Insight report: Sale blocking on park home sites
Sale blocking
One specific issue that has historically been identified on park home sites is site owners blocking residents from selling their homes [8]. Park homes can sell for hundreds of thousands of pounds, and whilst a site owner is entitled to 10% commission on third-party sales [9], some site owners have sought to seek a higher financial return by obstructing sales and harassing residents so they can purchase the property themselves at a much-reduced price. The owner can then relist a park home on that pitch for its full market value, extracting substantial benefit.
A landmark case that underlined the presence of issues like this is Leisure Parks Real Estate who, in 2013, who were required to pay more than £300,000 in compensation having been found guilty of “putting pressure on homeowners to sell their homes back to them” and spreading false information to potential buyers.
Case study: Leisure Parks Real Estate, 2013
In this Crown Court case, Leisure Parks Real Estate Ltd, who owned Medina Park in Whippingham (Isle of Wight), was ordered to pay more than £300,000 in compensation after offences committed against residents.
Laura Gaudion, senior lawyer for the Isle of Wight Council, which brought the prosecution, said: “We have had a number of complaints about the conduct of the company and we investigated, finding out they were putting pressure on homeowners to sell their homes back to them.
“They also contacted potential buyers of the mobile homes and said they were pieces of junk, that the bases were cracked and they weren’t worth the money being paid.”
The charges dated back to 2008 and included telling potential owners they would have to pay a site rent of £140 per month, that a home was ‘worthless’ and would have to be moved, which would cause it to fall to pieces, and threatening residents with the intent to cause them to leave their home.
The Middlesex-based company was ordered to pay £33,000 – £3,000 per offence – and the court issued a confiscation order for £275,000, from which the compensation was to be paid. The confiscation order was designed to strip defendants of any money made from criminal activity. The company, which ran several park home sites around the country, were given six months to pay.
To address situations such as this, in 2013, new legislation was introduced to provide consumers greater protection and in 2015, the Government set up a Park Homes Working Group “to identify evidence of poor practice where it exists, and investigate how best to raise standards and further tackle abuse”.
As a result of this legislation and focus from the Government, today consumers do have greater protections and the authorities have legal powers to take enforcement against site owners engaging in sale blocking and harassment.
- Last updated:
- 23 November 2025
- Next review:
- 22 May 2026