A ‘written statement’ is a document that should be provided to the buyer of a new park home by the site owner as part of the agreement to purchase. Although it is sometimes considered as the whole agreement, this is not strictly true and there may be other contractual arrangements.
A site owner is required to give the the Written Statement to the prospective buyer at least 28 days before the purchase is concluded. There are procedures to deal with the situation where this is not done and this can involve a case being considered by the First Tier Tribunal. Likewise, if the home is sold on, the seller must give a copy of the Written Statement to the prospective buyer.
There is some legislation known as the The Mobile Homes (Written Statement) (England) Regulations 2006 which explains the requirements – The Written Statement is normally divided into a number of parts, some of the most important being the “Implied Terms” And the “Express Terms” :
Implied Terms
These paragraphs of the Written statement are taken directly from the Mobile Homes Act 1983, along with its various amendments. They are called the implied terms because the law ‘implies’ them as being part of the agreement, whether they are written into the document or not. From time to time the implied terms might change when the law is updated – for example, there was a change in 2024 to make the Consumer Price Index the starting point for calculating a pitch fee increase.
Express Terms
As the name suggests these are the terms of the agreement which are specifically given by a site owner for the particular home. Express terms cannot over-ride the Implied terms, but they can add to them. A tyoical express term might be that you need the site owners permission to build anything on the plot.
Another important part of the document is the plan. This should appear near the beginning and show ;
- The size and location of the pitch
- The size of the base on the pitch
- Measurements between fixed points (eg the base and the boundary)
Having a good plan can save any questions of dispute in the future, such as how big the pitch is.
Keeping the Written Statement Safe
Given that the Written Statement is such an important document, it is important to keep it safe. At some point, the home will no doubt be sold on and at this stage it is vital that it is readily available. Without it, there is a danger that the sale could fall through : after all, would anyone want to buy something where you cannot prove ownership ?
When we deal with purchases, we offer to keep the original in a safe location so that you have access to it in the future. We also provide an electronic storage as another safety precaution.