Give holiday caravan/lodge owners the same statutory protection as mobile homes.

Owners of holiday caravans and lodges need the same protections as those given to owners of residential mobile homes. Holiday caravan/ lodge owners face unfair practices that are consistently active on many static caravan holiday parks.

As a multi-million pound consumer industry with no current legislation in place, consumers are being misled and mis-sold at their great cost, both monetarily, and mentally. Buyers need help and protection. Clear, concise and transparent information is NOT always given at point of sale. There is no legal governing body or specific laws in place for those abusing the industry to answer to, or indeed to help the buyer. The existing consumer protection laws do NOT cover the Holiday Static Caravan/Lodge Industry in any way that is needed to protect them.

Caravan sites in England, unless exempted, are required to have planning permission which will be granted either for holiday, residential, or mixed (part of the site will be for holiday purposes and the other part for residential purposes) use.

Where the planning permission granted for the whole or part of a site is for residential use, the caravan owner can live in their home (commonly known as mobile/park homes) all year round as their main and only residence. There are approximately 2000 residential park home sites in England.

Residents of park home sites will have a Mobile Homes Act 1983 written agreement which gives the resident security of tenure. The agreement will amongst others set out; the obligations of the site owner and resident; the process for selling a home, reviewing pitch fees and making site rules; and the limited circumstances in which the site owner can terminate the agreement.

Where the planning permission granted for the whole or part of a caravan site is for holiday use only, there will be restrictions on when the site can be opened and in particular, the use of the site for permanent residential purposes. The Government is therefore unable to give holiday caravan and lodge owners residential rights on caravan sites where the existing planning permission requires those sites to be used for holiday purposes only.

The Government is aware that holiday caravans and lodges are sometimes mis-sold to consumers as permanent residential homes. Purchasers in such cases are not provided the correct information about the caravan/lodge or the site’s planning permission. In other instances, consumers are not provided with written agreements which clearly set out the terms and conditions for occupying a pitch on the holiday site, selling a caravan or terminating an agreement. In other examples, aggressive sales methods are used to coerce consumers into making a purchase.