy the situation for years. In reply, the park owner insists that the original site licence was issued after the construction work for the site was finished and he cannot now do anything.
The council has repeatedly told us that it is willing to take the park owner to court, but has warned us that he may pass any costs of the work he is forced to do on to the residents as ‘improvements to the site’.
My questions are: Do we have any redress to the council for failing to issue the original licence correctly and failing to ensure the site licence conditions were adhered to in the first place? Would he be entitled to pass the costs of this work on to the residents?
