Mobile or park homes

Mobile home site licensing

The majority of residential park home, camping and caravan sites require a licence issued by us. This includes the following types of sites:

• Mobile home parks / static caravans / touring caravan sites used for permanent occupation
• Holiday sites
• Mixed holiday / residential sites
• Camping sites
• Single mobile homes or caravans on land can be a caravan site even if it is lived in by the owner of the land. This means that family-owned and occupied sites not run for commercial gain still require a licence

Visit our Caravan and Camping Site Licence page to apply.

Sites exempt from licensing

• A caravan sited within the curtilage of a dwelling and its use is incidental to the dwelling. This means it cannot be occupied separately.
• A single caravan sited for not more than two consecutive nights for a maximum of 28 days in any 12 months
• Up to three caravans on a site of not less than five acres for a maximum of 28 days in any 12 months
• Sites occupied by exempted organisations such as the Caravan Club
• Sites of up to five caravans certified by an exempt organisation and which are for members only
• Sites occupied by the local authority
• Sites for temporary and special purposes such as caravan rallies, agricultural and forestry workers, building and engineering sites and travelling salespeople

Changes to the Mobile Homes Act

The Caravan and Control of Development Act 1960 requires us 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. These sites are commonly known as ‘relevant protected sites’.

The Government passed the Mobile Homes Act 2013 which is designed to give greater protection to occupiers of residential caravan and mobile homes.

Changes to the sale or gifting of Park Homes and site rules

Legislation introduced changes to the sale/gifting of park homes and amendments to existing implied terms relating to the annual pitch fee review procedure on parks. In addition to this it is intended that existing site rules will eventually be replaced with new site rules to be deposited with the Local Authority.

Changes to licensing and the introduction of licence fees

The Mobile Homes Act 2013 introduced some important changes to park home site licensing. These changes include the ability for Local Authorities to charge site owners a fee for applying for a site licence, for amendments or transfers of existing licences, and for an annual fee for existing site licenses. Failure to pay the annual fee may eventually lead to the site licence being revoked.

Changes to the enforcement of site licence breaches

Local Authorities are able to 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, and the notice will attract a fee. Failure to comply with the notice would be a criminal offence.

Public Register, Site Rules and Site Licence Conditions

Please note the document 'Park rules for Whiteley Parks' applies to:

• Brookfield Park, Werrington
• Dukesmead Park, Werrington
• Werrington Grove, Werrington

Further information

Further information on the changes introduced by the Mobile Homes Act 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, 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.