Mobile Homes Regulations 2020

The Mobile Homes (Requirement for Manager of Site to be Fit and Proper Person) (England) Regulations 2020

Caravan Sites - Fit & Proper Person Test

The Mobile Homes (Requirement for Manager of Site to be Fit and Proper Person) (England) Regulations 2020 ("the Regulations") introduced a fit and proper person test for mobile home site owners or the person appointed to manage the site, unless exempted by the Regulations.

From 1 October 2021, unless the site is exempt, the site owner must:

• be a fit and proper person to lawfully operate a park home site, or
• have a fit and proper site manager in place

What must a site owner do?

Site owners operating a relevant protected site must apply between 1 July 2021 and 1 October 2021 to the council for the relevant person (themselves or their appointed manager) to be included on the local register of fit and proper persons to manage a site.

A site owner may only apply if they hold or have applied for a site licence for the site.

Applications can be made by downloading and completing the application form.

These should be submitted by email to the environmental health team or by post to Environmental Health, Boston Borough Council, Municipal Buildings, West Street, Boston, Lincolnshire PE21 8QR.

The application fee payment must be made before the application can be accepted as formally accepted. The application fee is £205.09.

The applicant seeking entry on the register will need a basic DBS certificate (dated no more than six months before the date of the application) and this must be included with the application. The DBS certificate must be from an approved supplier. Information about how to arrange a DBS check can be found on the government's website.

Exempt sites

A site is exempt if it's "a non-commercial family occupied site". This is a site only occupied by members of the same family and not being run on a commercial basis. The regulations provide further detail about this exemption.

What we can consider

To ensure that the relevant person is a fit and proper person to manage a site, and to add them to the register, we will consider the following:

• the owners past compliance with the site licence
• the long term maintenance of the site
• whether the person has sufficient level of competence to manage a site
• has the right to work within the UK
• has committed any offence involving fraud or other dishonesty, violence, arson, drugs or listed in Schedule 3 to the Sexual Offence Act 2003 (offence attracting notification requirements)
• has contravened any provision of the Equalities Act 2010 in, or in connection with, the carrying on of any business
• has harassed any person in, or in connection with, the carrying on of any business
• has had an application rejected by any other authority
• is or has been personally insolvent within the past 10 years
• is or has been disqualified from acting as a company director within the last 10 years

We can also consider any evidence on any other relevant matters.

Application decisions

Applications will be considered and may either be:

• granted unconditionally
• granted subject to conditions
• refused

Before applying conditions to an application, the local authority will serve the applicant with a 'preliminary decision notice' setting out its preliminary decision and the local authorities reasons for it.

The applicant will have 28 days to respond and make any representations to the local authority if they wish to challenge the decision. After the end of this period, the local authority must issue its final decision ' as soon as reasonably practicable' to the applicant.

Where an application is refused, the applicant has the right of appeal to the First Tier Tribunal.

If a site is unable to appoint a 'fit and proper' person, the local authority may appoint a person who meets the fit and proper person test to manage the site on behalf of the site owner.