Barrister and mediator Ibraheem Dulmeer, of Park Homes Law – www.parkhomeslaw.com – looks in more detail at site licences on residential parks and the important role of a local authority…

A site owner must have a site licence and relevant planning in order to run a site for residential use. The relevant planning permission and site licence is granted by the local authority. The laws deal with the enforcement of site licence conditions relating to “relevant protected sites”, which include sites which have residential park homes and mixed use sites, where there is both holiday caravans and residential park homes. For more information on this you may wish to consider the Guidance from the Department of Communities and Local Government’s guidance on this.

Q1: Why is the correct licence so important?
Ibraheem says: It is important for the park home owner to check that there is the correct planning permission in place. The correct planning will allow the residential use of that land. This means that the home can be used as the park home owner’s main or only residence. This will be under an agreement which refers to the Mobile Homes Act 1983 (as amended).

Q2: Where can I obtain a copy of the site licence?
Ibraheem says: The site licence should be displayed on the site in “some conspicuous place” together with the conditions of the licence itself.

In my experience, having visited many sites, the licence and conditions are usually displayed on the park’s noticeboard. Sometimes, however, the site licence may be available to view in the sit office.

The local authority also must keep a register of site licences. This register of site licences must be open to public at all reasonable times. It may be a good idea to check online!

Q3: What are the “model standards” and where do they apply?
Ibraheem says: “Model standards” are example licence conditions that may be specified by the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government. The most up to date model standards are the Model Standards 2008 for Caravan Sites in England.

These standards only apply to those sites which contain caravans that are used as permanent residential units. They do not apply to sites used exclusively for holidays or touring caravan sites (for which separate model standards have been issued).

Local authorities should take into account these standards for all new sites and sites which have been substantially redeveloped and may decide to use the Model Standards.

In terms of existing sites which had been granted licence conditions prior to the Model Standards, consideration should be given to whether it is appropriate to apply any of the model standards if a review is being undertaken. Things such as the character of the site will be taken into account.

Q4: Can current site licence conditions be updated?
Ibraheem says: Local authorities have the power to review site licence conditions. However, this is a due process that must be followed. Existing licence conditions may only be changed after the site owner has had opportunity to make representations.

Any varied or new condition introduced by the local authority may be challenged by the site owner within 28 days from receiving the notice of the new changes if there are grounds to do so. The site owner may bring a challenge by making an application to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber).

Q5: How do local authorities generally operate in this area?
Ibraheem says: It is my understanding, having trained local authority officers in the past, that they will prefer to work with site owners in a positive way to improve parks where necessary and address any issues that arise.

Except in the most serious and urgent cases, where they have the power to take action and issue compliance notices which outline the work needed and the deadline for undertaking such work.  It is clear that local authorities will want to work with site owners to resolve the problems informally without the recourse to formal enforcement action.

Concluding remarks
The correct site licence is imperative for a residential site. There are conditions that have to be complied with by the site licence and the local authority may use a variety of methods to reach compliance, in the event there are issues on the site relating the site licence.

Need advice? Contact Ibraheem
If you are unsure about your legal position in any park home matter, please get in touch and obtain specific legal advice. Ibraheem Dulmeer is a barrister at Normanton Chambers and KBG Chambers. Ibraheem is able to accept instructions directly without requiring a solicitor, as a public access barrister on any park home matter. This means you can instruct him directly. For a free quote, he can be contacted by telephone on: 0207 081 2909 by email at info@parkhomeslaw.com. You can also contact him using his website: www.parkhomeslaw.com For holiday/lodge advice, please contact him using www.holidayparklaw.com The information provided in this article serves as useful guidance. Please note that this article is not intended to be comprehensive and should not be relied on in substitution for specific legal advice. If in doubt, you could seek specific advice from Ibraheem Dulmeer. Please note that not all matters are suitable for direct access.  This material should not be replicated without the author’s consent. Ibraheem Dulmeer © 2025