91Èȱ¬

On Sunday 16 January, 91Èȱ¬ Radio 5 Live Investigates looked into allegations of harassment and bullying against some of the estimated 220,000 Britons who now live permanently in high-end mobile homes dubbed "park homes."

Across the UK, many retirees are spending their life savings on homes, which are often located on picturesque sites close to popular costal resorts. These homes can change hands for anything upwards of £40,000, but many park home owners find the current law governing mobile homes gives the site's owner a large amount of power over their lives.

During the programme, which aired at 9pm, 5 Live Investigates spoke to park home residents who revealed allegations of unscrupulous site owners, accused of using the law to harass and intimidate park home owners and, ultimately, take over ownership of their homes.

One park home resident, "Bill", a man in his eighties, told 5 Live how the owner of the site he lives on entered his home without permission, after he decided to put his home on the market, and told him his home was too old and small to sell.

Although residents like Bill legally own their homes outright, they normally have a "mobile home agreement" with owners of the park home site and pay a monthly ground rent in return for maintenance and services, like water and electricity.

This agreement allows site owners to take up to 10 per cent of the sale price of homes sold on their site and also to have the right to vet prospective owners and block the sale of a home – as long as it is not done in an unreasonable way, such as by claiming the home is too old.

Bill says his site's owner was using his legal power and position to try to force the price down and buy it for himself, which is typical of complaints made by park home owners across the country. The owner of Bill's site eventually offered £5,000 for the home, even though local estate agents had valued it at around £50,000.

Speaking to 5 Live Investigates, the housing minister, Grant Shapps, told Adrian Goldberg that he accepted that more needed to be done to protect residents and promised to announce a package of measures soon.

Mr Shapps said that from spring, park home residents would be able to take any site owner who unreasonably withheld permission to sell a residential property to tribunal, but he admitted that this alone would "not go far enough".

He commented: "I am working on a further package of reforms… specifically designed to make it easier for local authorities to intervene."

He went on to promise to increase the fines levied on unscrupulous site owners: "The fines imposed were set in the Sixties. Usually, these fines are £50, £100 or £1000 and the site owners just don't care. We need to update that".

However, the minister did not satisfy calls from home owners for the introduction of a fit and proper person test for site owners. Such a test could not be introduced without an Act of Parliament, according to the minister: "What I am trying to do is take a series of steps... to toughen things up immediately."

Allegations of abuse similar to Bill's story have been made by residents living on a number of park home sites across the UK and such stories now date back many years.

Sonia McColl, who is leading a national Park 91Èȱ¬ Owners Justice Campaign to get the law changed, says: "These cases have been going on for too long. You are dealing with people who are in their late seventies or eighties, or older," she says. "They don't think clearly and they are taken absolute advantage of."

The full 5 Live Investigates report into park homes is available via the .

NC