By law, all residential mobile home sites, and those for static holiday caravans and touring caravans, must have planning permission and be licensed with the local authority.

We are responsible for ensuring that the site conditions attached to the licence are met by the owner of the site. The owner must ensure that the residents, tenants or users of their site, also comply with the site conditions.

Site conditions

The site conditions set out minimum health and safety standards for the site and cover things such as:

  • Access
  • Site boundaries
  • Layout (including minimum distances between homes)
  • Fire risk assessment
  • Gas installations and storage
  • Electrical safety
  • Water supply
  • Drainage, sanitation and washing facilities. 

Read more about the rules for a caravan site licence on the gov.uk website.

Register of park rules

Under the Mobile Homes (Site Rules) (England) Regulations 2014, the Local Authority is required to keep an up to date register of park rules in respect of 'relevant protected sites' and publish the register online.

Those sites that have lodged their park rules with East Hampshire District Council are listed below.

For residential park home sites, the site owner may set their own park rules. They are part of the contract between the home owner and site owner, and supplement the Mobile Homes Written Agreement between both parties.

We do not enforce these, although some rules may be a duplicate of the Site Licence Conditions which the Council does enforce. We do not control, and are not liable for, the content of any park rules which are submitted to us by site owners.

View site rules for multi-occupancy residential sites

Fit and Proper Person Test

About the regulations:

The Mobile Homes (Requirement for Manager of Site to be Fit and Proper Person) (England) Regulations 2020 apply to owners and licence holders of residential caravan sites. 

The purpose of the legislation is to improve the standards of park home site management, by introducing an assessment to ensure that the person responsible for managing the site is suitable and of good character, and as such does not pose a risk to the welfare or safety of persons occupying mobile homes on the site.

The requirement for the person responsible for managing the site to be a fit and proper person is in addition to the requirement for a site to be licensed.

The fit and proper person requirement makes it an offence for a site licence holder to operate a park home site unless they, or their appointed manager, are a fit and proper person to do so. 

Exemptions

These regulations only apply to relevant protected sites (permanent residential) which are operated on a commercial basis. Where a site is occupied solely by the site owner or members of their family, they are exempt from the requirements of the regulations for as long as this remains the case. However, should circumstances change and unit(s) are rented out to non-family members then the site owner or manager will need to apply to be included on the register. See the GOV.UK - legislation website for more details.

How do I apply?

You can apply for the fit and proper person test by downloading and completing the application form below:

The initial application period for existing sites was between 1 July 2021 and midnight on 30 September 2021. Existing site owners must apply again if the circumstances relating to the nominated fit and proper person change in relation to an existing caravan site; for example:

  • transfer of site licence
  • change in management of the site
  • removal of a person from the register by the local authority

Fees

There is a fee of £246.00 that must be paid upon submission of the Fit and Proper Person test application form and the application will only be considered valid upon receipt of this payment.

What we consider

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

  • the owner's past compliance with the site licence
  • the long term maintenance of the site
  • whether the person has a sufficient level of competence to manage a site
  • the management structure and funding arrangements for the site or proposed management structure and funding arrangements

We also consider whether the relevant person:

  • has the right to work within the UK
  • has committed any offence involving fraud or other dishonesty, violence, arson or drugs or listed in Schedule 3 to the Sexual Offences Act 2003 (offences attracting notification requirements)
  • has contravened any provision of the law relating to housing, caravan sites, mobile homes, public health, planning or environmental health or of landlord and tenant law
  • has contravened any provision of the Equality 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 local 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 also may consider the conduct of any person associated or formerly associated with the relevant person (whether on a personal, work or other basis), if it appears that the person's conduct is relevant. We can also consider any evidence on any other relevant matters.

How long does a fit and proper person test last?

If an applicant is assessed to be 'fit and proper', they are entered onto the register for a period determined by the Council of up to a maximum of five years. At the end of this period, the site owner/manager will need to reapply if they wish to continue to be included on the register.

Register of fit and proper persons

The Mobile Homes (Requirement for Manager of Site to be Fit and Proper Person) (England) Regulations 2020 require East Hampshire District Council to maintain and make publicly available a register of those assessed as a 'fit and proper person' to hold a licence.