Runnymede and Weybridge has a large community of park home residents, who face a unique set of challenges. I have been campaigning for a fair deal for park home residents, working at all levels to ensure equal access to Government support on energy costs, changes to pitch fee calculations, and fair treatment by utility companies and park home owners. You can see more detail on my work on these areas below.
From engaging with residents and park home community groups locally, to pressing for change in Parliament, including raising these issues at Prime Ministers Questions, I am committed to ensuring justice for park home residents. I have also had the pleasure of working with the Park Home Owners Justice Campaign, and the cross-party parliamentary group for Park Homes.
Together we have achieved:
- A change of Pitch Fees Caps from RPI to CPI
- Support for energy costs during the energy crisis
- Countless pieces of individual casework for residents to get maintenance sorted
But the work isn’t finished because I believe Park Home Residents still don’t get a fair deal. A fair deal that includes:
- A scrapping of the 10% commission
- Proper licensing of Park Home Sites and a reform of the Fit and Proper Person Test – demanding rigorous standards of behaviour
- Enforceable maintenance of sites and utility supplies, with a 24 hour a day emergency call out, and sanctions where standards aren’t met
I will continue to campaign for a fair deal and justice for park home residents.
Ensuring access to energy cost support
In 2022 the Government announced a £400 payment to all domestic energy customers to help with bills, however around 900,000 households without a direct relationship with an electricity supplier, including park home residents, retirement homes and some social housing, were unable to receive this directly. I campaigned for swift action to address this, pressing Ministers repeatedly to bring forward measures that would ensure park home owners could also access this support. Throughout the campaign I engaged with all park home residents, and was delighted to be able to write to all in spring last year setting out details of the newly created energy support scheme they could apply to to receive their £400 energy support payment.
While this scheme has finished, support does remain available for park home owners struggling with energy costs this winter. The Park Homes Warm Home Discount scheme for 2024/25 remains open for applications, and can provide park home residents who pay the park site owner for electricity usage a £150 payment to help towards the cost of energy bills. You can apply if you are permanently living in a park home, pay council tax, and either receive means tested government benefits or tax credits, or have a household income of less than £19,978. This scheme is administered by Ofgem and funded by energy suppliers.
You can find out more about the scheme and how to apply here: www.gov.uk/the-warm-home-discount-scheme
Scrapping 10% commission
The requirement for park home owners who sell their property to pay 10% commission to park home owners is simply not fair. Given park home residents already pay service charges, this feels like double charging and needs to be addressed. I have been pressing Ministers to review this, meeting former Communities Minister Lee Rowley in April, and following the General Election I met with the new Minister, Matthew Pennycook, to raise these concerns. I will continue to raise this issue through both my work with the All Party Parliamentary Group and on behalf of the many local constituents affected by this policy.
Reform Park Home licensing
I also highlighted with the Minister my campaign to reform the fit and proper person test so that park home owners can be held to account on poor maintenance issues, with the threat of criminal sanctions following negligent behaviour. I believe legislation needs to be changed to strengthen the law to protect park home residents and give them a stronger voice in the delivery and standard of services on site.
Fair treatment by utility companies
In May last year I responded to an Ofgem consultation calling for improvements to the service and consumer standards park home residents receive from energy companies. Many park home residents purchase their energy from secondary providers, including park owners, which are not currently fully incorporated in the regulatory regime. Consequently, these residents do not currently benefit from the same oversight of standards, and options for recourse, that other energy consumers enjoy. I called on Ofgem to conduct a detailed review of the issues confronting park home residents and to consider introducing dedicated contact at Ofgem with whom park home residents can raise concerns about supplier conduct. You can see my full response here.
In November I also submitted a further response to the Government’s consultation on the regulation of third party intermediaries in the energy retail market, which you can view here.
Pitch fees
Having joined colleagues in the previous parliament to campaign for legislation to change pitch fee increases being linked to RPI to CPI, I was delighted that this legislation was passed into law last year, protecting park home residents from excessive pitch fee rises each year.
