Guidance

Guidance on park homes and sites cases

Updated 1 May 2024

About this guide

This guidance is intended to help parties understand what happens when taking part in an application to the First-tier Tribunal Property Chamber (Residential Property) in the circumstances provided for by the Mobile Homes Act 1983 or the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960.  

For advice on how to present your case, or if you need to understand more about the law, you can contact Citizens Advice or find legal advice. 

The tribunal receives a high volume of applications and has to manage them within a fixed budget. It must ensure that each application is dealt with fairly and as efficiently as possible. It also has to ensure that each case uses an appropriate share of its resources whilst taking into account the need to allocate resources to other cases. 

If there is anything about the procedures you do not understand, Contact the regional tribunal office. The tribunal’s procedures are governed by statutory regulations called the Tribunal Procedure (First-tier Tribunal) (Property Chamber) Rules 2013. 

Tribunal decisions will be published on GOV.UK unless a party makes a written request that this should not be done.

Tribunal members and case officers 

Tribunal members are appointed by the Lord Chancellor. There are 2 types of members: 

• the chairman who is responsible for the conduct of the case and writes the reasons for the tribunal’s decision – this will usually be a lawyer or surveyor 
• other members – these may be lawyers, surveyors, other professional people or laypeople 

When a tribunal is set up to consider the case, there will usually be 2 or 3 members including the chairman. 

Case officers are the administrative staff who manage the process end-to-end and deal with correspondence. When an application is received, it is the case officer who will register the case and deal with the paperwork and correspondence until the parties have received the final decision. The case officers are able to speak to parties about the procedures relating to the application, but they cannot give legal advice or interpret the tribunal’s decision.

Applications 

The applicant must complete an application form in all cases. You can find the right form on GOV.UK or you can ask a case officer to send you a form. Some applications involve the payment of a fee. You can find information on fees on the relevant application form. 

Once the tribunal receives an application, a case officer will check it for completeness and will send the applicant an acknowledgement. The tribunal will send a copy to the other party (the respondent) and any person whose name and address is known to the tribunal and who the tribunal considers is likely to be significantly affected by the application. The tribunal will also send a copy to any person to whom the owner proposes to sell or gift the home under the Act. The tribunal may also send a copy to any other person it considers appropriate. If the applicant has named many respondents, the case officer might ask the applicant either to provide enough copies and stamped addressed envelopes, or to send the documents directly to the respondents on behalf of the tribunal. 

The tribunal will assess the urgency and complexity of each case. In urgent cases, such as where the health, safety and welfare of people may be of concern, the tribunal can list a hearing within days.  

In relatively simple cases, the parties may request, or the tribunal may suggest that the case can be dealt with by considering the written evidence and the parties’ written representations only (without the need for an in-person hearing). This is referred to as a paper determination. However, any party has the right to request a hearing.

Case preparation 

In cases where the issues are not clear, there may be an in-person case management conference (CMC) which is an opportunity for the parties to resolve some of the issues between them. If a CMC is arranged, the parties are encouraged to attend. The CMC is a good opportunity for the parties to have their say about what ‘directions‘ should be given in the case, and to ask questions about the procedure that the parties should follow. 

In cases where the issues can be readily identified, a tribunal chairman will issue written procedural directions requesting certain actions from one or both parties before the hearing. The procedural directions document will sometimes set out what the issues are and say when the parties need to send each other copies of documents. It will say whether there will be an inspection of the park home and site and may give an estimate of the length of the final hearing. If a party or another person is going to say something to the tribunal, they may be required to prepare a witness statement. 

Following the directions is important because they ensure that all parties know exactly what documents are available and what the witnesses are going to say. The tribunal may disregard new evidence produced at or just before the hearing. 

A bundle of the documents and photographs to be considered at the hearing or paper determination will have to be prepared in most cases. The directions will say how many copies of the bundle must be sent to the tribunal, and the date by which they must be sent, so that the tribunal members can read the documents and see what the issues are before the inspection, hearing or determination. 

The bundle must have a page index at the front and each following page must be numbered in sequence so that, at the hearing, when a person refers to a document on a certain page, everyone will be able to turn to the document quickly. 

The tribunal will expect the parties to agree the bundle. If not, each party will have to prepare its own bundle and submit it separately with an ‘A’ for applicant or ‘R’ for respondent and numbering on each page. 

