When you buy a park home, you will, of course, have certain important rights. Thanks to changes in the law in recent years, you actually have more rights than ever before! However, it is still important to know where you stand in terms of park home law. Also, with the relationship to the site owners. For example, if you are thinking about gifting a park home to someone, there are a few terms and rights you need to keep in mind.
Big changes came into effect thanks to the Mobile Homes Act 2013. This piece of legislation helped to update 30-year old law to protect park home buyers for the better. Changes to the law now mean that park site owners have less ability to intervene in sales and when people give their homes away.
Are you thinking of giving your park home away as a gift? Here at SellMyGroup, we want to prepare you as much as possible for what to expect from the process. Before you think about gifting a park home, make sure to read our full guide for the complete lowdown.
What is ‘Gifting’ a Park Home?
If you buy and own a park home/ mobile home, you have the right to give it away. Gifting a park home means that, if you no longer want your home or pitch, you can offer it to someone else. However, within UK law, you can only gift your home to another member of your family. Therefore, anyone not related to you by blood or marriage cannot accept such a gift.
This definition is part of the original legislation, set out in 1983. That part of the law stands as of the time of writing. According to government advice, your family member(s) will need to prove how they are related to you.
What Are Some of the Basic Gifting Rules of a Park Home?
When gifting a park home, there are a handful of rules you need to keep in mind. For example, you need to understand the difference between gifting and inheriting. By gifting a home, you are granting someone your property, by choice, while you are alive. The rules of inheriting a park home are slightly different. We go into a little more detail in our guide to park homes and wills which you can read here.
By default, any spouse or family member who lived with you at your time of passing away has automatic ownership rights after you die. However, you can choose to gift a park property before you pass or place an alternative stipulation in your will.
When you gift property, you accept no payment for it, and neither can the site owner. This means you must agree to give your property away for free. If you inherited the park home, you cannot give it away if inheritance law says you can’t live in it.
These rules are in place to protect your interests as well as those of your site owners. Don’t worry, however, as these terms are less difficult to understand than you may assume!
However, do bear in mind that depending on when you bought your property, you may need to obey certain rules. This is because changes to the law came in as of the 26th May 2013. Whether you bought or inherited your home before or after this date, will determine a few differences in what happens next.
Differences between Inheriting and Gifting a Park Home
Just to be clear of the differences before we go into details about gifting. Inheritance will apply when a death of a park home occurs where the benefit of a Written Statement. The park home can be left to a others under terms of the Will. The beneficiary does not have to be a relative and may include a friend. If there is no Will, the intestacy rules will apply and a relative will inherit the Written Statement.
As we have already said, the gifting of a park home happens when the occupier gifts the home to a relative who are going to live in the home.
How to Gift Property Bought Before 26th May 2013
Any properties bought or acquired before the 26th May 2013 must follow specific rules regarding your site owner. The procedure can run as follows:
- Make sure your recipient knows what a site owner will expect of them when they take over your agreement. Then give them a copy of any rules for the site and need to ensure they know what to pay to live there.
- You should then ask the receiver to fill in a Notice of Proposed Gift Form, which you can download from GOV UK. You will need to give this to your site owner, as well as proof of the recipient’s relation to you.
- This proof can include documents such as union or marriage certificates, an oath declaration or a birth certificate. You should also supply proof to the site owner that they are old enough to stay at the park, and that they will abide by other rules where applicable.
- A site owner will have up to 21 days to object to your gift going ahead. If they do object, they can ask for a tribunal to take place. This means that they can ask for a Refusal Order. This will apply if they feel your relative will breach site rules, or if you haven’t offered them enough evidence to prove your relationship.
- There is a possibility for tribunal dismissal when you can continue with your gift. If a site owner’s complaint is valid, you won’t be able to give the property to the person you desire.
- Assuming the gifting of a park home continues, you and your recipient should fill in an Assignment Form, which you can download here. You should complete these forms and make sure your recipient has all agreements and other paperwork.
- They will need to send their Assignment Form to the site owner seven days after assignment begins.
How to Gift Property Bought After the 26th May 2013
If you took ownership of your property after the 26th May 2013, the process is much simpler, though some of the steps stay the same.
- As above, you must inform your family recipient of their responsibilities, including any payable fees.
- Though this process is simpler than with older properties, there are still a few pieces of administration you need to complete.
- You’ll still need to tell your site owner that the person you are gifting a park home to is related to you. As above, you need to show the owner evidence, either with birth or union certificates or through other means.
- However, the site owner can’t intervene in the gifting process. You don’t need to ask them if you can give your property away, for example. There are also no extra forms needed at this point, which helps to speed the process up.
- However, you will still need to assign the agreement through an Assignment Form, and again, you can download this via GOV UK.
- As above, make sure that your relative has access to all the forms and documents they need.
- They will need to send the Assignment Form over to the site owners seven days beyond the first assignment date.
Why Might I ‘Gift’ a Park Home?
Many park home owners choose to give their park homes away if they do not wish to do so through a will. Giving a park home to a family member while you are living there could help for a smoother process. You may invest in a park home and then choose to look at other properties or may decide not to continue with park home ownership at all.
If this is the case, you have full entitlement to do as you wish with your property. Thanks to law updates through the Mobile Homes Act 2013, home buyers can freely sell and gift homes to whoever they like providing they are related. Even if your relation is an in-law rather than blood, you are still free to give your home over as a gift.
With new laws coming into play, you won’t be able to gift a park home to anyone who isn’t a relation. This is because you will need to prove to a site owner that your recipient is related to you. Providing you have the right documents to hand; this shouldn’t be a difficult process.
Asking a Solicitor for Help
SellMyGroup recommends that you ask a solicitor for advice at all stages of the gifting or selling process. While all park owners understand that they must abide by UK laws, many people feel that they have safer backing with the help of legal advice. We agree that, by way of peace of mind, it is a good idea to have legal help if you don’t understand some of the wording or processes involved.
Ask help from a solicitor as early as possible when you are going to gift a park home. This way, you can prepare them for any documents you need to handle. A solicitor should be impartial and will help you understand each stage of the process.
If you are looking to employ a specialist park home solicitor, see our services section.
Gifting a Park Home
Gifting a park home can be a wonderful and generous gesture! Thankfully, the law is on your side. Providing the person you give your home to is a relation, and they fulfil the entry requirements of a park home, there are few reasons why a site owner will raise any complaints. Do, however, make sure you are aware of the due process!