Scarborough and Whitby MP calls for 'robust protection' as retiree ‘threatened with violence’ over park home sale

Alison Hume, MP for Scarborough and Whitby, has called for “robust protections” and stricter regulation of the holiday park industry after a resident was “mis-sold a holiday home on a holiday park under the false pretence that it was a residential home”.

The Member of Parliament for York Outer, ​Luke Charters, also called for action on the 10 per cent commission that is charged on the resale of park homes.

Speaking in a Westminster Hall debate on Tuesday, April 28, Ms Hume described how a “constituent, Dennis, was persuaded to make the purchase by signage that suggested that the caravan could be used as his sole residence and inhabited all year round”.

​However, she said that after Dennis moved in, he discovered that he was legally required to have a permanent home elsewhere, which is the rule for holiday parks.

​After the summer was over, Dennis faced, in his words, a “relentless campaign of harassment, intimidation and verbal abuse”.

​Ms Hume said the retiree was “frequently approached by members of staff and warned that his home would be removed from the site if he did not vacate it”.

​She told colleagues: “My constituent was threatened with physical violence.

"Eventually, when that intimidation became too much, Dennis sold his home back to the site at a 60 per cent loss.

"The site sold it four days later for a substantial profit.”

​Matthew Pennycook, the Minister for Housing and Planning, described the case of Dennis as a “really egregious example of harassment and intimidation.”

​He said that the Government was looking into areas including written agreements, contractual rights, conveyancing, the adequacy of existing redress mechanisms in respect of pitch fees, overcharging in relation to utilities, and harassment by site owners.

​Mr Pennycook added: “I assure [MPs] that the Government either have taken action or are exploring action in a number of those areas.

​“That might take a range of forms, such as raising awareness about the protections and enforcement mechanisms that already exist or providing further guidance.

"We are taking some very real steps, not least in respect of utilities.”

​Also speaking in the debate, Luke Charters, the MP for York Outer, said that “for too many, what was meant to be a peaceful retirement has slowly, heartbreakingly turned into something else entirely.

​“For some residents, their park home has become a financial prison.”

​Mr Charters said: “Residents who believed they were buying certainty now lie awake worrying about pitch fees they cannot control.

​“That is why I warmly welcome the Government’s plan to move annual pitch fee increases away from retail price index and towards the consumer price index.

​“However, there is one issue that still casts a very long shadow over the lives of park home residents: the 10 per cent commission charge on resale.”

​Minister for Housing, Mr Pennycook, noted that the 10 per cent commission fee charged on the sale of park homes had been the subject of intense debate over many years and that he fully understood MPs’ desire to “secure change in this matter, and I assure those present that I share their impatience”.

​He added that the Government published a call for evidence concerning the rationale for the commission payment and encouraged residents and site owners across the country to engage with it before it closes on May 29.

​The Minister concluded: “I encourage all MPs here to tell their constituents about it so that we can get the maximum amount of evidence submitted.

​“Then we can properly consider what, if any, changes are needed to the payment of a commission, what the options are and how they would impact on the sector.”