Updates
20th September 2023
Policy updated to reflect the new fees
Introduction
This policy sets out the fees for “Relevant Protected Sites” (Park Home Sites), how they calculated and reviewed in the future. The table in the following section is a summary of the fees the council will charge. The fees are calculated with reference to published guidance to local authorities.
Summary of the fees charged on relevant protected sites in Dorset
A new park home license is £791.00 per license
| Annual license fee per site | Fee |
|---|---|
| Band 1 (1 to 10) | £85.00 |
| Band 2 (11 to 35) | £141.00 |
| Band 3 (36 to 71) | £288.00 |
| Band 4 (71 to 106) | £464.00 |
| Band 5 (107 to 142) | £579.00 After this it's an additional £151.00 per multiple of 35 units |
| Minor amendment of a licence | £47.00 |
| Major amendment of a licence (Including change of ownership, change conditions or site layout) | £164.00 |
| Deposit of site rules | £52.00 per set of rules |
| Application to the fit and proper person register | £270.00 per application |
| Additional conditions applied to an applicant to be registered as a fit and proper person | £60.00 |
Exemptions to this policy
Sites exempted from this policy are those that are:
- for holiday use only
- are only allowed to have caravans stationed on them at certain times of the year
- not “relevant protected sites”
Enforcement fees
Enforcement fees are not included in this policy. The council may reasonably charge for the costs incurred in carrying out enforcement on Relevant Protected Sites, such as the service of compliance notices. These costs and how they will be administered are set out in the Dorset Council Private Sector Housing Enforcement Policy.
Setting fees
The Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960 introduced a licensing system for park home sites.
The Mobile Homes Act 2013 amended this legislation and allowed councils to charge fees for certain activities including:
- applying for a new site licence
- transferring an existing licence
- revising site licence conditions
- annual licence fee.
- depositing site rules
Site owners may recover the cost of annual fees through an increase in pitch fees if they choose to do so. Fees have been calculated with reference to guidance.
The Mobile Homes Act 2013 – a Guide for Local Authorities on Setting Licence Fees.
Mobile homes: a guide for local authorities on setting fees for the fit and proper person test.
Publishing a policy and how the fees are calculated
The Mobile Homes Act 2013 requires Dorset Council to publish a policy for these fees and show how they were reasonably calculated.
Appendix 1 in this this policy shows how the fees were calculated on a cost recovery basis.
The relevant considerations include; administering applications, issuing licences, carrying out annual inspections, stationery costs, postage, and time spent consulting with other organisations, legal advice, licensing software and travel costs.
Review of fees
Fees will be amended annually in line with other council fees to take into account inflation. The policy and the fees contained within it will be reviewed at three-year intervals from the date of adoption with adjustments made up or down accordingly if a deficit or surplus has been accrued.
Enforcement activities not included
The council may from time to time take enforcement action to remedy breaches of site licence conditions. Charging rates and the considerations considered do not form part of this policy.
Site rules
Site rules are an agreed set of rules for a specific site and are made between the site owner and the residents of a park.
Site rules are not the same as site licence conditions and not all sites have adopted a set of site rules.
Properly agreed site rules may be deposited with Dorset Council and are made available to view upon request.
A fee for depositing site rules is set out in this policy.
Fit and proper person
Regulations regarding a register of fit and proper persons for managing relevant protected sites was published in June 2021.
All site owners or persons wishing to manage sites must apply to register by September 2021.
New site licence fee
The council will charge a fee of £791.00 in respect to a new application for a Relevant Protected Site licence. See Appendix 1 for cost calculations.
Annual licence fees
The council will charge an annual licence fee based on the banding of sites in Dorset into five categories. The band range is shown in the banding if sites table.
| Band | Number of mobile homes |
|---|---|
| 1 | 1 to 10 |
| 2 | 11 to 35 |
| 3 | 36 to 71 |
| 4 | 71 to 106 |
| 5 | 107 to 142 |
any sites larger than 142 will pay an additional amount per multiple of 35 homes.
Fees are calculated using the template shown in Appendix 1 and relate to the time taken to perform various steps in issuing the annual licence.
As sites increase in size the average time taken to administer the annual site licence increases. So, banding site fees is a fairer way of attributing the cost incurred by the Council.
The cost of an annual licence for each band is shown in the annual site license fee table.
| Annual license fee per site | Fee |
|---|---|
| Band 1 (1 to 10) | £85.00 |
| Band 2 (11 to 35) | £141.00 |
| Band 3 (36 to 71) | £288.00 |
| Band 4 (71 to 106) | £464.00 |
| Band 5 (107 to 142) | £579.00 After this it's an additional £151.00 per multiple of 35 units |
Total fees are rounded to the nearest pound
Charging of annual site licence fees.
The council intends to invoice each relevant protected site in August of each year.
The amount payable will cover the annual licence fee for the calendar year the invoice was raised in.
Transfer or amendment of a licence
The council will charge two fees to amend a licence.
- a minor amendment fee of £47 will be charged where the amendment is trivial, has no material effect to the licence and does not require an officer to visit the site
- a major amendment fee of £164 will be charged if the work required to carry out the amendment takes significantly longer to complete. This would include for example a change of ownership request, site boundary change or request to amended conditions
See Appendix 1 for cost calculations.
