Check your park home site is managed by a fit and proper person (England)

In England, park home sites must be licensed by the local council and the site owner or site manager must also be on the council’s fit and proper persons register. The register shows who the council has accepted as suitable to manage the site.

The fit and proper person rules are intended to improve the management of park home sites and help protect residents from poor practice.

When deciding if someone is fit and proper, the council considers things like whether the person:

• can manage the site properly
• can keep to the site licence conditions
• has the skills, experience or training needed to manage the site
• has clear management arrangements in place
• has suitable funding arrangements to run and maintain the site
• has not committed serious offences that may make them unsuitable
• has not broken relevant housing, mobile homes, public health, planning, environmental health, landlord and tenant or equality law
• has not harassed people while running a business
• has not had a relevant application rejected by another council

The council can also consider the behaviour of people connected to the site owner or manager, if that behaviour is relevant to whether the site can be managed properly.

You might want to check the fit and proper person register if you:

• are thinking about buying a park home or moving onto a park home site
• want to know who the official person responsible for managing the site is
• want to know whether there are any conditions attached to their registration

Conditions are requirements the council sets that address any concerns they have about the person’s ability to manage the site properly. The register will not explain what the actual conditions are, just that they exist. The council may explain them if you ask, but does not have to.

What you can find out

You can find out things like:

• the name of the registered fit and proper person and their business address
• the name and address of the site
• (if applicable) the number of conditions attached to the registration

If the register says an application has been rejected

The register will show the site name and address, and the date the application was rejected. It will not show the rejected person’s name. The entry stays on the register until a successful application is made, or until the council appoints someone with the site owner’s consent.

The council must keep a public register of fit and proper persons.

You can check the register on the council’s website or ask to see it at the council offices. Anyone can do this. You do not have to live on the site.

Find your local council website (you can also search online for the council’s fit and proper persons register).

You should usually contact the site owner or manager first and explain the problem in writing. Keep a copy of what you send.

Contact the council if you have evidence that may be relevant to whether the person is suitable to manage the site. For example:

• harassment
• unlawful discrimination
• serious or repeated management failures
• breaches of housing, mobile homes, public health, planning or environmental health law
• fraud or dishonesty
• repeated failure to deal with complaints about the condition of the site

Action the council can take includes:

• adding or changing the conditions to the person’s registration
• removing the person from the register
• prosecuting offences under the regulations
• in exceptional cases, appointing a manager with the site owner’s consent

Find out more: resolving park home disputes