park homes policy forum

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• HERE`S WHAT TIM HAS TO SAY....

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When selling or buying a park home should you get a solicitor, be that in relation to an existing home to be sold on, or a brand new one from a site owner?

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Despite the Government’s “strong advice” to take advice from a solicitor or other professional, clients asking me about this often say how they have been told they should not.

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Comments I hear regularly include things like:

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• You don’t need a solicitor; it’s only a park home.

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• You don’t need one as it’s just like buying and selling a car.

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• Paying for a solicitor is a waste of money

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• Our agreement has been drawn up by lawyers anyway, so you don’t need to spend money on one.

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Yes, it is true you do not have to have a solicitor but there surely are good reasons for you to do so.

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• Perhaps most importantly, if more for buyers to think about, it is quite likely you will for a purchase be using a very large part of your available wealth and buying what is going to be your home.

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• Yes, many sales do not give rise to problems but from acting not just on sales and purchase but also cases where things have gone wrong, there are many possible problems that can come about which can be relevant and indeed present real problems for home owners, even to the extent of losing their home and money. Issues that can come up are wide ranging but here are some examples from cases I have handled:

  • whether homes comply with a range of requirements the law creates as to the likes of mobility, issues with extensions from the original home. Many of these issues are just not known about by many people.

  • Issues that might arise on the site such as fire safety linked site licence spacing from other homes and structures

  • The nature of the “site owner’s” own interest in the land of the site. If this is not as freehold owner this might have a big impact on rights a homeowner might have to keep a home on the site.

  • Arising more these days, site owners’ agreement terms putting more and more obligations (including as to cost) on homeowners than have been so in the past.

  • Following the correct process. I have come across cases where the site owner has argued after that it was not and taken action as result to try to end the home agreement. I also once had a case where on a sale the estate agent told the seller to serve a notice of proposed sale that the site owner objected to and issued a tribunal case. The buyer in that case pulled out as a result, but in fact on that matter, no notice was needed and so the problem could have been avoided.

 

So, yes things may seem simple and yes things may well not give rise to any problems, but that is not always so.

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Homes come as well with responsibility for repair and as such as well getting a survey before buying is sensible move. A surveyor seeing the home can as well look into some of the potential problems as I mentioned and as such help on those matters too.

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If taking advice however, a number of solicitors/ surveyors or other professional advisors are not experienced in “mobile homes act law” so do ask before instructing to check they have that experience.

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