Deposit of site rule
Councils are required to deposit site rules that have been properly adopted by relevant protected sites using the prescribed process.
Copies of individual deposited site rules will be provided by the Council upon request.
The Council will charge a fee of £52 to deposit a set of site rules.
Application to the fit and proper person register.
The regulations
The Mobile Homes (Requirements for Manager of Site to Fit and Proper) (England) Regulations 2020 introduced an assessment to ensure that the person responsible for managing a “Relevant Protected Site” (a park home site) is suitable and of good character, and as such does not pose a risk to the welfare or safety of persons occupying mobile homes on the site.
It is an offence for a site licence holder to operate a park home site unless they, or their appointed manager, are a fit and proper person.
New applications
Forms to apply for new applications to the Register can be downloaded from the council’s website.
Completed application forms should be sent to Dorset Council, Housing Standards Team, County Hall, Colliton Park, Dorchester, Dorset, DT1 1XJ.
Or emailed to caravantentparksite@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk
For existing sites, applications must be made by midnight on 30 September 2021.
Other applications
Site owners have 3 months to make an application if the circumstances relating to the nominated fit and proper person change in relation to an existing caravan site, for example:
- if there is a transfer of a site licence
- if there is a change in management of a site
- if a person has been removed from the register by the local authority
Fees
The fee accompanying every application is £270 yearly fee for existing entry on the Fit and Proper Persons register:
- £0 standard conditions only
- £60 for each additional specific condition
In the event the Local Authority appoint a site manager, all reasonable costs incurred in making the appointment will be recovered.
Appendix 1 - What will be considered
To be sure that the relevant person is a fit and proper person to manage the site, and to add them to the register, The council will consider:
- The owners past compliance with the site licence
- The long-term maintenance of the site
- Whether the person has a sufficient level of competence to manage a site
- The management structure and funding arrangements for the site or proposed management structure and funding arrangements
We also consider whether the relevant person:
- has the right to work within the UK
- has committed any offence involving fraud or other dishonesty, violence, arson or drugs or listed in Schedule 3 to the Sexual Offences Act 2003 (offences attracting notification requirements)
- has contravened any provision of the law relating to housing, caravan sites, mobile homes, public health, planning or environmental health or of landlord and tenant law
- has contravened any provision of the Equality Act 2010 in, or in connection with, the carrying on of any business
- has harassed any person in, or in connection with, the carrying on of any business
- has had an application rejected by any other local authority
- is or has been personally insolvent within the past 10 years
- is or has been disqualified from acting as a company director within the last 10 years
We will also consider the conduct of any person associated or formerly associated with the relevant person (whether on a personal, work or other basis), if it appears that person's conduct is relevant.
We will also consider any evidence/information on any other relevant matters.
Appendix 1 - Calculation of fees
New site licence:
The factors that have been considered in calculating on average a new site licence fee are included in the new site license table
| Council officer | Hours | Rate | Sub total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Team leader or senior EHO (what is this?) | 18.5 | £38.29 | £708/37 |
| Housing technical support officer (HTSO) | 2.0 | £22.34 | £44.68 |
This totals £753.05
Annual site license fee
The factors that have been considered in calculating on average a annual site licence fee are included in the annual site license table.
| Band | Housing Technical Support Officer (HTSO) hours | Rate in £ | Sub total in £ | Management hours |
Rate | Sub total in £ | Total fee rounded to the nearest pound |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3.333 | 22.34 | 74.47 | 0.167 | 38.29 | 6.38 | 81 |
| 2 | 5.583 | 22.34 | 124.73 | 0.25 | 38.29 | 9.57 | 134 |
| 3 | 11.000 | 22.34 | 245.74 | 0.75 | 38.29 | 28.72 | 274 |
| 4 | 18.083 | 22.34 | 403.98 | 1 | 38.29 | 38.29 | 442 |
| 5 | 22.417 | 22.34 | 500.79 | 1.333 | 38.29 | 51.05 | 552 |
Amendments to Licence fees
| Officer | Hours | Rate £ | Total £ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing Technical Support Officer | 1.6 | 22.34 | 35.37 |
| Team Leader/ Senior EHO | 0.25 | 38.29 | 9.57 |
This totals £44.94
Deposit site riles fees
| Officer | Hours | Rate £ | Total £ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing Technical Support Officer | 1.8 | 22.34 | |
| Team Leader/ Senior EHO | 0.25 | 38.29 | 9.57 |
This totals £50.53
Fit and proper person fee
| Officer | Hours | Rate £ | Total £ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Technical Support Officer | 2.8 | 22.34 | 62.55 |
| SEHO/Team Leader | 4.3 | 38.29 | 164.65 |
| Administration and management oversight +15% (cost of printing, postage, management oversight, further reporting | n/a | n/a | 30 |
This totals £257.00
Additional specific condition fees
| Additional specific condition | Officer | How long in hours | How long in hours | Grade | Hourly rate £ | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Check site records (e.g. site licence compliance and long term maintenance of the site) and draft/review specific condition | SEHO | 1.5 | 1.6 | 13 | 38.29 | £58.00 |
Review
This policy was last reviewed in 2023.
The next expected review date is 2024.