LGA calls on ministers to beef up park home licensing regime

The Local Government Association has called on ministers to strengthen the licensing rules for caravan sites, with fines to reflect the true value of park homes and the cost of maintaining them.

The call was made in a letter to Housing Minister Grant Shapps sent as part of the LGA’s response to a consultation on providing greater protection for residents.

It comes amid concerns that some caravan site owners are flouting the current rules.

The letter – signed by Cllr David Parsons, chair of the LGA’s Environment and Housing Programme Board – said: “The measures that should protect park home residents are inadequate and out of date, and current legislation does not give them the same rights as people living in other types of property.”

The LGA said that the current maximum magistrates’ fine for breaching a licence (£2,500) had not kept pace with inflation and did not always act as a proper deterrent for unscrupulous site owners.

“When site owners face a maximum fine of £2,500 it may well be cheaper for them to be prosecuted, rather than comply with licence conditions,” Parsons suggested.

The letter said the LGA supported the proposal that councils should charge for licensing of park home sites, so that council tax payers will “no longer have to subsidise site owners to meet basic safety standards”.

It added: “The number and type of sites will be different for each council, so in order to develop an appropriate local response we would wish to see councils given the freedom to set their own transparent level of fees, and in line with other fee based models of regulation this would be done on a full cost revoery model.”

The letter also said the LGA supported the extension of the licensing scheme to other types of sites.

However, it added that it “would wish to see provision for councils to make exceptions where licensing is not appropriate and to set variable fees and charges up to the full economic recovery cost, based on a risk assessment that takes into account the type of site, the management and past experience of problems”.

The Association said the Department for Communities and Local Government needed to design a licensing scheme that worked effectively and with a minimum of bureaucracy.

“The problems associated with licensing HMOs (houses in multiple occupation) have been well documented and I would wish to avoid creating similar problems in licensing park homes, for example by setting up clear and effective processes for recovering costs and alignment with planning decisions,” Parsons wrote, offering the LGA’s assistance in drawing up any new licensing scheme.

The letter concluded by pointing out that park homes as a type of housing were not included in the definition of dwellings under the Housing Act 2004.

“This means that councils can do very little to enforce safe and reasonable living standards for people living in rented park homes,” it said, adding that the Government might want to consider reviewing this as part of the Red Tape Challenge.

In a statement released with the letter, Cllr Parsons said the Government should give courts “real teeth to hit dubious site owners hard in the pocket for breaking the law.”