Understanding the legal rights of a static caravan owner

If you own a static caravan, or are thinking of purchasing one, it’s important to know where you stand in terms of your legal rights.

In Great Britain, there isn’t any specific legislation regulating the static caravan industry. Park home owners received some protection from the Mobile Homes Act 2013, but this does not extend to holiday homes.

The most important thing to do to give yourself legal protection is to read your contract thoroughly and get it looked over by a legal professional if required. You will find that you have very little protection if you do not have a formal licence agreement in place, so conducting business without a contract should not be considered.

Dealing with contracts

If you’ve already signed a contract, you may not necessarily be bound to the terms held within. A contract is only legally binding if it can be considered fair. This means that there are a range of things that a holiday park or other third party can’t do if they want the contract to stand.

Guidance from the Competition and Markets Authority, which replaced the Office of Fair Trading in 2014, says that businesses should not:

• Levy excessive penalties for cancelling a contract
• Hide important terms in the contractual small print
• Use the terms of the contract to take away or reduce a customer’s statutory rights
• Make the terms of the contract deliberately confusing or difficult to understand

You can find more information on unfair contract terms on the Government’s website.

Dealing with caravan parks

Static caravan owners can further protect themselves by ensuring that the holiday park they site their caravan on is regulated by an industry body. The two main industry bodies are the National Caravan Council (NCC) and British Holiday & Home Parks Association (BH&HPA).

The NCC is the only one which currently has a regulatory scheme in place for holiday park owners, so look to see if your caravan park is a member. The scheme has a consumer code of practice and a set of minimum standards that members must adhere to, so if you’re having problems with your holiday park this could be a good place to start.

You can find more information on the NCC on their website.

If you think you’ve been treated unfairly

If you think your holiday park has treated you unfairly, the first thing to do is check over any signed agreements you have. Make sure that there isn’t a clause that allows them to act they way they have done. If the contract isn’t clear, you may be able to challenge it.

If you think you were missold, your first port of call should be the Citizen’s Advice Bureau. Bodies like the Competition and Markets Authority and don’t typically deal with smaller, individual consumer cases. The Citizen’s Advice Bureau will be able to advise you on next steps and whether or not you should report your case to Trading Standards.

Please bear in mind that I Buy Caravans are not a legal advice service, and that the details we have given you here are for general guidance. If you have any questions about your legal standing, we would recommend contacting a solicitor.

While we can’t help you out if you’re having a legal dispute, we can buy your static caravan without hassle if it’s time for you to move on. Just get in touch to arrange your free, no-obligation valuation.