Agenda item

(Housing Portfolio Holder) To consider the attached report (C-080-2013/14).

(1)        That, following the recent consultation with park home residents and site owners:

(a)        the Epping Forest District Council Policy on Fees for Licensing Residential Park Home Sites, attached at Appendix 1 of the report, be adopted from 1 April 2014; and

            (b)        the fees be added to the Schedule of Housing Fees and Charges and        reviewed by the Finance and Performance Management Cabinet Committee on an annual basis; and

(2)        That a decision on the draft conditions to be attached to site licences for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller sites, which would be the subject of a separate consultation with the owners, residents and other interested parties, be delayed pending interpretation of the implications of further guidance on recommended separation distances between park homes.

The Housing Portfolio Holder presented a report on the proposed new arrangements for Park Home Site Licence conditions and outlined some revised response figures from the public consultation.

The Portfolio Holder reminded the Cabinet that, in July 2012, it had agreed the conditions to be attached to the site licences for the permanent residential park homes sites in the District (report reference C-012-2012/13). These included a condition that if, in the future, local authorities were able to charge for park home licensing functions then the Council reserved the right to do so, although it was also agreed that if the Council intended to charge then all residents and site owners would be consulted beforehand. The new Mobile Homes Act 2013 had included the power for local authorities to charge for functions associated with licensing park home sites.  While this legislation only allowed charges to be made for the administration of the Council’s licensing functions and not for enforcement, it was considered that an effective presence on site during the licensing process could reduce site licence contraventions and would reduce Officer time spent on enforcement at a later stage. 

The Portfolio Holder stated that a proposed fee structure had been devised and site owners, park home owners and other interested parties were consulted. Residents that were tenants in a park home were not liable for paying the pitch fee (and as such any licence fee) so views on potential charging were not sought from them. It was recommended that the Epping Forest District Council Policy on Fees for Licensing Residential Park Home Sites, attached at Appendix 1 of the report and taking account of the views expressed during the public consultation, be agreed for implementation from 1 April 2014.

The Cabinet were reminded that it had also agreed that the site licence conditions for the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller sites in the District should generally be in accordance with those for the permanent residential sites and that a consultation process should also be undertaken with the residents on Gypsy, Roma and Traveller sites that were occupied on a permanent residential basis. Draft site licence conditions had been compiled, however additional information regarding the appropriate separation spacing of park homes had come to light and this consultation had been delayed pending further guidance being sought by Officers.

The Assistant Director of Housing (Private Sector & Resources) added that the closing date for the public consultation had been after the date of publication for the Cabinet agenda, hence some of the response figures provided in table four had been revised. Officers had now obtained the guidance regarding sprinkler systems and had resolved  the issues regarding the separation between dwellings on Gypsy, Roma and Traveller sites. Consequently, a report would be submitted for consideration in due course. It was confirmed that annual licence fees could be passed on to pitch holders each year but the initial licence fees for the site could not. This led to some initial confusion amongst the Members concerning which licence fee could be passed on to pitch holders and which could not, until the Portfolio Holder provided an explanation.

Decision:

(1)        That, following the recent consultation with park home residents and site owners:

(a)        the Epping Forest District Council Policy on Fees for Licensing Residential Park Home Sites, attached at Appendix 1 of the report, be adopted from 1 April 2014; and

            (b)        the fees be added to the Schedule of Housing Fees and Charges and        reviewed by the Finance and Performance Management Cabinet Committee on an annual basis; and

(2)        That a decision on the draft conditions to be attached to site licences for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller sites, which would be the subject of a separate consultation with the owners, residents and other interested parties, be delayed pending interpretation of the implications of further guidance on recommended separation distances between park homes.

Reasons for Decision:

The Mobile Homes Act 2013 allowed local authorities to cover their licensing costs by levying a charge on site owners. This could be passed on by the site owner to individual home owners in their pitch fees but the cost to each individual home owner through the fees proposed would be small.

Further information had come to light on the recommended spacing between pitches and it was considered that consultation with the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller residents regarding the draft conditions to be attached to such site licences should be held in abeyance until Officers had had a chance to review the guidance.

Other Options Considered and Rejected:

To not charge for licensing park home sites. However, the Mobile Homes Act 2013 provided an opportunity to recover these costs.

To adopt a different charging policy to the one proposed. However, the proposed scheme was considered the fairest and would allow additional sites to be included without the recalculation of the fees for all the sites.