# mobile home on a holiday site and pay a yearly ground rent: price gone up no notice



## cosy (15 Mar 2006)

I have a mobile home on a holiday site and pay a yearly ground rent.  The ground rent was €850 last year but I have just received this years fees and it is €1200 including vat @ 13.5%.  No explanation!

Question

1.  Can owner up ground rent without even notifying me 

2.  can he charge vat on ground rent @ 13.5%

Thanks


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## Jister (15 Mar 2006)

In my experience yes and yes, unless you have some kind of a contract which says otherwsie. Also they can ask you to leave the site and remove your mobile at short notice, which happened to somebody I know. As a matter of interest what part of the country is it in?


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## deew (15 Mar 2006)

And in my experience yes and yes also.the owner is in total control of rents ,pitches and whom he lets on to the site,sold my mobile as it was getting to the stage where you would be asked what you had for breakfast1!!The owner can pretty much do as he/she likes and if you dont like it,they can tell you to leave.residents in certain parks have zero rights.


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## cosy (15 Mar 2006)

It based in Clare, I'm thinking of selling but all sales have to go thru the owner?? Is this the norm?


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## deew (15 Mar 2006)

Yes ,that would be the norm, I sold and bought a larger mobile on the same site,the guy made a fortune on that as he only gave the people selling the mobile 14.000 and we had to pay 18.500,plus we had to sell our old mobile tru him,he only gave us 7.000 for it and charged the new owners 11.ooo.So I sold up ,It was a really bad investment.Never again, plus the ground rent went up every year..that would get us a family holiday for 3 weeks abroad,and anyway its boring going to the same place all the time.good luck.


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## kirvos (15 Mar 2006)

Hi all, spent 18 years on a site in sunny south east. Rent began at £250. Ended up a €3,000. Had to buy/sell with the site owner as middleman. Similar shakedown as described above by deew. Latest wheeze is to force site occupants to change ('we're upgrading the site') every few years. Any show of protest or defiance was met with threat to pull your mobile out on the public highway.  I left in disgust. Told later my nice pitch fetched €30,000k  'hello' money for new occupant. I wish him/her luck. The costs are now off the scale and not worth it. YOu have no security of tenure, no pricing power and no rights. 

Only way to fight this is for all occupants to form a company over the winter and be prepared to pay a hard-nosed individual to act for the company to set and agree T&Cs with the owner when spring demand comes around for the yearly rent. Easier said than done, but it's the only solution to  tackle grasping site owners.

Beach has public access anyway, so I can always revisit friends as needed.


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## deew (16 Mar 2006)

My mobile was in the sunny south east as well,dont know if you were on the same site,but they are all the same in general.We even had to pay for the remote control for the gates at entrance ie; putting the gate in was paid for by all of us who had to buy the remotes ,and no doubt a profit was made.I agree entirely about HELLO money,as the same moblile on a different site would be half the price,taking into consideration the location.The people who run these places will continue to get away with this kind of treatment as long as you and I continue to pay.A deck for our mobile would under normal circumstances cost ( at the time ) about 1.500 max,however we were not allowed to build it ourselves as the owner got someone to do it,the prices was 5.000!!!complete rip off!! nothing can be done to the mobile or deck or surrounding area ie;planting without the owners consent,and then he would get someone to do it and charge us ,what he called a COMMISSION!!we are soooooooooo outa there.if any of you are thinking of buying a mobile in sunny south east,,be aware of the hidden costs!!


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## deew (16 Mar 2006)

Meant to tell you guys that the owner often brings in NEW RULES,for example, he decided that from now on any mobile over the age of ten years would have to be replaced by a NEW mobile,this guareenteed him that every year ,several people would have to sell and buy the new one ,which he gets commission on,most people think that once you buy the mobile and pay the yearly rent ,that you have it for the life of the mobile,THIS IS NOT THE CASE,beware.Onthe site I was on ,any talk of forming a company or an association was treated with contempt by the owner and threats to put you and the mobile on the public road...


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## Humpback (16 Mar 2006)

Presumably you all here complaining about the actions of the land owners can refer to the contracts that you've signed with the land owner before you paid him for the use of his land. 

Wouldn't the terms and conditions that you submitted to originally actually dictate how the landowner will act, and what is expected of you when you make use of the site?

You do have contracts, don't you? Given how much money you're shelling out every year?

I love this thread. Talk about pointless moaning and complaining.

You're using someone elses land. Seeing as it's their land, they're quite entitled to do whatever they chose with regards to how you use it, and how you must behave when you're making use of it.

If you don't like any of this, you're under no obligation to continue to holiday there.


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## deew (16 Mar 2006)

You are right ,and thats exactly why we decided to sell,contract from landowner was very much in his favour.If it says in the contract that he will be the only one allowed to build a deck, for example,one does not expect to pay way over the odds!! and thats where the problems start,one expects to pay a fair price but tru out the years it just became unfair and quite honestly mean.Nothing in the contracts dictate how the landowner must behave only the tennant.And yes we did renew our contract for a couple of years ,untill we got sense.I think that a lot of people who buy mobiles do not realise the how much control the landowner has ,and you may see it as moaning,wheras others may find it quite informative to read the experiences of others who have been there done that.


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