Noah Law

I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Rushcliffe (James Naish) for securing this important debate. I am sure he will be much thanked by my residents in Gainsborough Park, Fir Hill, Glenleigh, Roseveare, Buckler Village, and the Old Rectory Mews, for raising the issues that they raise with me—the 10% commission being prime among them. That commission is not simply a financial burden, although on a modest park home it can result, as we have heard, in tens of thousands of pounds’ worth of fees at the very moment when a resident is most vulnerable. It also reinforces the structural imbalance of power that we have heard so much about today. I want to add another issue into the mix: council tax. A tax that we know is regressive at the best of times, it has caused a lot of confusion and distress for residents in my constituency who have faced incorrect council tax bandings on their homes and, separately, site owners being charged council tax on empty pitches, which creates knock-on pressures for other residents. The council tax system, as currently designed, simply does not map well on to the park homes tenant model. That is creating real hardship and confusion for my constituents and deserves attention alongside the commission question. I say to Ministers that the case for reform is already well established. Residents now need action. I am very glad that the call for evidence has been renewed. I encourage all my residents to submit. We must recognise that park homes are a valued part of our housing stock. The people who live in them deserve the same protections, recourse and security that we would consider a baseline anywhere else in the housing market.