It’s all outlined for your peace of mind
When moving into a new property, whether thats a traditional bricks and mortar property or a park home, it is so important to understand the costs. We have a selection of homes to suit your taste and budget and there are many benefits to owning a park home but it’s important to understand the costs before you commit.
Understanding the costs
There is no stamp duty when purchasing a park home and council tax is the lowest rate at band A. There is a monthly pitch fee to cover the cost of the park’s electric gates, roads, lighting and maintenance of the communal areas and all of the current rates can be obtained from your sales advisor.
Other things to consider are the running costs such as insurance, gas and electric, all of which can be predicted for you when you enquire to give you an overall picture of the costs involved.
Find out more about the costs of residential park home living here.
Firming up the agreement
Before a site owner can enter into an agreement with a person allowing that person to live in a home pitched on his site, he must give the proposed occupant a written statement that sets out certain information, including the express and implied terms of the agreement.
The agreement terms include the obligation on the part of the resident to pay a pitch fee to the site owner. Pitch fees are sometimes called ‘rent’ or ‘ground rent’. The pitch fee is the amount required to be paid by the resident in return for being allowed to keep a park home on the pitch and use common areas of the site. The pitch fee does not include amounts due in respect of gas, electricity, water and sewerage and other services (e.g. the renting out of a garage) unless the agreement between the site owner and resident specifically states otherwise.
Pitch fee review guidelines
There should be annual reviews of pitch fees to allow the amount to be adjusted according to inflation, the current economy or other factors. These pitch fee reviews should be done according to guidelines set out by the government Mobile Homes Act in 2013. If the site owner wants to increase the pitch fee then they must follow these rules. The site owner must make any changes to the pitch fee by first informing the park home resident of the change and include a pitch review form in this notice.
If the pitch fee review form is not served then the site owner forfeits any increase to the pitch fee and cannot make any changes. The pitch fee review notice and the review form must be sent at least 28 days before the review. Failure to do so will result in the site owner being unable to make any changes.
