The bill amends the Mobile Homes Act 1983 to require owners of most private mobile-home pitches to pay any reasonable legal costs an occupier incurs in obtaining advice about the pitch agreement or their rights under it. The new obligation expressly excludes pitches on local authority or county council gypsy and traveller sites.
Separately, the bill revises the Act’s implied-terms schedule for on-site gas and electricity: owners must provide documentary evidence explaining any charges for gas or electricity they levy, may not charge above any maximum resale price set by the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority (Ofgem) under the Gas Act 1986 and Electricity Act 1989, and occupiers are not obliged to buy energy from the owner and may instead contract with third-party suppliers. The Act comes into force two months after it is passed.
At a Glance
What It Does
Adds a new subsection to section 1 requiring owners (except on local authority or county council gypsy and traveller sites) to pay reasonable legal-advice costs incurred by occupiers about their agreement or rights. It also amends Schedule 1 to require documentary evidence for energy charges, bars charges above any Ofgem resale price cap, and lets occupiers choose an external supplier.
Who It Affects
Private park and site owners/operators who manage and resell gas or electricity on pitches, occupiers and prospective buyers of mobile homes on private sites, energy suppliers that currently provide or may offer supply to pitches, and solicitors advising occupiers or owners.
Why It Matters
This changes who funds pre-contract legal advice for occupiers, reduces information asymmetry around on-site energy charges, and imports the regulator’s resale-price machinery into the mobile-home context—potentially shrinking owner resale margins and creating new compliance duties for park operators.
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What This Bill Actually Does
The bill takes two discrete but related steps to strengthen protections for people living in mobile and park homes on private sites. First, it inserts a new subsection into section 1 of the Mobile Homes Act 1983 that makes the owner responsible for any reasonable costs the occupier pays for legal advice about the pitch agreement, its terms, or the occupier’s rights under it.
The rule explicitly does not apply to pitches on local-authority or county-council gypsy and traveller sites, so the change targets private-site relationships.
Second, the bill changes the implied-terms chapter that governs services sold to occupiers. It requires owners to give (free) documentary evidence that explains and supports any gas or electricity charges they pass to occupiers.
The bill then adds a standalone provision that prevents owners from charging occupiers more than any maximum resale price set by the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority under its powers in the Gas Act 1986 and Electricity Act 1989. It also clarifies that occupiers cannot be compelled to enter a resale contract with the owner and are free to take a domestic supply contract from any other supplier.Taken together, these provisions seek to reduce two common frictions in the park-home market: occupiers’ lack of access to professional advice at the point they sign or review agreements, and opaque or potentially inflated energy resale arrangements.
The measures are mechanical rather than programmematic: they create substantive obligations and limits but stop short of establishing a new enforcement body, a tariff schedule, or a dispute-resolution scheme. Practically, compliance will require owners to budget for occupiers’ legal fees, maintain documentary records for energy billing, and adjust commercial arrangements where resale pricing previously provided an income stream.The bill provides for commencement two months after passage and follows the same territorial extent as the provisions it amends.
It therefore operates across the jurisdictions covered by the Mobile Homes Act 1983 and will interact with existing consumer-protection and energy-regulation frameworks rather than replace them.
The Five Things You Need to Know
The bill inserts subsection (4A) into section 1 of the Mobile Homes Act 1983, obliging owners to pay any reasonable legal-advice costs an occupier incurs about the agreement or their rights—excluding pitches on local authority or county council gypsy and traveller sites.
It amends Schedule 1, paragraph 22, by removing the words "gas, electricity" from paragraph 22(b)(ii) and adding a new sub-paragraph requiring owners to provide free documentary evidence explaining any gas or electricity charges.
A new paragraph 23A forbids owners from charging occupiers for gas or electricity at rates that exceed any maximum resale price established by a direction of the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority under section 37 of the Gas Act 1986 and section 44 of the Electricity Act 1989.
The bill makes clear the occupier is not required to enter a resale agreement with the owner and may instead contract with a supplier who is not the owner for domestic gas or electricity supply to the pitch.
The Act comes into force two months after it is passed, has the same territorial extent as the provisions it amends, and will be cited as the Mobile Homes Act 1983 (Amendment) Act 2025.
Section-by-Section Breakdown
Every bill we cover gets an analysis of its key sections.
Owner must pay occupier’s reasonable legal-advice costs (private sites)
This provision places a financial obligation on owners of private pitches to meet reasonable legal costs incurred by occupiers when they seek advice on the agreement or on their rights. The exemption for local authority and county-council gypsy and traveller sites narrows the change to privately managed parks. Practically, owners will need procedures to accept claims for costs, determine what is 'reasonable', and reimburse solicitors or claimants—unless secondary guidance or dispute-resolution norms develop. The bill does not set a cost cap, a certification process for invoices, or a statutory route for cost recovery, leaving those implementation details for case law or secondary instruments.
