Vocal Voices

There are no such things, when will people (and governments / councils) get it into their heads?

Static caravans might be static, but they are not caravans, nor are they mobile homes. You can't just drag them away somewhere else. They are fixed pre-fab buildings. When will people realise this?

My mate, Alf, looked into this when he got divorced. He was allowed to stay for 11 months then had to go 'on hols' for a month. Everyone knew this was the case back in the 1980s / 90s. It was the law.

People now want to make out that they are hard done by if they can't stay year-round. They were "scammed" the victims claim.

Hard lines. You should have checked with a solicitor or similar before you bought the "caravan" and got 'scammed'.

Sympathy = nil.

There was a programme on TV last night about these types of property. Some had ben sold with dubious legal planing permission.

There is nothing wrong with the construction of the dwelling.

The fault is in who has the legal ownership of the land on which the property is sited. Can get very complex and needs a very good solicitor. None of the people interviewed on the
programme seemed to have used on.

Not sure I agree Frank

I have a friend who lives in a 1950's pre fab, to all intents and purposes it's a house, just with a different construction. She pays council tax, she has her post delivered, she is on mains gas, electric and water and she lives there all year round.

I have another friend who lives in one of the 'homes' call them what you will on a caravan park. She pays no council tax and has to move out for 6 weeks per year. She has her post delivered to a PO Box, her gas and sewerage is non mains.

And as for not moving them, her neighbours have moved, all that is there is the empty concrete base, the van was loaded up and off it went so yes they are mobile

My dad's aunty lived in a pre-fab. We used to visit occasionally, it was cosy!

What I was (badly) trying to point out was that these "mobile homes" are not mobile they are more like the pre-fabs Kaz and MM mention. I also had relatives who lived in a post war on and it was brilliant!

Static caravans can be moved, either on a trailer or on their own chassis, and all that is left is the base. They are only loosely 'caravans' in the real sense, but they are mobile. The homes mentioned in Panorama Cruiser and I watched, and what prompted my post, are the ones I am talking about.

They have been 'built' on land that is only licenced for holiday purposes and not residential. They might not have all the services connected like a normal home, but they are not in any way mobile. The people who bought them scammed themselves by not doing due diligence or using a solicitor before purchase. The site owners did con them, there is no doubt about that, but "caveat emptor" still applies.

The prices being asked for these "properties", upwards of £180,000 should have flagged up that they were not mobile homes, in the real sense.

BTW, the legal definition of "mobile home" needs to be made clearer.

They should absolutely have done due diligence. I was looking 4 years ago and concluded that it was a real PITA and most sites now have clauses which are so onerous that it is one step away from a rip off.

More recently I was looking at geodesic domes and fell over a whole bunch of these.

Suff wrote:More recently I was looking at geodesic domes and fell over a whole bunch of these.

You got it.

Those prices are more like the ones I found for new and unregistered UK mobile homes on the Internet that anyone can use. Buy one, then find a place to park it. Nowhere near the £180,000, or more, claimed by those who were "scammed".

These are what I was talking about. I didn’t realise you were talking about Panorama

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/ ... el=RES_BUY

These are great provided you dont mind being flooded regularly

My 2aunty had prefab I loved to visit
I would love a .mobile home? Ideal for older people If they where properly legal tenancy safe security and l
ideal for me plus I would be giving up a family home

miasmum wrote:These are what I was talking about. I didn’t realise you were talking about Panorama

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/ ... el=RES_BUY

These are great provided you dont mind being flooded regularly

Oh that’s rather nice Frank I didn’t realise it was a Panorama either