The documents to include in the bundle will typically be copies of the application, any procedural directions, statements of case, any expert reports and witness statements, copies of the occupation agreement and any other relevant documents, for example invoices. Sections with dividers are helpful and most bundles should be in a lever arch file or ring binder. No single bundle of papers should be more than 350 pages, so more complex cases will need more than one lever arch file or ring binder.

Hearing and decision 

In London, hearings are held at the London office. In other regions, the hearing can take place in a hearing room at the regional office but will often take place at a venue as close to the property as is practical. 

A party can speak for themselves or through a representative (professionally qualified or not). It is usually the applicant’s responsibility to present their case first, but the tribunal chairman will provide guidance about the appropriate order of proceedings at the beginning of the hearing. Each party will be able to put relevant questions to the other party. The members of the tribunal will try to put people at their ease and will also ask some questions. If anything is unclear during the hearing, parties are encouraged to ask the tribunal for clarification. 

The tribunal’s decision will be made after the hearing and sent to the parties in writing as soon as possible and usually within four weeks.

Expert witnesses 

In some cases, the evidence of an expert is needed either by a party or by the tribunal. If a party intends to instruct an expert to give evidence, they will need permission of the tribunal. 

The tribunal will give directions about the service of any expert’s report on other parties. If more than one party instructs experts of the same type, the chairman is likely to order them to discuss the case before the hearing to try to agree as much as they can, and then produce a statement with reasons setting out what they agree and do not agree.

Inspections 

The tribunal may inspect the park home and site if requested by either party or if the tribunal considers it necessary. A visit will only take place on a date and at an approximate time notified to the parties. 

In some cases, the tribunal might be assisted by inspecting the inside of the park home as well as the outside and the site. The tribunal will only inspect inside the home if the occupier’s permission has been given. The parties may also inspect the inside of the home with the tribunal if the occupier has given permission. An inspection will usually be on the day of the hearing. 

At the inspection, either party can draw attention to any physical aspect of the park home or its surroundings, but may not say anything further. For example, a rusting base can be pointed out, but any suggestion as to why that occurred should not be given. ‘Representations’ (arguments and evidence) will either have been made in writing already or will be made at the oral hearing if one has been requested. 

If the members of the tribunal are unable to gain access at the appointed time, they may decide to make another appointment or they may decide that they have sufficient information to make a decision.

Variation and postponement applications 

Parties may ask the tribunal to vary the directions or to postpone a listed hearing. All such requests must be made in writing to the tribunal with full reasons and must be copied to the other parties. The tribunal is unlikely to postpone a hearing unless there are good reasons which have come up since the hearing date was fixed.  

Withdrawal 

Most withdrawals are made by parties after a negotiated agreement. An applicant who wishes to withdraw all or part of their case must notify the tribunal and the other party in writing. If the other party has consented in writing, this must be included with the applicant’s notice to the tribunal. The applicant’s notice of withdrawal will not take effect until the tribunal consents to the withdrawal, and the tribunal may make directions or impose conditions on the withdrawal as it considers appropriate.

Consent orders 

If the parties come to an agreement on the order they require, they may ask the tribunal to make a consent order. This would remove the need for proceedings and would include the other provisions which the parties have agreed. The tribunal may make a consent order if it considers it appropriate. The tribunal does not need to hold a hearing before making the order or provide reasons for the order.

Payment of fees 

If an application fee is payable, the tribunal will not proceed further with the case until the fee is paid. If the case has not been started and the fee is not paid within 14 days of being payable, the case will not be started. If a case has started, it will be considered withdrawn 14 days after the applicant is notified that the fee is unpaid. 

Most applications have a hearing fee of £220 which will become payable when you receive notice of the hearing date. The application form will include details on when a hearing fee is payable. 

Some applicants may have difficulty paying a fee. A system of fee waivers and reductions, known as Help with Fees, is available. The application form and guidance give more information. The form must accompany the application. Alternatively, you can make a Help with Fees application online. The reference number provided by the online system must be written on the tribunal’s application form. 

An applicant who paid a fee can ask the tribunal to order another party or parties to reimburse the applicant in whole or in part. The tribunal will make an order to that effect at the end of the case if it is fair to do so.

Costs

The tribunal does not usually award costs against the losing side. However, if a party does not comply with the procedural directions or otherwise behaves unreasonably in connection with the proceedings, there could be serious consequences. Firstly, the tribunal may decide to stop the application going ahead and secondly, if one party has incurred costs as a result of:

• another party’s failure to comply with directions or
• another party’s unreasonable actions or behaviour, the tribunal may order the defaulting or unreasonable party to pay costs.