Documentary evidence for gas/electricity charges
Removing the literal phrase 'gas, electricity' from paragraph 22(b)(ii) is paired with a new obligation to provide documentary evidence—bills, meter readings, supplier invoices or contracts—supporting any charges the owner levies. This increases transparency: owners must be able to show how a charge is composed. The provision requires the evidence free of charge, so occupiers cannot be billed for proof. Operationally, owners will need record-keeping and billing systems capable of producing discrete energy-charge documentation on request.
Cap on resale charges tied to Ofgem directions
Paragraph 23A establishes a statutory ceiling on charges by tying permissible resale prices to any maximum resale price set by the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority under its existing powers. The mechanism delegates price-setting to Ofgem (via directions under the relevant Acts) rather than creating bespoke price controls in the Mobile Homes Act. If Ofgem issues no resale-price direction for a particular arrangement, the practical effect will depend on interpretation and enforcement in disputes. The provision also explicitly frees occupiers to decline owner-provided supply, which curtails owners’ ability to rely on margin from energy resale as revenue.
Extent, commencement and short title
This standard clause matches the extent of the amendment to that of the underlying Mobile Homes Act 1983, fixes commencement at two months after the Act is passed, and sets the short title to the Mobile Homes Act 1983 (Amendment) Act 2025. Two-month commencement gives owners and operators a predictable, short implementation window, but no transitional provisions are included for existing agreements or ongoing resale contracts.
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Explore Housing in Codify Search →Who Benefits and Who Bears the Cost
Every bill creates winners and losers. Here's who stands to gain and who bears the cost.
Who Benefits
- Occupiers of mobile or park homes on private sites: They gain paid access to legal advice at the owner’s expense and clearer documentation and limits on energy charges, reducing information asymmetry when entering or disputing agreements.
- Consumer and housing advice organisations: The changes strengthen the practical effect of advice work—clients who need legal help are less likely to decline it for cost reasons, improving outcomes and reducing power imbalances.
- Third‑party energy suppliers and meter operators: Occupiers’ explicit right to contract with non-owner suppliers opens commercial opportunities for alternative suppliers and firms that install separate meters or provide flexible supply arrangements.
Who Bears the Cost
- Private park and site owners/operators: They must pay reasonable occupier legal costs, prepare and supply documentary evidence for energy charges, and potentially forego resale margins if Ofgem price caps apply or occupiers switch suppliers.
- Small independent site owners: Administrative and cash-flow burdens fall disproportionately on smaller operators who lack sophisticated billing and accounting systems and who may rely on energy resale as a revenue stream.
- Owners’ insurers and legal teams: Expect higher demand for contract-review and dispute-handling work, plus potential insurance exposure for reimbursing occupiers’ legal fees and defending energy-charge disputes.
Key Issues
The Core Tension
The central dilemma is between strengthening protections for often-vulnerable occupiers—by funding legal advice and capping opaque energy resale—and imposing new costs and regulatory constraints on owners that may reduce service availability, increase administrative burdens, or prompt owners to shift costs elsewhere. Protecting occupiers’ access to advice and fair energy prices risks squeezing the commercial margins on which small park operators rely; relieving owners of those burdens risks reinstating the information asymmetries and pricing practices the bill seeks to correct.
Several practical and legal uncertainties could complicate implementation. The bill uses the term 'reasonable costs' for occupiers’ legal advice without prescribing a test, schedule, or certification process; that will leave courts, tribunals, or guidance to define reasonableness, opening the door to litigation over what counts as necessary or proportionate advice.
The Act does not specify a time window (for example, pre-contract only) or whether costs for subsequent disputes or appeals are covered.
Linking permissible resale prices to Ofgem directions imports the regulator’s machinery but assumes Ofgem will—or can—produce directions that meaningfully cover on-site resale arrangements. Many park-home resale setups use privately managed micro-grids, communal meters or top-up arrangements that fall outside typical supplier-reseller models; if Ofgem has not set resale maxima for these arrangements, disputes will hinge on interpretation.
Owners could respond by changing service models—separate metering, contract novation, or removing owner-supplied services altogether—potentially driving up other charges (pitch fees) or imposing upfront metering costs on occupiers.
Finally, the targeted exclusion of local-authority and county-council gypsy and traveller sites leaves a differential regulatory regime across similar occupiers, which could raise concerns about consistent protection for groups with particular vulnerability to insecure or exploitative tenure arrangements. The bill also lacks an express enforcement regime: it creates obligations and caps but relies on occupiers to assert rights in dispute processes, rather than providing a streamlined enforcement or penalty framework administered by a regulator or local authority.
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