Park home roadshow provides launch pad for residents’ forum

Following the success of the first Park Home Roadshow at Cheltenham, a second event will be held at Poole in Dorset On September 1. And after that, the first National Annual Conference of Park Home Residents is to take place later in the year.

The idea of the Conference was launched at the Cheltenhgam Roadshow. As well as raising the profile of issues facing park home residents, it will give those who are most vulnerable a genuine voice in the debates.

The Roadshow was hosted by park home insurance provider Towergate Bakers and attended by campaigner Sonia McColl, legal expert Graham Watts, Cheltenham MP Martin Horwood and around 100 residents from parks across the UK. It underlined the need for urgent change in mobile home legislation and vetting procedures, in order to protect residents against intimidating site owners.

It is estimated residents in more than 15,000 UK park homes live under the regime of unscrupulous site owners, some of whom are dishonest violent and abusive.  In her speech at the Roadshow, founder of the Park Home Owners Justice Campaign, Sonia McColl, explained how she’d uncovered the extent of site owners’ restrictive practice tactics after collating residents’ feedback.

As a park home owner herself, she knows how the odds are stacked against residents due to site owners being able to block property sales, buy the units themselves at a fraction of the price and then take a further 10% commission.  Sonia describes how site owners are effectively ‘stealing their residents’ equity’.

A consultation process now underway, and campaigners hope legislative reform will come sooner rather than later and greater empower park home owners who want to sell their properties.

The Justice Campaign is also calling for a ‘fit and proper person’ site owner test.  Rather than local authorities automatically awarding site licences, applicants would be better scrutinised, checked for any criminal records, and only granted permission to run a park if they meet a strict criteria.

Park home legal expert Graham Watts echoed Sonia’s concerns and highlighted how local authorities and the police, due to time constraints and lack of knowledge, tend not to intervene in park home disputes.  He too called for changes to the Mobile Homes Act.

Paul Baker of Towergate Bakers, who chaired the event, said, “Our speakers applauded site owners who are fair and considerate to residents. However, as we heard, not all have their residents’ best interests at heart.

“We all have a role to play in helping push forward legislative reform and I’m delighted to hear the idea of an annual conference for park home residents – I look forward to getting involved. The debate at Cheltenham was a big hit with all concerned and is the springboard for future events.”

• For info about the second roadshow debate on 1 September in Poole, Dorset, email: [email protected]  

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