Residential Property Tribunal Update

Monday, 17 October 2011 00:00

Mr S England –v- Mr G Sawyer of Sawyers Park Homes

26 September 2011

Park owners generally know that they are not entitled to attach conditions when consenting to the sale of a mobile home, but nevertheless park owners can be tempted to do so especially where the home is in very poor condition. But the legal position has been reinforced by a very recent decision in the Residential Property Tribunal, which said that "in particular [the park owner] is not entitled to require a survey of the park home or repairs to be carried out as a prior condition of sale". Whilst this has been the case for a long time, it is helpful to see that the RPT is enforcing that provision in practice, and however tempting it can be for park owners to suggest that certain things should be done to the park homes before they are sold, this should be avoided.

This application also looked at the issue of failing to approve a prospective buyer. Here the park owner had not responded to requests to approve the buyer and the RPT determined that where the park owner had failed to respond, that would be taken into account if a further application were made in future when a new buyer was found. The RPT has the power to approve a buyer and may very well do so, particularly where there is a history of the park owner failing to respond in a timely manner or at all.

Decisions made by the Residential Property Tribunal will shortly be available here: http://www.justice.gov.uk/guidance/courts-and-tribunals/tribunals/residential-property/decisions.htm