Radio 4 raises awareness of park home rights

BBC Radio 4’s Today programme has become the latest major media source to address the government’s investigation into the rights of park home owners.

Earlier this year the Communities and Local Government Select Committee launched an investigation into the rights of park home owners versus site operators, taking evidence from a number of sources in order to compile an official report.

The committee’s chairman Clive Betts and Sonia McColl, founder of the Park Home Owners Justice Campaign, joined presenters John Humphrys and Evan Davis live on the show to highlight the issue to the British public.

“There are some good park owners out there….but there is a significant amount that are very, very bad,” explained McColl. “There are things going wrong across the board, from sale blocking to maintenance not being done.”

“There are very specific laws relating to park homes, many of which haven’t been updated for some time, and our committee is calling for a major overhaul of them,” added Betts. “We want local authorities to have more power in their hands.”

Both parties commented on the intimidation and bully tactics used by some park home owners currently to profiteer from or forcefully remove residents, many of whom are retired and are merely seeking a quiet life. The call for new legislation is the first step towards driving these substandard park home owners out of the industry.

If you would like to listen to the interview in full, simply click here, select ‘listen: latest programme in full’ and scroll along to 00:52.30.

Although park home owners must now wait for the results of the government report to find out if legislation changes will be made, there are a number of steps that you can take to protect your park home and its contents. Coast’s park home insurance features legal expenses cover including disputes between residents and site owners – to find out more call our friendly sales team on Freephone 0800 614 849.