Pitch fees are an amount that is paid to the site owner on a regular basis for the right to keep your park home / lodge on the site, as well as for maintenance of the common parts. The amount will depend upon the agreement that you have with the site owner.
Each year, the site owner may choose to review the pitch fee and on a residential site, the process is set down in law. With holiday sites, it will depend on the agreement that you have with the site owner.
It is worth checking the documentation carefully to ensure that it is all in order and that you know what the next bill will be !
The starting point on a residential site is the Consumer Price Index that is published immediately before the review of the fee. Normally this pitch fee review happens once a year, but it can sometimes be longer.
A site owner can also seek to increase the pitch fees by more than the CPI in some situations, such as where there has been a consultation on improvements and most residents do not object, or there has been a change in the law. There are other things that can be considered as well, but not factors such as ‘the fee is less elsewhere’ or ‘its just too much’.
If there has been a deterioration in the park since the last review, that should be taken into account as well – in some cases, that can mean there is no increase at all. The Pitch Fee Review Form needs to set all of this out.
With residential sites, the amount of change in England and Wales used to be based on the Retail Price Index rather than the Consumer Price Index, so it is worth checking that any pitch fee review has been calculated correctly.
It is possible to challenge the change in the pitch fee by making an application to the First Tier Tribunal, or by refusing to pay any increase. The site owner can also take a case to the Tribunal and our advice is to speak to the site owner before starting any legal action, to see if an agreement can be reached.
We are regularly involved in challenges to pitch fee increases and can advise on the best approach to take. Having dealt with First Tier Tribunal hearings, we can suggest what evidence needs to be provided and the likely prospects for success.
The law on pitch fees can be complex and confusing – Tribunals will take into account not only the ‘Written Statement’ but also a number of cases that have been decided before. It is very important to know a little about these if you want to take a case in the Tribunal.
We can offer a fixed fee consultation to help you. Not all challenges are successful and it is very important to make sure that you have the right level of evidence if you want to win.
If you would like to book a consultation with us, please use our online form, contact us by phone or use our online chat system.
