How Easy is it to Sell a Park Home?

Selling any type of property can be a daunting, and sometimes stressful, process.

From dealing with solicitors to handling various documentation, there’s always a lot to consider.

This is particularly the case if you own or live in a park home and are looking to sell it. Unlike a conventional house sale, selling a park home comes with additional considerations that can make the process more difficult if you’re not prepared.

With this in mind, this blog will take a look at how easy it is to sell a park home. We’ll take a detailed look at the process to give people selling, as well as buying, a park home all the information they need to make the process run as seamlessly as possible.

What is a park home?

A park home is a type of mobile home that people live in as their permanent residence. Also known as a residential caravan or simply a mobile home, they’re typically found in mobile home parks or caravan sites. Usually single storey in structure, despite their unorthodox location they will contain all of the usual amenities you’d expect in a home- including bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchens and living areas.

Park homes are mobile and so can be moved, but they normally stay in the same location as they’re intended for long-term or permanent residency.

How easy is it to sell a park home?

The ease of selling a park home can vary on a whole host of factors, but it’s fair to say that it’s slightly more complex than selling a conventional property.

This is largely due to the Mobile Homes Act 2013 which made a significant change in the law. The UK Government made the change primarily to ensure site owners were not treating occupiers unfairly. Before this change, park owners could control who people sold their park homes to. But now, sellers can sell their property on the open market and to whoever they wish.

Now, both buyers and sellers have more responsibility to ensure transactions are completed correctly and legally – with legal ramifications and costly fines the consequences if this does not happen.

As well as this, it’s worth noting that if you’re selling your park home 10% of the price goes directly to the site owner. We’ll take a more detailed look at the sales process below.

Selling a park home

If you’ve made the decision to sell your park home, then there are a number of steps you should follow to ensure a smooth sales process that leaves all parties satisfied. This is as follows:

Step one:

Once a price has been agreed with your prospective buyer, you need to supply them with a ‘Schedule 1- Buyer’s Information Form’ along with some key documents. This form must be completed and returned back to you at least 28 days before the sale has been completed.

The key documents that you must supply the buyer with include:

A copy of your Mobile Homes Act agreement
A copy of the park’s rules
Written details regarding bills the park home owner is responsible for, including electricity, gas, water and other utilities
Written details of any other charges the park home owner is responsible for such as the use of garages, parking facilities and more
A copy of any current warranty for the park home
Any structural surveys of the park home that have been carried out in the last 12 months

If you are unable to, or do not wish to, provide any of the above documents to the new buyer, you must provide written explanations as to why.

Step two:

Next, both you and the buyer must complete a ‘Schedule 2 Notice of Proposed Sale Form.’ Once completed you must send both copies to the site owner at least 21 days before the completion date. This form provides the site owner with all the details regarding the sale.

Step three:

If, for whatever reason, the site owner wants to object to the proposed sale they must contact the First-Tier Tribunal (Property) (Tribunal) for an Order to prevent the sale. They have 21 days to do these and inform you of this action. The Mobile Homes Act 2013 means that there are now only limited ways in which they can prevent a sale from occurring. These are if the buyer is under the minimum age of the park, the buyer owns animals that are not allowed at the park, wants to keep vehicles of a type the park doesn’t allow or the buyer intends to exceed the allowed limit of vehicles they can store at the park.

Step four:

Assuming the site owner doesn’t apply for a Tribunal, the sale will be allowed to go ahead on the proposed date. On the date of completion, both you and the buyer must complete a ‘Schedule 4 Assignment Form’. This will transfer ownership of the park home to the buyer. The buyer can then pay you 90% of the price with the remaining 10% going to the park owner at a later date.

Step five:

Within a week of ownership, the new owner must complete a ‘Schedule 5 Notice of Assignment’ form. This form will let the park owner know the names of everyone intending to reside in the park home, the price the buyer paid for it, the seller’s forwarding address and the value of the 10% payment the site owner will receive. Once this has been done the buyer can also pay the 10% commission.

All of the forms required to complete a sale of a park home can be found online. While you can do all of this yourself without the assistance of solicitors or lawyers, it’s always recommended to seek independent advice from professionals to ensure you’re protected.

Can you give your park home away?

In addition to selling a park home, you can also gift it to a loved one. As the owner you have a right to give away the park home as long as it is to a family member. To do this, you’ll need to complete a ‘Notice of Proposed Gift’ form outlining how you’re related to the recipient of the park home.

There are also specific inheritance rules relating to park homes. If you pass away, anyone will be able to continue the existing agreement you have in place with the park owner if:

They’re a family member living with you at the time you die
They were married or in a civil partnership with you

Anyone else who does not fit into these categories will have to ask the park owner permission to live there.

Park homes often bring a lot of joy to those living in them, but the sales process can be challenging. However, by following the guidelines set out in this article, you will find it a lot easier to sell your park home in a smooth and stress-free way.