Static caravan owners' legal rights
Owning a caravan is great fun. There’s nothing like having a permanent escape in a beautiful location for making memories with your loved ones. It may well end up being a big part of your life, so buying a static caravan as a family holiday home is not something you should take lightly. Indeed, as a static caravan owner or potential buyer, it’s important to know where you stand with regards to your legal rights.
In the UK, there is no specific legislation regulating the static caravan industry. However, the Mobile Homes Act 2013 introduced a new site licensing regime which gives buyers some protection but does not extend to holiday homes. In this article we will also set out static caravan owners’ legal rights that are found in other pieces of legislation. Read on to get to grips with the must knows.
The guidance
At Haven, we follow the guidance from the Competition and Markets Authority in 2014 regarding contracts, that says companies should not:
Levy excessive penalties for cancelling a contract
Make the terms of the contract deliberately misleading
Hide important terms in the contractual small print
Use the terms of the contract to take away or reduce a customer’s statutory rights
Consumer Rights Act
The Consumer Rights Act (“CRA”) is a law that came into effect in 2015, replacing the Sales of Goods Act 1979. The act applies to the sale of holiday homes and guarantees a number of “statutory rights” for you, the consumer. These include the following:
That the product is of satisfactory quality
That it is fit for purpose
The goods are to be as described
Buyers have the right to have goods installed correctly
They also have the right for the goods to be delivered without undue delay or within 30 days of the contract being made unless otherwise agreed
At Haven we follow these rules in full and we will always provide holiday homes which comply with the consumer rights listed above. We’ll always do our best to make sure that you’re satisfied with your purchase. However, there will be occasions when a customer might change their mind about their new caravan and that’s why we offer a cooling-off period on every purchase.
Cooling-off period
We want to make sure that you’re absolutely content with your purchase. That’s why, before buying your dream holiday home at Haven, we offer you the opportunity to book a free visit to our park so you can get a feel for life as an owner. The last thing we want is for you to sign up for something then have regrets. Of course, there's no obligation to buy at all and if you do decide to take the plunge then we offer a 30-day money back guarantee on all models.
We know it’s inevitable that some people will make the decision to buy a static caravan, - then change their minds. This might be due to an unexpected financial reason, or a personal change of situation. Rest assured, at Haven we consider the option to change your mind to be among your rights as a consumer. So, if you do end up having an unforeseen change of heart, we have a 30-day cooling-off period. This is a full money-back guarantee lasting for 30 days after buying your holiday home. If it doesn’t work out, you’re entitled to simply hand us back the key and walk away. Our expert team of staff are happy to talk to you at any time and will guide you through every step of your ownership journey if you have any concerns along the way.
Your data rights
At Haven we are committed to respecting your privacy. In order to protect your data, we follow strict security procedures on how personal information is stored and used and who sees it. We treat your information with the utmost care and have secure access to all transactional areas of our websites and apps using ‘https’ technology. It goes without saying that access to your personal information is password protected, and sensitive data is secured and tokenised.
Consent is our keyword when it comes to your data and gaining your consent is always our first priority. For example, we may ask you if you would like to receive news and offers such as relevant products and services including tailored special offers, discounts, promotions, events, competitions. If we ask you this, we will always give you the option to tick a box to inform us of your preferences.
We follow the law on data protection that sets out the reasons for which a company may collect and process personal data. This may be in order to fulfil our contract to you, for legal compliance, or to pursue our legitimate interests. In the case of buying a caravan with us, we may carry out checks against the electoral roll and credit reference agencies and/or conduct identity verification and financial crime screening checks as part of our obligations under Money Laundering and Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) regulations.
After we collect and process your personal data, we’ll only keep it for as long as is necessary, for the purpose for which it was collected. At the end of that retention period, your data will either be deleted completely or anonymised. For more information on static caravan owners’ legal rights, when they apply, and how to exercise them, have a look at: https://ico.org.uk/your-data-matters/
If you have questions about buying a holiday home, please don't hesitate to contact us. Call us, chat to us online or book a park visit, we'd love to hear from you.
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Important information
Let2offset - make no site fee payments until 2031
Let2offset is a contractual lettings product that offers eligible owners a guaranteed letting income at a preferential rate (calculated each year) in exchange for a stipulated number of letting breaks. It also allows eligible owners to pay their site fees and receive their letting income in 12 equal monthly instalments; the monthly site fee amount charged by Haven will be after deduction of the letting income.
‘Make no site fee payments when using Let2offset until 2031’ is available at 33 Haven parks excluding Burnham, Cardigan View, Far Grange, Garreg Wen, Lydstep Beach, Riviere Sands and Seaview. The letting income received will vary by make, model and location. The monthly site fee payment does not include running costs e.g. utilities, rates & insurance.
“Make no site fee payments when using Let2offset until 2031” is applicable to new and existing customer purchases of new Atlas Sahara 3 Bed or equivalent or superior grade holiday home purchases made through Haven where customers have also signed up to Haven’s Let2offset contract. It is not applicable to private sales and cannot be used in conjunction with our free Site Fee promotion. It is available across 40% of eligible Parks and applies when letting a new Atlas Sahara 3 Bed holiday home (or equivalent or superior grade for 15 weeks.
An example of how “Make no site fee payments when using Let2offset until 2031” operates under Let2offset is the purchase of an Atlas Sahara 3 Bed holiday home at Primrose Valley with a monthly site fee of £585.00 (includes purchasing discount of £45) and monthly letting income of £803.67. The monthly difference equates to £218.67, which will be credited to the owner's account. Both letting income and site fees are subject to yearly pricing reviews and the monthly site fee costs and letting income shown in the example are based on 2024 figures.
Modelled assumptions on expected annual site fee and letting income charges over the 7-year lettable life of the Atlas Sahara 3 Bed indicate that under Let2offset it is anticipated that these customers will continue to receive a monthly credit during this period, however, this is not guaranteed. The modelled assumptions are based on the historical performance of Haven over the past 5 years of trading.
Images are shown for representational purposes. Access to holiday home is subject to park opening times.
Park cannot be used as a permanent residence. Haven Leisure Ltd is registered in England (No. 01968698) and is a FCA appointed representative of Bourne Leisure Limited (t/a Haven). Bourne Leisure Ltd is registered in England (No. 04011660) and is authorised and regulated by the FCA (Financial Services Register No. 312847) as a credit broker and insurance distributor. Registered office: One Park Lane, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, HP2 4YL. We may receive commission from the finance provider if you enter into an agreement with them.