Rights and responsibilities when you operate a residential mobile home site
Residents have the following rights and responsibilities, regardless of whether they’re included in the copy of the written statement you give them.
These are called the ‘implied terms’.
Resident obligations
The resident must:
- pay the pitch fee
- pay fees for utilities supplied under the agreement, such as gas, electricity and water charges
- maintain and repair their mobile home
- keep the pitch clean and tidy
Site owner obligations
If the resident asks for it, you must provide:
- information and evidence about site fees
- information and evidence about service charges
- a copy of the site insurance certificate
Repairs, maintenance and improvements
You must:
- repair or renew the base that a mobile home sits on when necessary
- maintain the supply of any services to the pitch or mobile home, such as gas, electricity or water
- maintain and keep clean any areas of the site that residents are not responsible for
- consult residents on improvements to the site
If there is a qualifying residents’ association for the site, you must consult it on any decisions about operating and managing the site that affect the residents.
Qualifying residents’ association
For a residents’ association to qualify, it must meet certain criteria, including:
- it represents the people living on the site
- it’s independent from the site owner
- it has enough members to cover at least 50% of the mobile homes on the site
- decisions are made by vote, where there is one vote per mobile home
Site owner’s name and address
You must give residents an address where legal notices can be served. For example, where they can send a written notice to end their agreement.
If there’s a qualifying residents’ association, you must give it the address as well.
Length of agreement
The agreement will continue indefinitely unless:
- you get a court order to end the agreement
- the resident gives at least 4 weeks’ notice in writing to end the agreement
- you cannot grant the right to occupy indefinitely, because your interest in the land is time limited
- planning permission for the site is time limited
Refunding overpayments
If the agreement is ended, you must pay back the resident for any fees they’ve paid beyond the end of the agreement.
Gifting the mobile home
The resident is entitled to gift their home to a family member and transfer the agreement to them. Transferring is called ‘assigning’.
You cannot ask for commission when a family member takes on a residential mobile home.
You can ask the resident to prove that the new resident is a member of their family.
Selling the mobile home
Residents have the right to:
- market their home through an estate agent or solicitor
- sell their home without you approving the buyer
- assign the agreement to the buyer
You’re entitled to receive commission, up to a maximum of 10% of the sale price.
Re-siting the mobile home
You can only move a resident’s home to another pitch when you:
- need to move it temporarily to do emergency work
- want to move it permanently, and you have a court order allowing you to do so
In both cases, the new pitch must be similar to the existing pitch. You must pay the costs of re-siting the home.
Undisturbed possession of the mobile home
Residents have the right to live on site without unnecessary disturbance from you or any site manager.
Accessing a pitch with a resident on it
You can only enter a resident’s pitch without notice to read meters and deliver post between 9am and 6pm.
If you need to enter a pitch to do essential or emergency work, you should give the resident as much notice as you can.
If you need access for any other reason, you must give them at least 14 days’ notice, unless they have agreed otherwise. You must tell them the date, time and reason for the visit.
You must not enter their home without their permission.
Increasing pitch fees
There are rules you must follow to increase pitch fees:
- there can only be one increase per year
- you must consult residents about an increase
- you must give at least 28 days’ notice in writing of a proposed increase
- an increase should not be higher than the inflation rate without good reason – for example, if the facilities you provide change
If the resident agrees to the increased fee, you can increase the fee on the review date.
If they do not agree, they can refer the increase to the sheriff court so the court can decide. The fee does not change until the court has decided.
More information
Implied terms come from legislation.
You can find a copy of the implied terms in the Mobile Homes (Written Statement) (Scotland) Regulations 2013 on legislation.gov.uk.