Your guide to park home rules and regulations in the UK

Whether you’re considering buying a park home or want to double-check your rights as a park home owner, it’s important to know the park home rules and regulations that both you and your site owner must follow.

Your pitch agreement will contain a lot of your park home’s rules and regulations, but it still pays to know what to look out for specifically.  

In this guide, we’ll discuss some of the most important rules you and your site owner must follow from your pitch agreement.

What is a pitch agreement?

A pitch agreement (or pitch licence agreement) is a statement that should be provided to you before you have agreed to purchase your park home.

Your pitch agreement should include information about your pitch and site, including the rules you must follow as the park home owner. Once you receive the pitch agreement, you then have 28 days to decide whether you’re happy to sign it.

What park home rules are included in a pitch agreement?

Checking your pitch agreement can help you understand your obligations as a park home owner. Your pitch agreement should include:

1.  The relevant dates and amounts you must pay for your pitch fees

Although you own the park home, you must pay pitch fees to the site owner for the land it sits on. The dates, costs, and what is included in your pitch fee should all be written into the agreement. You should also be given information on requesting the pitch fee to be reviewed if you feel the costs are unfair.

2.  Any additional utility fees you’re required to pay

For some park home sites, you’ll pay your utility bills straight to the provider yourself, but some site owners will have you pay the bills through them. This can include bills such as your water, electricity, and gas. You’ll also be required to pay council tax on a park home if it is your main residence.

If you think your bills paid to the site owner seem high, double-check that you are only paying for the electricity and gas you are using, as it is illegal for the park owner to charge any additional fees relating to these bills. The site owner can, however, charge a reasonable administration fee on top of your water bill.

3.  Yours and the site owner’s responsibilities for the upkeep of your home and the site

As the owner of the park home, you are required to keep the park home and its pitch in good condition. It’s your responsibility to carry out any maintenance on your park home and the pitch it stands on, but it is the site owners’ responsibility to maintain the foundations of the park home as well as the rest of the site.

4.  The express terms set out by the site owner

Express terms are any rules set out in the agreement that are not implied by UK law. The site owner often sets these out to cover all the necessary site rules you must follow. For example, these may include limitations on pets or noise levels.

The implied terms of your pitch agreement

The implied terms may not actually be written down in your agreement. This is because they are written into UK law and therefore apply whether written into your agreement or not, and the site owner cannot legally waive them.

Implied terms include laws such as your right to re-site, sell, and gift your park home. There are several additional implied terms, for example:

• You must pay your pitch fee to the park owner
• The site owner must provide free supporting documentation for the pitch fee and any additional charges upon request
• If you wish to terminate the agreement, you must give written notice to the site owner 4 weeks before the proposed date of termination

It’s a good idea to read up on them, so you’re fully informed about the laws you and the site owner must adhere to.

You can also read the consolidated implied terms in park home pitch agreements on the UK Government website.

Are there any limitations to park home site rules?

Knowing what a site owner is not allowed to include in their site rules is just as important as knowing what rules apply to you. The limitations include:

1.  Only allowing you to sell your property to the site owner

You have the right to sell your park home to whomever you choose as long as they agree to comply with the pitch agreement. You are also not required to tell the site owner that you are planning to sell or get the site owner's permission to sell.

2.  Any unauthorised payments

If your site owner asks you to make any payments to them that aren't set out in the pitch agreement, or one of your regular payments seems to have changed, you have a right to contest the payment to ensure that it is fair.

3.  Only allowing you to buy goods and services from the site owner

The site owner cannot limit where you choose to buy your goods and services from. For example, if you want repairs carried out on your park home, the site owner cannot only allow you to use providers they have chosen themselves.

Specialist park home insurance through Ripe

Purchasing a park home is a big investment, so you may want to consider protecting your park home with specialist insurance. 

 Specialist park home insurance through Ripe covers your property, including fixtures and fittings, up to the value of £500,000 and your contents up to the value of £75,000. The cover can be tailored to your requirements quickly and easily, so you’ll never pay for cover you don’t need. 

Find out more about specialist park home insurance or get an instant online quote today.