Caravan Site Fees during Covid 19

oscarward

Our site has given us 50% of 3 months site fees and an extra year on our siting contract.  They did say the contract is to provide a site and some services  Water, sewerage, gas and electric at cost. But as a good will gesture have refunded some of the charge. 

They have not invoiced business rates contribution as presumably council hasn’t charged.

 More than I expected Tbh.

CheekyMonkey68

My father in law and wife have a lodge on a privately owned residents only over 55 no renters site. This is their primary home in UK (they go to in US for the  winter as being close to 90 suffer health issues due to cold. They are unable to go to US due to travel ban, and they had a job getting back to UK this spring and had to extend their green card)  They normally have to vacate for one month Jan, so no Council Tax is payable at site.  Due to travel restricitons many residents are having to stay in the UK as this is their primary home. The owner has been advised by the Council that they are allowed to be open and they are not liable for any fees or charges for January. The owner has demanded an additional payment for the month of Jan of £650 plus vat. Residents have paid in advance and have been invoiced for an annual pitch fee in 12 instalments of £242.41 plus vat  excluding utilities which are paid for separately. No letter has been served only a note on the office window in the park. The owner has also threatened residents with termination of lease and eviction if the extra fee is not paid, and is quite hostile.
Is this an unlawful thing to do, eg. unfair rent, profiteering due to covid, breach of contract as the 12 months has been paid and invoiced as 12 months?
Father in law is very old and stressed by this so any help appreciated
Many thanks
Andy

mattyprice4004

CheekyMonkey68 said:

My father in law and wife have a lodge on a privately owned residents only over 55 no renters site. This is their primary home in UK (they go to in US for the  winter as being close to 90 suffer health issues due to cold. They are unable to go to US due to travel ban, and they had a job getting back to UK this spring and had to extend their green card)  They normally have to vacate for one month Jan, so no Council Tax is payable at site.  Due to travel restricitons many residents are having to stay in the UK as this is their primary home. The owner has been advised by the Council that they are allowed to be open and they are not liable for any fees or charges for January. The owner has demanded an additional payment for the month of Jan of £650 plus vat. Residents have paid in advance and have been invoiced for an annual pitch fee in 12 instalments of £242.41 plus vat  excluding utilities which are paid for separately. No letter has been served only a note on the office window in the park. The owner has also threatened residents with termination of lease and eviction if the extra fee is not paid, and is quite hostile.
Is this an unlawful thing to do, eg. unfair rent, profiteering due to covid, breach of contract as the 12 months has been paid and invoiced as 12 months?
Father in law is very old and stressed by this so any help appreciated
Many thanks
Andy

The problem is residents remaining on site will use site facilities, water, electric etc whereas they wouldn't if they were away - and if the 1 month gap was mandatory it could be argued this was factored into the 12 month's fees.

I would suggest a negotiation is in order here, I can see why both sides think they have merit.

aspooler

First I would suggest  that you help  yourfather in law in discussion . Whilst somr site owners are heavy handed  in their treatment of people that are vulnerable , a negotiation will be the conclusion.  However based upon the numbers given an additional fee of £265 would be equivalent amount for an extra month normally. 
However , their staff costs may be additional as that could add to the owners additional costs in excess of the normal fee.
Maybe a quick call to Citizens advice anf the local MP may be in order , and threats of eviction of people at risk is totally unacceptable .

aspooler

Just some thoughts..£265 would be the number based upon a 1 month extension at the same rates as the rest of the year.  But there may be added cost for additional staff who would be on vacation , paying  them for their holidays  etc. etc. .However terse the owner may be, it will only be resolved by negotiation. 
I suggest possibly getting hold of the Citizens advice  ASAP and contact the local councillors and MP. As they are vulnerable people in a covid lockdown threatened with eviction. A picture of the notice would be good but hard to get.
Also a little anonymous tip to the local paper does wonders .. Vulnerable ninety year old couple facing eviction....

Tucker

That's the funniest thing I have read in a while, the op expecting the government to intervene. 
Because let's face it, helping re-imburse the poor unfortunate souls with second homes, who don't feel they've had value for money this year is right up there at the top of their priorities no doubt!
Seriously? I lost all sympathy at that point. 

lincroft1710

Tucker said:

That's the funniest thing I have read in a while, the op expecting the government to intervene. 
Because let's face it, helping re-imburse the poor unfortunate souls with second homes, who don't feel they've had value for money this year is right up there at the top of their priorities no doubt!
Seriously? I lost all sympathy at that point. 

If you are referring to Cheeky Monkey's post, it in fact relates to their in-laws' only home.

Tucker

Cheeky Monkey is not the OP,  so how can I be referring to them? 

lincroft1710

Tucker said:

Cheeky Monkey is not the OP,  so how can I be referring to them? 

The thread restarted after 5 months with CM's post, all posts after this up until yours related to CM's post, so I was not sure if you were referring to CM's post or the long abandoned actual original post of 7 months ago.

Tucker

Ah. I didn't see the dates. The op was expecting the government to help out with his holiday home site fees. I thought that was recent.