It has now been over 10 years since the Government introduced the Site Rules Regulations, which required all residential parks in England to introduce new site rules if they wanted to bring in, or retain, specific rules.

Although most parks followed the Regulations and changed their rules at the time, very few have made changes to their rules since then. However, it is good practice for park owners to keep their site rules under regular review in order to ensure they remain up to date and fit for purpose. For example, since the Regulations came into force in 2014 there have been numerous technological changes which will not be covered by most existing site rules. In particular, the growing use in recent years of doorbell cameras and other CCTV equipment and devices such as drones (which were not commonplace in 2014) can often cause problems on parks if their use is not properly regulated. Air Conditioning units and personal EV chargers maybe requested, but not possible if you don't have sufficient electricity on your park.

The best way for a park owner to make sure that residents are operating such devices lawfully, and not in a way that may cause a nuisance to others, is via appropriate site rules.

The process for amending existing site rules is the same as for introducing new rules, namely:

  1. The site owner must consult with residents, outlining any proposed changes and the reasons for wishing to change the site rules. The consultation will typically last around a month, but can be longer.
  2. After the end of the consultation period, the site owner must inform residents of any responses which were received and whether they are still proposing to go ahead with the new/amended rules – any resident who wishes to object then has 21 days to apply to the First Tier Tribunal to challenge the proposed new rules.
  3. If no application is made within this period, the park owner must deposit the new/amended rules with the local authority and then inform the residents that they have done this; after that, the new/amended rules will take effect.

The process typically takes around 100 days from start to finish (assuming no challenge is made to the Tribunal) and, as with most issues, the key to a successful outcome is good communication between the park owner and residents.

For more information or help:

Contact: John Clement at Knights Solicitors (formerly IBB Law) on Tel: 01895 201721 or Email: [email protected]

A great solution for marketing your business in front of the thousands of surfers that visit our sites every day!

Contact Us