I was sold a holiday home as a residential home, is this legal?

• Thursday, 3 September 2009
• Kathleen Retourne
• 0 Comments

Two years ago, I put a deposit on a residential home. I have since found out that I’m living in a holiday home built to either E1647 or LN1647 standard. This home was originally advertised by the site owners as a holiday home and marketed for sale at between £60,000 and £70,000. When the park’s residential licence came through the owners said the home was residential and then doubled the advertised sale price! I’ve spoken to the park managers but they wont accept they have done anything wrong. Is there anything I can do to get the park owners to accept responsibility for falsely selling me this home?

Graham advises
I note that the particular park upon which you live is a ‘mixed' site i.e. it provides an area for permanent residential use and another area for holiday use.
You do not disclose whether the home you have purchased is sited on the area of land that has the benefit of planning consent for permanent residential use.
This is critical as the home which one would expect to be used for permanent residential use should comply with a suitable standard of manufacture i.e. BS 3632.
It seems to me that, in reality, there is some question as to whether you have actually purchased a holiday home on land with consent for holiday home use only.
It appears that your home was first sited as a holiday home on land used for that purpose. As you then say ‘...when the licence came through...', I take to mean that the site licence for the area of land where your home is sited went from holiday to permanently residential and the owners then wrongly sold the holiday home for permanent residential use.
As an initial indication of the status of the land, I would be interested to know whether you have a written statement under the Mobile Homes Act 1983, which would be a requisite if your home is legally capable of use as a permanent residence.
I strongly suggest that before considering whether you have been subject to any misrepresentation when you made the purchase, you contact the local council and ascertain precisely the status of the land under your home.
If the council confirm the land is subject to planning consent only for holiday use then you have a far bigger problem than the standard of construction of the caravan. You would be unlawfully occupying the holiday home as your main residence contrary to the planning consent and, no doubt, the site licence.
If the land does have consent for permanent residential use, you may be able to prove that you were misled, subject to what was said when the caravan was purchased since. If your dates are indeed correct, the owner would be selling homes inadequate for permanent use.
If you are unfortunate enough to have bought a holiday home on a permanent residential part of the site then you might care to consult the licence issued by the local council which may state that all permanent sited homes must comply with BS3636.
Alternatively, as your home was sold as a residential home and built to residential specification there may be an issue of misrepresentation.
As stated above, the clear position in relation to agreed planning permission is crucial before you consider your next course of action.