Rights of mobile home renters

A person who rents a mobile home has different rights depending on:

• whether they live on a protected site

• the terms of any written agreement

• whether they have a tenancy of a dwelling house

A person who rents a mobile home on a protected site cannot be evicted without a court order. A protected site is one that has a licence allowing occupation year round.

Someone who rents a mobile home on an unprotected site might have protection under the Protection from Eviction Act.

If someone lives in a structure that is considered a dwelling house, they might have a tenancy, for example an assured shorthold tenancy. This could be the case if the mobile home cannot be removed from the site, or if the person lives in chalet or cabin that would not meet the definition of a mobile home.

Someone who rents a mobile home on a protected site has protection from eviction under the Caravan sites Act 1968. This means they cannot be evicted without a court order.

A protected site is one that has a site licence and planning permission which either:[1]

• is not granted for holiday use only

• does not prohibit the stationing of mobile homes human habitation at certain times of the year

Find out more about protected mobile home sites.

Site owner ends the agreement

The site owner must give four weeks' notice to terminate a periodic agreement.[2] The Act does not state what form the notice should take. If the person has a written agreement, this might require a longer notice period.

The site owner must apply to court for a possession order. The court has the power to postpone or suspend the order for whatever period it thinks reasonable, for up to 12 months at a time.[3] The court can impose conditions on the suspension, such as payment of arrears. It must take into account all the circumstances of the case when deciding whether to suspend the order. It must consider whether the occupier has:[4]

• failed to observe any terms of the contract

• refused an offer by the owner to renew the contract for a reasonable period on reasonable terms

• failed to make reasonable efforts to obtain a suitable pitch or mobile home elsewhere

Harassment and illegal eviction

It is a criminal offence for any person to:[5]

• unlawfully deprive a mobile home occupier of their occupation on a protected site of a mobile home they have a contract to occupy

• exclude the occupier from the site or mobile home after termination of a contract, other than by proceedings in court

• remove or exclude the mobile home from the site after termination of a contract, other than by proceedings in court

The site owner has a statutory defence if they can prove they believed, with reasonable cause, that the occupier had ceased to reside on the site.[6]

Harassment includes withdrawing or withholding services and interference with the peace or comfort of the occupier. It includes any acts done with the intent to cause the occupier to either:[7]

• abandon occupation of the mobile home or remove it from the site

• refrain from exercising any of their rights

The acts of the harasser do not have to be calculated to interfere with the occupier. It is enough if they are likely to interfere.[8] A person with a superior interest, such as a freeholder, can be guilty of these offences.[9]

The local authority normally brings prosecutions. A person found guilty of an offence may be liable to a fine or imprisonment. Both a corporate body and an official employed by it can be guilty of an offence.

Other terms of the agreement

A written agreement might set out terms that the site owner or owner of the caravan must follow. For example, on rent, how the agreement can be ended, or the site owner's responsibility for fixing repair issues.

Where a caravan is in a poor condition or overcrowded, the occupier might be able to get help from their local authority. Find out more about local authority duties and statutory overcrowding.

If there is no written agreement, other communications could be used as evidence of the terms of the agreement. For example, text messages, emails or WhatsApp messages. The mobile home occupier might be able to take legal action for damages if the site owner breaches a term of the agreement.

Someone who rents a mobile home and pitch on an unprotected site does not have protection from eviction under the Caravan Sites Act.

An unprotected site includes one where the rules only allow residents to occupy the mobile home or pitch for a certain amount of months or weeks per year. A site might state expressly that the mobile homes are for short term holiday use only.

If someone is living in a mobile home on private land without a licence or planning permission, this is an unprotected site. For example, if they live in a caravan in someone's garden or a field.

Written agreement

The person might have a written agreement that sets out terms the site owner or owner of the caravan must follow. For example:

• how much rent is payable

• when and how the rent can be increased

• how the occupier can end their agreement

• the site owner's responsibility for fixing repair issues

• what notice the site owner needs to give to end the agreement

Where a caravan is in a poor condition or overcrowded, the occupier might be able to get help from their local authority. Find out more about local authority duties and statutory overcrowding.

