Debate on member proposed bill on park homes

There was unanimous support from AMs on 1 February 2012 for a Liberal Democrat AM to introduce legislation to regulate the process by which park homes are regulated and sold in Wales.

Peter Black AM's proposed bill, if passed into law, will ensure that negotiations between park home site owners and park home owners are independently monitored and that there will be a system of arbitration for owners who have cause for concern about administrative processes.

The AM for South Wales West said that there are many cases throughout Wales' 80 park home sites of unfair practice.

Mr Black said: "At present there is little protection for residents from unscrupulous park homes site owners, a minority of which may exploit their position for personal gain."

Housing, Regeneration and Heritage Minister Huw Lewis AM agreed that "there is cross-party concern about the more dubious acts of park home site owners", but stressed that this was the exception, not the rule.

The bill will also seek to establish a requirement that the owners of park home sites must pass a "fit and proper" persons test as part of a licensing system.

A committee will now consider the general principles of the bill before it is presented to the assembly.