i agree that there should be a special council tax band for park home living. I live on a residential park home and we have very nice parkowners who are honest and fair. We pay £105 (Band A) per month but we only get our dustbins emptied. The parkowners are responsible for street lighting, sewerage repairs, road surfaces even road sweeping. People living out of the park get all these facilities as a matter of course, which is in with the council tax. WHY are we treated differently? The local councils take our council tax money and then state that the site owner is responsible for all the above because it is private land. I think it would be fair to have a lower band for residential park homes as the local councils do not look after the parks even though they also dictate the site licence but NOTHING to upkeep the park. We expect to pay towards police, libraries etc. etc. etc. but if we dont get the same treatment as those outside of the park then they should be fair and reduce our council tax.

I am very interested in buying a park home in the near future but I believe there are quite a lot of pitfalls to be aware of. Your readers' letters of complaints highlight some of these, but while that is all well and good I think if the parks concerned were named and shamed prospective residents could avoid them like the plague. It`s no good finding out after you have parted with your hard-earned cash! But I suppose there are legal issues around this.

I agree with R Sibley 22nd January. I too live on a well-run site and the owners and managers go to a lot of trouble to keep it clean and tidy and maintain the street lighting. The council does not have to sweep the roads, clear the roads of snow nor trim trees and hedges; they only have to collect the refuse and re-cycling. A 50% reduction, or even 30% would be much appreciated and be seen to be fair. As the number or park home residents in the country is increasing, the councils are doing very well out of us!

I like K.Buckley am interested in buying a Park home and agree with him that poor Park operators should be named and shamed. I presently live abroad and we have magazines here that name companies that do not do a good job or do not attend their clients on time. It works as they will not take any advertisements from any poor company and so they lose out in the end. So Park homes make a name for yourselves.

I agree - it is unfair that we have to pay full council tax given we only get our dustbins collected! I was dismayed when I first moved in about how much I had to pay. Surely it would be fairer to charge the whole caravan park once and then have that figure divided up per caravan? We are definitely given an unfair deal especially when it comes to winter when we're not entitled to have our on-site roads gritted which surely also potentially becomes a hazard for emergency vehicles gaining access when needed thereby leaving people stranded.

Can anyone advise me on the following: Once you have purchased a holiday home, who is responsible for the maintenance of it, especially the external maintenance?
My cousin and I purchased a refurbished lodge in Sept 2008. At the time of deposit, May 2008, the following issues had been agreed upon: a large deck would be included in the front and left side of the lodge, the windows would have shades instead of curtains, the dining table would be exchanged for a much smaller model, and the bathrooms would have heated towel rails. When we were notified that the lodge was ready for occupancy in Sept 2008, the only one of these conditions met was the extended deck. It has taken one and a half years to get these matters sorted out.
In the interim, as ours was the only lodge sold, the site owners decided to upgrade the other 11 lodges further by removing the boiler from an inside cupboard and putting it outside in an insulated cabinet which made the interior kitchen area larger. The exterior of the lodges were improved by squaring the corners of the exterior walls and adding additional boards to seal the corners to prevent decay and water seepage into the lodges. Lastly, the lodges were painted with a heavy duty external paint to add further protection to the aging exterior wood panels.
When we saw these changes, we asked for the owners to carry out these changes to our lodge as well. While they agreed to move the boiler giving us space to have a full size refrigerator in our kitchen, they refused to carry out the external modifications unless we paid an additional £800 for this service. We objected to being charged for something that we feel should have been done to our lodge without question. The site owners have stated that we own the lodge now so all maintenance is up to us. We disagree as they own the property and we pay site fees to them.
The present situation is this: We have refused to pay our site fees pending legal advice on this matter. They gave us a deadline by which to pay our fees, but that deadline has come and gone and we are current enjoying the lovely warm weather at our lodge hassle free.
Any advice offered regarding this situation would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.
Nancy Demko