I forked out £180k for a luxury caravan for retirement but little-known law means I can’t live in it – I’m heartbroken
A MAN is heartbroken after he splashed out £180,000 on a luxury caravan for his retirement but he is unable to live in it due to a little-known law.
Delivery driver Mike Chesworth, 59, said he had used his life savings to buy the home on a holiday park under the “false promise” that he could live their permanently.
Mike bought his home on Wyre Country Park in Lancashire for £180,000 in 2019 as a place to retire to, for him and his wife.
Park homes are like a static caravan or chalet that you might stay in on holiday – but you can live in them all year round.
Often they are for older people retiring to a smaller place.
Mike and his wife signed the contract under the understanding that they could stay in the park permanently.
But the park only has a holiday licence, so no one is able to live in them full-time.
This means they could be evicted by their local council for breaching planning rules.
Mike told BBC Panorama he was “heartbroken” and had been forced to return to work six-days a week as a delivery driver in order to get the funds together to take the site’s owner to court.
He said that his retirement dream had become a “perpetual nightmare”.
He told the BBC: “You spent a lot of time and effort looking to retire, and you work 30 or 40 years of your life to do it, only to find the dream you thought you were going to have is the perpetual nightmare that you can’t seem to end.
“And it’s just, it’s heartbreaking. Absolutely heartbreaking.”
The site’s owner David Welch had denied misleading buyers to the corporation and said the site’s signs and sales agreements clearly stated that it is a holiday park.
Mike is one of half a dozen buyers who told that they had been “tricked” into buying their homes.
Ibraheem Dulmeer, a specialist park homes barrister, said: “Having specialised in this industry for a decade, it is concerning to see that many are unaware of the importance of seeking legal advice before making such a purchase.
“I strongly recommend that anyone considering buying a caravan or park home obtain specialist legal advice.”
The British Holiday and Home Parks Association, which represents site owners, said: “The park owners featured in the Panorama programme are not members of the British Holiday and Home Parks Association.
“Anyone thinking of buying a residential park home should make sure that the park is licensed by the local authority for residential use.
“Safeguards provided in law to park home residents, such as security of tenure to live permanently on the park, apply only to licensed residential parks, and not to holiday parks.”
Where to go for help
The sale of holiday mobile homes and pitch agreements are governed by contract law. The use of a mobile home in a holiday park is also a contract, not a tenancy. The contract should stipulate the rights and obligations of both parties.
The Government funded LEASE Park Homes provides free advice and guidance on residential park homes law and can be contacted on their freephone number: 0808 196 2212.
In addition to a solicitor, advice can be obtained free of charge from Citizens Advice or by contacting the Citizens Advice consumer helpline: 0808 223 1133.
The Commons Library’s briefing paper: Legal advice: where to go and how to pay may also be of interest.
Further information:
- Commons Library briefing paper: Mobile (park) homes.
- Gov.uk: Park homes
- Commons Library briefing paper: Mobile (park) homes: 10% commission on sales
- Commons Library briefing paper: Consumer protection: leisure homes
Source: commonslibrary.parliament.uk
Can you live in a holiday home on a park permanently?
Around 159,000 people live in mobile homes, according to figures from House of Commons library.
The vast majority live on residential parks that have planing permission and residential licences, meaning they do so perfectly legally.
But people who live on holiday parks that have just a holiday park licence will be breaking the law.
But even when a park has a residential licence, the site owner may not have planning permission for all the homes.
If the park just has a holiday park licence, you can’t live on it all year – it must be just for recreational or holiday purposes.
This means you must also have a main address as your permanent residence.
This doesn’t mean that you can’t visit your holiday home frequently, but park’s aren’t allowed to grant people permanent residence.
If you did so, you would most likely be breaching your licencing agreement.
In addition, as it’s not a permanent home, you don’t pay council tax or stamp duty.
What happens if you use a holiday home as a permanent residence?
If a local council finds out that a holiday home is being used as a full-time home on a site that doesn’t have residential licence can have serious consequences.
Authorities can prosecute the park owner for either – breach of site licence conditions or planning consent.
They can also serve an enforcement order directly to the owner, asking for them to remove themselves from the park.
They may also ask you to sell it to someone who will use it as a holiday lodge.
The park owner may also use their own powers to seek to have the owner evicted from the park.
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