PM urged to end 'legal theft' from park home owners

Sir Keir Starmer is being urged to scrap a law forcing people who live in mobile homes to hand over 10% of the profits when they sell up to the site owner.

The charge has been labelled "legal theft of equity" by campaigner Sonia McColl, who represents an estimated 200,000 park homes residents across England.

She said most of the residents are retired and are selling up to pay for care, whereas the site owners are "making a profit on their profit".

Dame Sonia handed in a petition at 10 Downing Street on Thursday, which 37,000 people have now signed up.

The charge is levied by site owners on residents selling their park home, taking 10% of the home's value, and can be worth up to £50,000 on top of annual rent and maintenance fees.

Dame Sonia, who has earned an OBE for her campaigning work, has been fighting for a change to the law for more than a decade and complained politicians "keep kicking it into the long grass" but she was hopeful the new cohort of MPs would "make a tremendous difference".

Asked why the issue was so important to her, she said: "Often people need to move into care homes and the loss of 10% of their equity curtails the amount they can afford and that falls back on the local council.

"At the end of the day a lot of people want to sell their homes and are either feeling trapped in their own homes or they're losing out."

A Ministry for Housing Communities and Local Government spokesperson said the government recognised longstanding concerns about this sector of the housing market.

"We recognise concerns raised by park home residents about the commission fee paid on the sale of homes, which is why we are reviewing this issue and will set out further details in due course," they added.

MPs on the Park Homes All- Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) joined the campaigners at Downing Street to hear their stories.

Joshua Reynolds, Liberal Democrat MP for Maidenhead, said park home residents were put in an unfair position compared to bricks and mortar home owners.

"I used to have a leasehold flat and when I sold it, all the money was our money, because it was our property and I don't think there should be a difference," he said.

"The argument put forward is the money is used for maintenance but actually that's what your site charges are for."

Dr Ben Spencer, Conservative MP for Runnymede and Weybridge, said park home residents should be treated the same as leaseholders.

"Why should the park site owner benefit from work and investment in kitchens and bathrooms in park homes?" he asked.

"They already get pitch funds and annual rent, so taking 10% when homes are sold is fundamentally unfair because the park owner doesn't do anything to have this stake in other people's property."

Labour housing minister Matthew Pennycook was invited but did not attend, although he has previously met Dame Sonia at a Park Homes APPG event.

The British Holidays and Home Parks Association (BHHPA) has been contacted for comment.