NEW RESIDENTIAL PARK HOME LICENSING RULES FINALLY BECOME LAW
About time….
After nine years in the making, during which we saw the pioneering work of the late Mike Larkman and our own editor, the Scottish Government finally brought to law new licensing regulations designed to rid the residential park home industry of rogue landlords. Many readers will not know that the 2013 Written Statement Regulations and the Mobile Homes section of the 2014 Housing (Scotland) Act (which came into force on 1 May 2017) would not have happened without the Willow Wood Residents Association and its campaigning and lobbying for change. It was the bitter experience of the original Willow Wood dwellers, from 2003, that led to the formation of our Association and to the much better conditions now enjoyed by park home residents throughout Scotland. No longer can site owners block or interfere in sale of homes, but from now site owners have two years to reapply for their site licence even if they have held a licence for 50 years. Licences will not be granted automatically and will have to be renewed every five years; better still, applicants must undergo a ‘Fit and Proper Person’ test, have criminal records checked and any previous breaches of park home regulations will count against them. New licences will not be guaranteed. Happy times!
