The law surrounding park homes and residential park home sites in Scotland is very different to that in England and Wales. Fortunately, there’s a company that was specifically set up to offer help and advice to both Scottish home buyers and park owners, as well as providing other services such as home maintenance and repairs. Steve Rowe finds out more about this unique organisation…

When it comes to buying either a bricks-and-mortar home or a park home, things operate differently in Scotland, with a different set of laws and procedures in place. To help both park owners and park home residents, an all-encompassing company called Park Homes Scotland Ltd was set up in 2013, which offers everything from legal advice, to park home estate agency services, with the majority of its work taking the form of repair and renovation work to Scottish park homes.

The company was founded by Jim Haluch and David Scott, with Jim being a park home resident who thought that Scotland needed its own park home specialist company, rather than relying on services being provided by companies outside Scotland when it came to home renovations or legal services.

The company offers its services to both individual park home owners, as well as the park owners. So, for instance, it can help park owners with their licence renewals, with all of the residential parks in Scotland having to renew their licences in May this year, regardless of how long they had held their current licence.
When it comes to park home owners, the company offers a full renovation service, with its own fully qualified and certified workmen.

It also undertakes inspection reports on the condition of a park home, either for the prospective buyer of a pre-owned home, or for a home owner who is considering which type of renovation work to undertake on their home.

Home renovation work
The largest part of the company’s workload is its home renovation service.

David Scott explained to us that the Scottish weather can be a real problem for older park homes, with periods of intense wind and rain sometimes leading to severe water damage.

In the main, he explained that park home roofs tend to hold up well, unless there’s a really bad storm, but water ingress problems typically tend to start around poorly sealed windows or doors, where a long period of water ingress can lead to rotting wall timbers, which can eventually destroy the structural integrity of a home. The company offers a full range of renovation services, including its Home Inspection Reports, which cover all aspects of the home, giving a full breakdown of any problems, which can then be swiftly acted upon.

Specifically, work that can be carried out by the company includes external repairs and maintenance, painting or cladding, chassis repairs and maintenance, fitting decking and fencing, roof repairs, plus replacing doors and windows. Internally, the company can carry out anything from a simple decoration or minor repairs, to fitting new bathrooms and kitchens.

Safety first
When it comes to discussing any potential work with a home owner, due to the often elderly or vulnerable nature of many park home residents, the company always insists that another family member is present at the time. This is part of the professional standards that the company has set itself, in order to provide the best possible service.

As part of its commitment to providing the highest standards of service, David and other representatives from Park Homes Scotland recently visited the Omar factory, to see all the latest home production techniques.

This was partly so the company could keep up to date with the latest techniques, helping them when they repair older park homes, but also to build a close relationship with home manufacturers.

David explained that Omar’s homes are among the best on the market, when it comes to surviving the harsh Scottish elements, since Omar construct their homes way above the standards required in the building codes for park homes, especially when it comes to aspects such as home insulation.

Park Homes Scotland is also a nominated inspector for the UK-wide Gold Shield park home warranty programme in Scotland, able to carry out maintenance and repair works under the scheme.

Under the scheme, owners have some maintenance obligations, if they want the Gold Shield Warranty to last its full ten years (such as filling any hairline cracks in the home’s rendering), and the company can undertake any work required. It also carries out repair work on behalf of park home insurance companies.

Both of these highlight the high quality standards which the company works to.

Helping home buyers and owners Park Homes Scotland also helps potential park home buyers when it comes to choosing a park home.

 

Read the full article in the February 2020 issue of Park Home & Holiday Caravan