If there is no written agreement, other communications could be used as evidence of the terms of the agreement. For example, text messages, emails or WhatsApp messages.

The mobile home occupier might be able to take legal action for damages if the site owner breaches a term of the agreement.

Protection from eviction

Someone who rents a mobile home might be able to argue that they have protection under the Protection from Eviction Act 1977. The Act makes it unlawful for someone to evict a person from any premises let as a dwelling other than by court proceedings.[10] This is different from the requirement that the premises are a dwelling house, which is a condition of having a tenancy. A caravan occupied as someone's home might be considered a dwelling, even if it is not a dwelling house.

If the person has a periodic agreement covered by the Act, the landlord must give notice to quit to end the agreement. The notice must be at least either:[11]

• four weeks

• the period of the agreement if this is longer than four weeks

Find out more about requirements for a landlord's notice to quit.

On the expiry of the notice, or at the end of a fixed term agreement, the landlord can bring a claim for a possession order. The court must make a possession order if the landlord has followed the correct procedure. The person might have a defence if by bringing proceedings, the landlord has unlawfully discriminated against them on the basis of a protected characteristic.

The date for giving up possession cannot be later than 14 days after the possession order is issued, unless the occupier would experience exceptional hardship, in which case the date can be postponed for a maximum of six weeks.[12] The landlord can then apply for a warrant of possession.

A person is excluded from protection if premises are genuinely let for the purpose of a holiday.[13] An excluded occupier can be evicted without a court order.

Someone could have a tenancy of a mobile home if it is a dwelling house. The structure must be annexed to the land to be a dwelling house. A caravan or motorhome which can easily be removed from the land it is stationed on is considered a chattel and not a dwelling house. A houseboat is not sufficiently attached to the land to be a dwelling house.[14]

If a structure is a dwelling house, it might not meet the statutory definition of a mobile home. For example, in one case a chalet which, once constructed, could not have been removed without being completely dismantled was found to be annexed to the land. The occupiers were found to have a tenancy.[15] As it could not be transported in a single piece, it would not be considered a caravan.

Find out more about the definition of a mobile home.

In a case relating to capital gains tax, the court found that a mobile home was a dwelling house where it had electricity, water and telephone connections, and the mobile home was resting on supports so the wheels did not touch the ground.[16] Another case relating to the Rent Act 1977, a caravan let as movable property was not a dwelling house. The court suggested a caravan was more likely to be a dwelling house if it was rendered completely immobile by the removal of wheels or by being permanently blocked in.[17]

The occupier might have an agreement that states it is a licence. This would not prevent it from being a tenancy if all the conditions are met. A court will look at all the facts to determine whether there is actually a tenancy. In addition to being a dwelling house, the person must also have the right to exclusive possession of the premises.

The type of tenancy a person might have usually depends on when the agreement started.

The landlord is responsible for most repairs in a mobile home when the occupier has a tenancy. Find out more about repair responsibilities.

Assured or assured shorthold tenancy

A mobile home occupier might have an assured or assured shorthold tenancy if:

• the agreement began on or after 15 January 1989

• they have a tenancy agreement of a mobile home and pitch

• the property is a dwelling house which is let as a separate dwelling

Most private tenancies granted after 28 February 1997 are assured shorthold tenancies. A landlord of an assured shorthold tenant can give section 21 notice to end the tenancy without proving a ground for possession.

A landlord of an assured or assured shorthold tenant can give notice and bring possession proceedings using grounds for possession. For example, if the tenant has rent arrears.

Regulated tenancy

An occupier might have a regulated tenancy if:

• the agreement began before 15 January 1989

• they have a tenancy agreement of the mobile home and pitch

• the property is a dwelling house which is let as a separate dwelling

Find out more about the conditions for having a regulated tenancy.

A landlord can only evict a regulated tenant if they can prove one of the grounds for possession under the Rent Act 1977.

Local authority tenancies

An occupier could have a secure tenancy if the site owner is a local authority and is found to have created a tenancy a mobile home and pitch.