Legalities of living on private land in a mobile home

[the.fee.fairy]

My dad is thinking of moving.
He wants to sell our house and get him and mum a 2bed house. With a couple of acres.

In the land, he wants to put two mobile homes - one for me and one for my sister (my dad's great!!). Used mobile homes are pretty cheap to come by, and easy to renovate to a livable (rather than holiday) standard.
He also wants to biuld a brick-built structure with electrics and running water for a washing machine - like a laundry area becase the mobile homes don't have space for it.

I've been trying to look at the legal implications of this, and can't d=find anything definite.

The mobile homes would be lived in permanently, and sited on land owned by my parents.

I understand that planning permission is neededd - has anyone had any experience of doing this? I'm only in the looking to see if its viable stage at the moment.

When my sister and i can eventually afford to move on properly, then he'll rent the homes to lodgers.

[Stonehead]

You really need specialist advice for this as the area is very complex.

For a start, the legal definition of a mobile home is a structure designed to be lived in that can be moved from place to place (towed, transported on a trailer or transported on a truck). It can also be a vehicle that's been converted to live in - provided it's still capable of being moved.

But when you add mains electricity, water and sewage; use it as a permanent residence; or make it static and incapable of being moved, then it ceases to be a mobile home.

Of course, all of this is then open to interpretation.

The only bit that's not open to much interpretation is the size - a mobile home must be no more than 60 feet long (excluding draw bar), 20 feet wide and 10 feet high inside.


Then there's the planning permission side. You don't need planning permission for a mobile home as such, but you do need planning permission for a mobile home site. A site is defined as the area of land on which mobile homes are located (whether one, two or 100 mobile homes).

And once you have planning permission, you also need a site licence - especially if the mobile home is being used for residential purposes as this gives the occupants various legal rights.

Site licences also impose specific conditions on the site, over and above the planning permission. They could cover the number and type of homes permitted, restrictions as to when the site could be used (in the summer only, for example), how far apart mobiles homes should be, where they can (or can't) be located, fire precations, provision for amenities such as laundries, and more.

You don't need planning permission or a site licence in some very specific circumstances, almost all of which mean you can't live on site permanently. Examples include parking a mobile home in the grounds of your home provided nobody lives in it permanently, parking up to three mobile homes on undeveloped land of five acres or more provided they are not occupied for more than 28 days a year, and so on.

It can get complicated so get professional advice.

[the.fee.fairy]

Thankyou for that!

Its helpful to know the definition as such - as in if we take the wheels off they become permanent basically.

The ones i was looking at today were 35ft long x 12ft wide, so we're well within the limits there.

Thanks for the advice. I'll get dad to ask someone, i'm sure he knows someone who can give precise instructions - he works for the council at the moment.

[Stonehead]

I should have said that the information I have applies to England. Scotland will almost certainly be different, while Wales may (or may not) be different.

[baldowrie]

glad you clarified that Stoney...bit different in Scotland.

In Scotland you have to get planning permission for the mobile home, which is unlikely to be granted if it is to be a permanent residence. you are only likely to get that on a year by year basis and can be turned down at any stage. You will also have to pay Band A council tax..kind of sticks in the throat that!

To be classed as a mobile home you need wheels on it, yes, even if they are way too small to use! No wheels and it's a permanent structure

The other way round is in Scotland is to live on a residential site........urgggggggggggg!

[red]

i thought you needed PP in England too... -

[baldowrie]

don't know about England as I have never done it there

[Muddypause]

You need planning permission.

You almost certainly won't get it. There is a reason why a sited mobile home is 20 or more times the price of an unsited one.

But having said that, talk to a local planning officer (not the front desk bod), informally, about it. Ask for advice about what is or is not possible, what constitutes a mobile home, and whether a planning application stands any chance of success. You won't have to get specific about location. My understanding about it is that whether it actually has wheels on it is a minor detail compared to the use and intent that you put it too.

And in the end, it is largely what you can (or are prepared to) get away with - though always living with the risk that it will be 'investigated' at some point. I did spend 7 years in one that a farmer put in the corner of a field for me once. Officialdom got wind of it on one occassion, but nothing was persued. And I was young and care-free in those days; now I want to know that my home will still be there next week.