Reporting a problem to the local council

The local council can take action if the site owner is not following the conditions of their licence. For example, if they:

• are not maintaining the site properly
• are not providing adequate facilities or services, such as utilities, drainage, roads or lighting
• do not have appropriate fire safety measures on the site
• have too many homes on the site
• are not a “fit and proper person” to manage the site - for example if you have problems with harassment
• are interfering with your rights to sell your park home (sale blocking)

It’s usually best to try to resolve issues by talking to the site owner first.

You could also work together with other residents if they’re affected by the same issue. For example, you could use the residents’ association if there is one.

If contacting the site owner has not worked and you think they are in serious breach of the site licence conditions, contact your local council. Ask to speak to the team that deals with park home site licensing.

You can find your local council on GOV.UK.

Explain to them:

• what the problem is and how it’s affecting you
• how the site licence conditions are being broken
• what you have done to try to resolve it - such as details of any correspondence with the site owner

Ask them when you can expect a response.

Local councils are expected to take a proportionate approach to enforcement. This means they will not take action for every breach of licence conditions. For example, they will not usually take action for minor breaches if there is no significant risk of harm, or if the site is generally well managed.

They should consider the interests of the park home owners as well as the site owner, and the risk of harm if the problem is not addressed. They might consult residents about what to do, including the residents’ association if there is one.

They will usually start by working with the site owner informally to try to resolve the problem. For example, they might agree a schedule of works with the site owner to improve the condition of the site. They will usually only consider formal action if this approach has not worked.

Compliance notices

Local councils have the power to serve a compliance notice on the site owner, if the site licence conditions have been breached.

The notice will:

• set out the licence condition that has been breached
• tell the site owner what they must do to fix the problem, and give a deadline
• explain the site owner’s right to appeal to the tribunal

If the site owner does not comply this is a criminal offence. If they are convicted, the local council can do the works themselves and recover the costs from the site owner.

In serious cases where the site owner has previously been convicted 2 or more times, the local council can apply to court to have their licence revoked.

Emergency action powers

If there’s an urgent risk of serious harm to the health and safety of anyone on the site, the local council can take emergency action to fix a problem.

They must serve a notice on the site owner, giving details of their plans, with a reasonable notice period. They can recover their expenses from the site owner.

Make a formal complaint

If you’re unhappy with how the local council has dealt with the issue you can make a formal complaint.

Look for details of the local council’s complaints process on its website.

You’ll need to go through all the stages of the complaints process and give them a chance to fix the problem.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has advice about making a complaint.

Complain to the Ombudsman

If you’re not satisfied after using the local council’s complaints process, you can complain to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.

Find out how to complain to the Ombudsman

Other ways to get help

You may also want to:

• contact your local councillor
• contact your MP

They may be able to look into the issue on your behalf, particularly if there is a pattern of serious problems with your site.