The Caravan and Control of Development Act 1960 requires the council to licence sites that have gained or are in the process of obtaining the required planning permission to operate as a recognised caravan, mobile home or park home site.
On 26 March 2013 the government passed the Mobile Homes Act 2013 (MHA 2013) which is designed to give greater protection to occupiers of residential caravan and mobile homes on "relevant protected sites" or residential sites.
Site rules - depositing with the local authority, and the local authority register of site rules
The Mobile Homes (Site Rules) (England) Regulations 2014 prescribe the procedure for the making, variation and deletion of site rules on residential mobile home parks. Site Licence Holders must follow a set procedure for changes to be made to “site rules” for a permanent residential home site.
Once the rules have been agreed, they must be deposited with the local authority and we will publish them on our website. Please note that Amber Valley Borough Council does not have any enforcement powers to object to site rules and you should seek legal advice if you disagree with rules in place for your site. Advice on site rules can be obtained from Lease, read more at www.parkhomes.lease-advice.org.
Below are the site rules that have been deposited with Amber Valley Borough Council.
'Disclaimer' regarding mobile home site rules:
All site rules received by Amber Valley Borough Council are required to be published under Regulation 16 of the Mobile Homes (Site Rules) (England) Regulations 2014. The site rules that are published to the register as required by the above regulation are an exact copy as presented to Amber Valley Borough Council. The council accepts no responsibility if there are errors or omissions regarding the site rules.
Further:-
| Date of Deposit | Site | Site Rules |
|---|---|---|
| December 2014 | Cupola Park | Download Cupola Park site rules |
| September 2014 | Merebrook | Download Merebrook site rules |
| August 2015 | Bermeranda | Download Bermeranda site rules |
The MHA 2013 introduced some important changes to park home site licensing on 1 April 2014. The local authority will charge site owners a fee for applying for a site licence, for amendments or transfers of existing licences, and for the majority of the sites in our borough, an annual fee for existing site licenses. The policy has now been changed and updated to include the new requirement for those running mobile homes sites. Those responsible will need to apply before 1st October 2021.
The law requires that the register of fit and proper persons is published and maintained online.
Local authorities can serve compliance notices on site owners where site licence conditions are breached. These notices will set out what the site owner needs to do to correct the breaches and the timescales, there is a fee charged for this enforcement. Failure to comply with the notice would be a criminal offence.
Further information on the changes introduced by the MHA 2013 can be obtained from the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) website.
The government has also extended the role of the Leaseholder Advisory Service (LEASE) (Tel: 020 7383 9800) so that park home residents can contact them for help and advice. This will be particularly helpful for matters where the local authority does not have a role such as site rules, pitch fees or the selling/gifting of park homes, read more at www.lease-advice.org.
Contact the team directly on 01773 841335 or email eh-housing@ambervalley.gov.uk
