Licensing of Caravan/Mobile Home/Park Home Sites

Privately owned caravan/mobile home/park home sites must normally have a license from the local authority, issued under the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960. The license will have conditions attached, which regulate a variety of aspects of the site. The Government has issued guidance in respect of those conditions under the Model Standards for Permanent Residential Mobile Home Sites 1989 and the Model Standards for Holiday Caravan Sites1989 which have been adopted by the Council. A copy of the license must be displayed on the site. A local authority can take action against a site owner for contraventions of the site license conditions. A pre-requisite of issuing a site license is that the site has the necessary planning permission. Where the occupier of a caravan/mobile home/park home is not the land owner, he/she will have a separate agreement with the site/land owner under the Mobile Homes Act 1983. The local authority does not have any remit with regard to disputes arising in respect of these agreements.

A guidance booklet issued by Government entitled “Mobile Homes – A guide for residents and site owners” is available from the Communities and Local Government website.

Site licenses are administered by our Private Sector Housing team. The relevant officer can be contacted on 01233 330339.

Recent new legislation in the form of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 has made adjustments to the responsibilities relating to fire precautions in particular on these sites, and following a recent consultation by Government in respect of updating the 1989 Model Standards, new guidance is awaited.

Private Sector Housing also administers the relevant statutory provisions in respect of camp-sites.