'Protect park home owners' - Annette Brooke MP introduces Parliamentary Bill on park homes.
May 5, 2009 5:03 PM
Annette Brooke, MP for Mid Dorset and North Poole, will today be introducing a bill to Parliament aimed at protecting the rights of park home owners wishing to sell their properties.
Reports from all over the country that indicate park home owners being offered the market price for their property, often of £100,000 or more, but following an interview with the site owner - which is usually required - the offer is withdrawn and the site owner is able to put in a substantially lower one of £15,000 or less.
The 10 Minute Rule bill, which will be presented today by Annette and supported by MPs from all parties, aims to introduce legislation that would require a witness to attend any interviews between the owners of Park Home sites and prospective purchasers of mobile homes prior to any sale. The purpose of this is to safeguard often vulnerable residents of park homes from fraud and intimidation, as well as increasing the reputation of the whole sector and strengthening business practices for the benefit of both site owners and residents. It's key aim would be to prevent unjustified interference by the site owner when residents come to sell their park homes.
Dorset has many park homes sites, and Annette was keen to emphasise that the majority of businesses are excellently run and provided a useful addition to the housing supply in the area. However, after receiving several representations from constituents with concerns about the management of one site in particular she felt compelled to take the issue up in Parliament.
Commenting Annette said 'I am delighted to be able to bring this incredibly important matter to the attention of Parliament, and have been pleased with the amount of cross party support I have received on the matter.
It is vital that the industry as a whole is strengthened in order to protect both the residents and the site owners. The majority of those working in the industry provide an excellent service and manage beautiful and high standard sites. However, I have heard many stories of rogue site owners engaging in fraud and manipulative management and it is clear that something should be done to protect those at every stage of the sale. I sincerely hope that the debate this afternoon will draw attention to the issue.'
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