Park Homes

Baroness Morgan of Cotes Excerpts

Tuesday 29th November 2011 Westminster Hall

[Caroline Nokes]

As I said, I attended the mass rally last November and listened to many of the stories from around the country, and my hon. Friend is absolutely right that the same small number of names occur time and again at various locations—always, sadly, involving the same story and modus operandi.

Time is pressing and the issue is not new, although I am new to it. Media reports can be found going back 20 or 30 years, commenting on the difficulties of park home residents when selling their properties or gaining reasonable access to services without being charged over the odds for them. The single biggest issue, however, is the blocking of sales by site owners. If park owners refuse to approve a sale, the home owner is left in an almost impossible position. There are reports of owners of properties worth £100,000 having to sell to the park owner for as little as £5,000 as all other sales have been blocked. The home owner currently has recourse to a residential property tribunal but that not only costs the owner about £150 but has limited powers of enforcement and places no binding conditions on the park owner. The situation is being addressed by the Government, and I am eager to hear what assurance the Minister can give that it is subject to a rigorous timetable.

[Nicky Morgan (Loughborough) (Con)]

I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing the debate. I am interested to hear what the timetable is from the Minister. The problem has been going on for a number of years, as my hon. Friend said, and has been raised a great deal since the 2010 election. We have waited some time now to hear what the Government are proposing for a licensing regime. We understand the Government’s reluctance to legislate on everything, but it is unacceptable that vulnerable residents, often in park homes, are left less protected than people in registered social landlord accommodation or in other social housing. Does she agree?

[Caroline Nokes]

I certainly agree with my hon. Friend’s comments. It is not right that park home residents are left more vulnerable and exposed than those in many other types of property tenure. It is important not to forget that park homes can provide an important element of reasonably priced accommodation—I will not refer to affordable housing, using the technical term that we all understand from various connections with our local authorities, but to less expensive housing. Such housing is almost inevitably a choice for some of the most vulnerable people in our society, including the elderly, those who want to downsize, and those who find housing in other parts of our constituencies too expensive.

A further injustice facing park home owners is that of landlords imposing administrative charges for the supply of services such as water and sewerage. Those charges should be reasonable and not out of the ordinary for residents, but many find they are charged fees that are well over the odds, in addition to site owners taking advantage of a monopoly in supplying canisters of liquefied petroleum gas for heating and cooking. Some residents were subjected to dreadful intimidation and harassment when they challenged the prices, and had no choice but to pay up to heat their homes.

I have heard many horror stories of unscrupulous park owners overcharging for basic services. Some major LPG providers do very good deals with park owners and provide the canisters at a significantly cheaper cost than for those living in bricks and mortar houses. However, dishonest landlords often use that loophole to charge park home residents exorbitant sums to heat their homes. Residents are at liberty to buy gas canisters elsewhere without the risk of being overcharged, but the recurring theme is that many of them are elderly and more vulnerable, so they are less able to travel and to haul the heavy canisters into their car, if they have one, let alone to offload them at the other end and to install them safely.

One of my constituents, who sadly has specifically asked not to be named, contacted me to explain that he is fully reliant on purchasing gas canisters from his landlord at a significant mark-up. He thinks his lack of mobility and his vulnerability are being exploited so that the site owner can make a profit. Needless to say, he feels cheated, but helpless to do anything about it.

Consumer law provides protection for park home residents, and I encourage them to refer such incidents to Consumer Direct, which will invariably take them up with trading standards officers on their behalf, and ensure that they are reported. However, yet again, vulnerable and elderly residents need to know that they can go to Consumer Direct and have the case taken up on their behalf.