Special requirements

The tribunal seeks to make itself as accessible as possible to all parties. If you have a particular requirement, for example because of a disability or special need, please discuss this with the case officer when you make your application.

Use of emails

The following rules are designed to minimise the impact that emails can have on the efficient running of the tribunal office. Parties who wish to use emails are requested to:

• prepare a letter to the tribunal in Word format and attach it to the email (maximum of 5 pages - longer documents should be send by post)
• as case officers are sometimes absent, always send or copy the email to the regional office
• always copy any email to the other parties, either by email or by post, and confirm in the email/ letter that this has been done *always quote the reference number or case officer’s name in the email.

Email chains, email ‘conversations’ about the case and bundles attached to emails will not be accepted.

Appeals and re-hearings

In most cases where a party does not agree with the decision of the tribunal and wants it to be changed, an appeal will have to be made to the Upper Tribunal. In that case, the first thing for that party to do is make an application to the tribunal for permission to appeal.

The application for permission, which must be made within 28 days after the date when the written reasons for the decision were sent to the parties, must be in writing giving the reasons why the applicant believes the decision was wrong. The tribunal will then decide whether permission should be granted for the appeal to proceed. The parties will be notified of that decision in writing. A dissatisfied party will then be able to re-apply for permission direct to the Upper Tribunal.

If the tribunal realises that a clerical mistake has been made it can issue a correction certificate.

Finally, if for a reason beyond the tribunal’s control, there has been a serious procedural error (for example, if the documents provided by one party were not seen by the tribunal), and the tribunal considers it to be in the interests of justice to do so, it can set aside its decision and re-determine the case. Any application to set aside on this basis should be made within 28 days after the decision was sent to the parties.

Case closure

Following either a withdrawal or determination of all applications (including any appeal), the tribunal will close its case file, which will be retained for a period of 12 months before being destroyed.

What types of Park Homes cases can the tribunal deal with?

The law in this area is quite technical and in some cases time limits apply. Details of these limits are set out in the relevant application forms. A park home is referred to in the legislation as a mobile home.

This tribunal has the power to make certain decisions in respect of park homes on protected sites (which, as from 30 April 2011, includes permanent pitches on local authority provided gypsy and traveller sites).

The terms of a park home owner’s occupation of a protected site are governed by an agreement between the occupier and the site owner.

The tribunal has power to deal with applications under the 1983 Act relating to:

• provision by the site owner to an occupier of a written statement as to the terms of their agreement
• the inclusion, exclusion or variation of certain terms as specified in section 2 of the Act
• the making, varying or deletion, of a site rule by the site owner and the deposit of any such rules, or deletion notice with the local authority
• a site owner’s notice of a proposed new pitch fee
• a proposed sale or gift of the home (along with the benefit of the occupation agreement) to a particular purchaser or family member respectively in those cases where the site owner is able to apply for a refusal order
• whether either an occupier or a site owner is in breach of the occupation agreement
• the temporary relocation from or return of the home to its pitch on the site
• a question as to whether, having regard to its condition, the home is having a detrimental effect on the amenity of the site
• whether a qualifying residents association of park home owners should be recognised officially
• any disputed question arising under the Act or the agreement such as breach of the agreement (in which case, if there has been a breach, the tribunal has the power to order the payment of compensation).

From 8 August 2014 the tribunal also has power to deal with applications under the 1960 Act relating to:

• the local authority’s refusal to issue or consent to the transfer of a site licence
• the imposition or alteration by the local authority of conditions attached to a site licence
• a compliance notice issued by a local authority alleging breach of a site licence condition
• the taking of emergency action by the local authority
• the demand by a local authority for a charge for action in default or emergency action and (on application by a local authority)
• for an order as to payment of the annual site licence fee by the licence holder or
• the revocation of a site licence on the ground of non compliance with a payment order.

Further help and guidance

Tribunal website: www.gov.uk/housing-tribunals/overview

• T540 Guidance on Rent Cases
• T541 Guidance on Service Charges, Administration Charges and other Management Issues
• T542 Guidance on Enfranchisement
• T543 Guidance on Housing Act Cases
• T544 Guidance on Park Homes Cases
• T545 Guidance on Tenants Associations
• T546 Guidance on Right to Buy Cases
• T609 Guidance on Appeal