Owners' Advice: BH&HPA Revised Model Licence Agreement
Towards the end of 2018 the BH&HPA made a number of significant revisions to their standard model terms. For those of you who maybe aren’t aware, BH&HPA stands for the British Holiday and Home Parks Association. They are the only organisation established exclusively to serve and represent the interests of the parks industry in the UK. Their membership is made up of the owners and managers of park home estates, touring, tenting and glamping parks, holiday caravan parks, chalet parks and all types of self-catering accommodation.
Alongside various design changes and lots more emphasis on GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) the stand out item for us is in connection with the parts of the agreement that deal with pitch fee increase.
Most notably the biggest change is in relation to the number of objections that need to be received to trigger a formal review. In the past this was set at “…not less than 51%”. We’ve openly criticised this level of complaints and have also questioned how fair it is that the park owner is the party to monitor how many objections have been sent in. We’ve also raised the question as to whether a formal review of pitch fee increase has ever even happened…
However, the BH&HPA have reduced this amount from 51% to 33% which is a significant variation and a big nod to consumers at holiday caravan parks. Couple this with the removal of any reference to ‘market rates’ within the pitch fee increase criteria and it presents a much more even-handed approach.
Please bear in mind though that these changes will only apply if you have been issued the revised terms. There’s a number of other changes in the new agreement and we’re working on getting a copy available online for you to view. Keep an eye on the website.
Dan Ellacott
National Association of Caravan Owners
www.nacoservices.com