Question reference: S5W-22737
- Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 18 April 2019
-
Current status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 3 May 2019
Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of concerns regarding illegal licencing practices by some caravan park site owners, whether it will review the maximum 10% commission entitlement to mobile home owners specified in the Mobile Homes (Written Statement) (Scotland) Regulations 2013.
Answer
The Scottish Government has carried out a considerable amount of work on mobile home issues since 2012. The Mobile Homes Act 1983 (Amendment of Schedule 1) (Scotland) Order 2013 significantly enhanced the protection of mobile home residents in Scotland. As part of this work we conducted a full public consultation which included consideration of the commission rate and the decision was taken for it to remain at up to 10%. The key objective of the order was to provide better protection for site residents while ensuring the viability of privately owned sites. There are no plans to review the commission rate again.
A new site licensing regime for sites with permanent residents, set out in Part 5 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2014 was introduced on 1 May 2017. The new system puts in place a robust licensing regime which provides a range of measures to improve standards and further protect residents. This includes the introduction of a fit and proper person test for the licence applicant and anyone involved in the day to day management of a site. All existing licence holders were required to apply for a licence under the new system by May 2019.