PITCH FEE REVIEW, CPI & RPI

ticle published by LEASE

February 2018 by Manjit Rai, LEASE Legal Adviser

Pitch fee review

The pitch fee can only be changed either by agreement between the occupier and site owner or by a determination of the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber). It can be reviewed annually as at the review date, a date which is usually specified in the pitch agreement.

The pitch fee review process

At least 28 clear days before the review date the owner must serve on the occupier a written notice setting out their proposals in respect of the new pitch fee. If the park home owner agrees to the proposed new pitch fee, then it shall be payable as from the review date.

The written notice must be accompanied by a pitch fee review form. This form is designed to provide transparency in the Pitch Fee Review and to help occupiers understand the amount that is being proposed. It is also to ensure that a site owner is not able to add unfair charges onto the pitch fee.

What can be included in the pitch fee review?

There is a presumption that the pitch fee will be increased only by CPI (Consumer Prices Index) in England and Wales, however as the implied terms* make clear, that when determining the amount of the new pitch fee, particular regard shall be had to the following:

costs of improvements to the site
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
direct effect on the costs payable by the owner in relation to the maintenance or management of the site of any enactment which has come into force since the last review date

What cannot be included in the Pitch Fee Review?

The site owner cannot include charges such as legal fees, costs incurred by the site owner in relation to the site licence, local authority enforcement action or costs for expanding the site.

Common Issues

One issue that comes up often is whether a site owner can recover their costs for improvements on the site, through the annual pitch fee review.

Improvements are changes or additions that are for the benefit of the occupiers of mobile homes on the protected site, which were the subject of consultation and to which a majority of the park home owners have not disagreed in writing. If a majority of residents have disagreed then, in the case of such disagreement, the Tribunal would need to decide whether those improvements should be taken into account when determining the amount of the new pitch fee.

How is the consultation carried out?

The site owner shall consult all of the occupiers about improvements to the protected site in general, and in particular about those which the site owner wishes to be taken into account when determining the amount of any new pitch fee.

To “consult” means to give the occupier at least 28 clear days’ notice in writing of the proposed improvements which:

describes the proposed improvements and how they will benefit the occupier in the long and short term;
details how the pitch fee may be affected when it is next reviewed; and
states when and where the occupier can make representations about the proposed improvements

The site owner must take into account any representations made by the occupier about the proposed improvements before undertaking them.

How the pitch fee is calculated

The calculation of the fee takes into account; the current pitch fee adjusted by the Consumer Prices Index ‘CPI’ (in Wales and England), and includes any recoverable costs and any relevant deductions as per the Mobile Homes (Pitch Fees) Act 2023. For further details please see 20230517 DLUHC Letter to all residents

The CPI figure is calculated by using the last figure that was published, 28 days before the review date. For example, if the review date is 1st April 2014, the latest CPI figure prior to 4th March 2014 will be used. The official CPI figure can be found on the Office of National Statistics website and further down this page.

What to do if there is a dispute

If an occupier disagrees with the proposed pitch fee increase, then they can pay the current amount and withhold the increase. Either party (site owner or the occupier) may make an application to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) for a determination on the amount of the new pitch fee.

Another common issue – licence fee recoverability through the pitch fee review.

Since 1st April 2014, local authorities have been able to charge a site owner an annual fixed site licence fee. This applies to ‘protected sites’ i.e. ones that do not have any restrictions on the times of year when the site can be occupied or that are exclusively for holiday use only.

The local authority must prepare and publish a fees policy before imposing an annual licence fee. Site owners can recover the annual licence fee by adding it onto the pitch fee so that it is paid, pro-rata by park home owners. It then becomes an integral part of the pitch fee which is usually increased by the RPI/CPI each year.

It had been understood that under the implied terms to the Mobile Homes Act 2013, site owners could only take into account an annual licence at the time of the first pitch fee review after the law had changed, in this case a period between 2 April 2014 and 1 April 2015.

Unfortunately, some local authorities had not published their fees policy during that period, so could not impose the annual licence fee in the first year but did so in later years. This created uncertainty, it was unclear whether site owners could add the annual licence fee to the pitch fee review after 1^st April 2015.

Clarification of the legal position

In early 2017, The Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) clarified the issue, by issuing two related decisions in the cases of Vyse v Wyldecrest Parks (Management) Ltd [2017] UKUT 24 (LC) and Wyldecrest Parks (Management) Ltd v Kenyon and Others [2017] UKUT 28 (LC).

In the Kenyon case, The Upper Tribunal determined that the annual licence fee could be included in the pitch fee because the delay in invoicing the site owner was the fault of the local authority.

In Vyse, the Upper Tribunal decided that: the starting point for a pitch fee review is the RPI but also allows other ‘weighty’ factors to be considered unless it would be unreasonable to do so; The pitch fee is a composite fee and the components should not be treated separately; The Upper Tribunal felt that it would be unreasonable to say that any changes in the site licence fee could never be passed on to the residents.

In Vyse, however, the increase in annual licence fee was not allowed as it was considered the increase was related to the poor management of the site.

The important point here is that it is now clear that the site owner can include the annual licence fee in the pitch fee review, even if it is included in the pitch fee review after 1^st April 2015.

For England and Wales use the CPI figure. For Scotland and Northern Ireland use the RPI figures.

CPI & RPI Figures taken from the Office for National Statistics. The figures are issued at around the 18th of the following month which allows time for 28 days notice to be given.

If you are living in England and are having difficulty paying your pitch fee there is some useful information provided by Shelter at https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/benefits/housing_benefit_for_mobile_homes


	YEAR	RATE			CPI/RPI
	2023		2024	2025	2026
JANUARY		10.1	0.4	3	3 3.8
FEBRUARY		10.4	3.4	3	3 3.6
MARCH		10.1	3.2	3.3	3.3 3.6
APRIL		8.7	2.3	3.5	2.8
MAY		8.7	2	3.4	2.8
JUNE		7.9	2	3.6	2.6
JULY		6.8	2.2	3.8
AUGUST		6.7	2.2	3.8
SEPTEMBER		6.7	1.7	3.8
OCTOBER		4.6	2.3	3.8
NOVEMBER		3.9	2.6	3.2
DECEMBER		4	2.5	3.4

Clauses 16 to 25A of the Implied Terms regulate how and when a pitch fee review can take place.

The Review Date: is the date on which your pitch fee is increased (or decreased) annually.

At least 28 days notice must be given to you regarding the Site Owners ‘proposed‘ increase (or decrease) before the review date.

Site Owners can only use the CPI/RPI available immediately prior to the 28 day notice being sent out. Presuming the Pitch Fee is due on the first day of the month then the following is applicable:

October for January Review
November for February Review
December for March Review
January for April Review
February for May Review
March for June Review
April for July Review
May for August Review
June for September Review
July for October Review
August for November Review
September for December Review

The review has to be laid out in a manner similar to the [The Mobile Homes (Pitch Fees) (Prescribed Form) (England) Regulations] SI 2023/620

Click here for Pitch fee review form: park homes – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) and must be accompanied by a letter notifying residents of what the proposed increase is. The letter must have the park owner’s name and address on it and be signed by the park owner or a director of the company.

Any change in the pitch fee can only take place if you agree, and is payable from the review date.

If there has not been a previous review date, it cannot be reviewed until 12 months from the commencement date on your Written Statement.

Further information on pitch fee reviews and other charges can be downloaded from the Fact Sheet at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/park-homes

Or by contacting LEASE on 020 7383 9800.