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Strong Local Voice, Strong Local ChampionAnnette Brooke, Lib Dem MP for Mid Dorset & North Poole |
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Annette Brooke MP Welcomes Progress of Park Homes Legislation
October 19, 2012 3:49 PM
Annette with members of the APPG on Mobile Homes and Peter Aldous MP with the bill.
Annette Brooke, MP for Mid Dorset and North Poole, today welcomed the passing of the Second Reading of Peter Aldous MP's Bill on Mobile Homes. The Bill passed through to Committee Stage with unanimous support from all sides of the House of Commons.
Annette made a speech this morning in the chamber, praising her constituent Sonia McColl, a park home owner who set up the national Park Home Owners Justice Campaign, particularly to stop sale blocking. Annette said that Sonia deserves to be honoured for her work, persistence and readiness to run a campaign of this magnitude, especially given that she had to learn on the job. Annette also mentioned that it was almost exactly three years ago that the first petition to the Government to stop sale blocking went out, with almost 10,000 people signing it before Christmas 2009.
On the issue of sale blocking, Annette citied an appalling incident in the constituency where £15,000 was offered for a home that could have gone for £150,000 on the open market. The Consumer Focus report on Park Homes launched on Wednesday in the House of Commons showed that 28% of residents thought they could not buy or sell their homes freely, and that 10% reported problems of intimidation, violence, vandalism and damage to property.
With Government support, the Bill will introduce the following measures to re-balance the rights of home and park owners:
- Enhanced local authority powers and a reform of the licensing system that applies to park home sites
- A prevention of site owners from blocking residents' sales in the open market, including through the misuse of site rules;
- Clarification of the law on harassment and making it an offence to say something which is untrue to prevent a home being sold;
- Making pitch fee reviews more transparent and setting new rules on what is to be taken into account on a review so they are fairer and reflect the condition of the site and
- Allowing the Secretary of State to introduce a "fit and proper" registration scheme in the future should that prove necessary.
Annette said: "I am delighted to see this bill progress to its next stage. I had hoped to get a Private Members Bill in the ballot and was very disappointed not to have been able to take the legislation forward. Luckily, Peter Aldous MP was successful and chose to make justice for Park Home owners the purpose of his bill which I was incredibly pleased to hear! I am sure that he will go down in history for his wise and splendid choice."
Notes
- Annette has campaigned for years on these issues, along with local park home resident and founder of the Park Home Owners Justice Campaign Sonia McColl.
- The bill is the culmination of organised national rallies, meetings of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Mobile Homes, Parliamentary Questions asked by Annette to various Ministers in the House of Commons, including two to the Prime Minister, and Parliamentary debates.
- To read a copy of Annette's speech, visit http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/hansard/commons/todays-commons-debates/read/unknown/7/
- To view a copy of the bill, visit http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2012-13/mobilehomes.html