Pitch Fee Increase 1 April 2023

PITCH FEE UPDATE 31/3/2023

The proposed pitch fee increase starts on 1 April 2023. Pitch fee increases can’t be imposed on us. The law says we either have to agree to them or we can let a tribunal decide.

The grounds that a tribunal would consider are:

• deterioration in the condition, decrease in the amenity, of the site or any adjoining land which is occupied or controlled by the owner

• reduction in the services that the owner supplies to the site, pitch or mobile home, and any deterioration in the quality of those services

If you are content with the infrastructure of the site and the services provided, you should go ahead and pay the increased amount by updating your standing order.

If you'd prefer a tribunal to determine if the increase is fair, you do not need to inform Royale, just continue to pay the rate you’ve been paying over the last year.

It would then be down to Royale to ask the tribunal to determine if their increase is fair. Royale will need to make an application to the tribunal before 1 July (three months after the review). Often, the tribunal will deal with everything in writing and the Association will be happy to assist those residents with paperwork, when/if that comes.

We have lots of evidence of what we think is deterioration. We submitted a detailed report to Royale last October, which covered many things residents had flagged up including the poor state of roads, paths, signage and accessibility. Today (31/3) we carried out an end of year inspection to determine if much had changed and we’ve concluded there has been a deterioration of site/services in the last 12 months.

The Association cannot recommend what people do - that’s down to individuals. However, we are here to help those members who wish to challenge the increase and will make available a comprehensive bundle of documents that can be supplied to the tribunal, if Royale decides on that option.

Of course with everything in life we cannot guarantee that a tribunal will agree there has been sufficient deterioration to warrant a reduction but we do feel we have a reasonable case. If the tribunal agrees to lower the increase this will only apply to residents that opted for the tribunal route.

We are not legal experts but you can get free legal advice from the government’s excellent park homes advice service LEASE on 020 7832 2500.

PS

If you are paying the new rate you should adjust your standing order accordingly. Once you've paid the new rate this means you've accepted it and can't appeal.

If you don't agree with the new rate you should continue paying the old rate.

Please bear in mind some people might have only set up 12 month standing orders last year so they will have expired. Make sure you reinstate the standing order even if you're only paying last years amount.

You can't get in any trouble if you continue to pay last year's rate but you can if you don't pay anything at all so check your standing orders are all fine.