FURTHER HELP FOR PARK HOMEOWNERS THROUGH CHARIS GRANTS

Charis Grants will be offering the Park Homes Warm Home Discount 2022/23 rebate to a limited number of park home residents in England, Wales and Scotland. Government has provided Charis with enough funding for an estimate of 3000 awards. The scheme will open on the 19th December and will close around the 30th December. Unfortunately, Charis are unable to provide a Telephone sign-up this year so some members may need support in making an application.

Charis _Park Homes Warm Home Discount 2022 (1)

GUIDANCE FOR PARK HOMEOWNERS from the DEPARTMENT FOR LEVELLING UP, HOUSING AND COMMUNITIES

Dear Resident,
the attached guidance was issued today by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing And Communities, to help residents understand the support announced by the Government to help with energy costs and how it applies specifically to park home residents.

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE NOTICE 

In summary residents, there are three types of support that residents will benefit from. These are the:

Energy Bills Support Scheme-Alternative Fund (EBSS-AF); – this will provide £400 to all residents
Alternative Fuel Payment (AFP): – this will provide a reduction in electricity bills from October 2022 to March 2023
Energy Bills Relief Scheme (EBRS) -this will provide a one off £200 payment to those who are not on mains gas grid and use alternative fuels such as LPG and heating oil.

Further details on each type of support is provided in the guidance however, IPHAS are advised that a lot of detail has still to be worked out on all three types of support however, we have been assured that the Departments involved are working at a very fast pace to ensure the support is delivered as soon as possible and in a safe and secure way.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pass-through-requirements-for-energy-price-support-provided-to-intermediaries

IAN PYE, CHAIRMAN 23RD November 2022
The Independent Park Home Advisory Service (2021) Ltd.

PLEASE NOTE, THIS INFORMATION HAS BEEN PROVIDED TO IPHAS AND OTHER PARK HOME SUPPORT GROUPS BY THE DEPARTMENT FOR LEVELLING UP, HOUSING AND COMMUNITIES.

FURTHER UPDATES WILL BE PROVIDED FROM TIME TO TIME BY THE DEPARTMENT.

ANY FURTHER INFORMATION WILL BE POSTED ON OUR WEBSITE www.iphas.live
AND DISTRIBUTED DIRECTLY TO RESIDENTS WHO HAVE REGISTERED A VALID EMAIL ADDRESS WITH IPHAS, AS AND WHEN IT BECOMES AVAILABLE.

THE ENERGY BILLS RELIEF SCHEME (EBRS) – UPDATE

Following yesterday’s publication of the Energy Support Guidance for Park Homes, some of you queried whether the amount of £100 was correct for the (EBRS). Your concerns were passed to the Department for Levelling up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) earlier today, who have responded with the following note of clarification.

The Energy Bills Relief Scheme (EBRS) will provide a discount on energy bills from October. The discount applied will be in pence per kilowatt hour (p/kWh). This will be applied by the energy providers to the site owner’s bill’s, and they will have to pass it on to residents.

The Alternative Fuel Payment (AFP) will provide a one-off payment of £100 to UK households who are not on the mains gas grid and therefore use alternative fuels, such as heating oil, LPG, coal, and biomass to heat their homes.

However, following the Autumn budget statement last week, the amount has been increased to £200. This was confirmed by the Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) in their news story published last Friday. (see the Link below).

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/beis-in-the-autumn-statement#:~:text=Alternative%20fuel%20payments,soon%20as%20possible%20this%20winter.

IAN PYE, CHAIRMAN 24th November 2022
The Independent Park Home Advisory Service (2021) Ltd.

PARK HOME OWNERS’ JUSTICE CAMPAIGN

UPDATE ON THE 10% Commission Charge and RPI to CPI increase to your pitch fee.

Many thanks for sending the letters to Sir Keir Starmer, Sir Ed Davey and your MP.  It may not seem as though anything is happening – but you are keeping up the pressure, which is all that you can do.

Many of you are emailing me copies of the letters that you have received from your MP.  Basically, I can tell you that they are all saying the same thing, and not answering the question.

There was ample opportunity for any of those MPs to bring up the RPI to CPI issue in Prime Ministers Questions after the announcement by the Chancellor.  Sadly, not one of them deemed it necessary to do so.

Sir Christopher Chope has tried on several occasions to get a second reading of his Private Members Bill – but to no avail. The next chance is Friday May 6th – but I suspect that again it will not get read.

We obviously await the outcome of the 10% Commission Charge review and the long- awaited change from RPI to CPI.

I have approached certain members of the BBC and hope to get the current plight of the park home resident broadcast.  If I am lucky, that should be in the near future.  I will do my best but we will have to wait and see. The Prime Minister’s Office has published that The State Opening of Parliament will take place on Tuesday 10th May.

I think we have all done all that we can at this point and we must now wait to see what the government has set out in the Queen’s speech for the next parliamentary session.

If there is no further news.  I will write again after May 10th.

Best wishes to all and stay safe.

Sonia.                                                                                                              29th March 2022

LATEST MESSAGE FROM SONIA McCOLL OBE – PARK HOMEOWNERS JUSTICE CAMPAIGN

The Private Members Bill sponsored by APPG Chairman, Sir Christopher Chope OBE MP, is now due to receive its second reading in the House of Commons, on 6th May 2022.

Dear Justice Campaign Supporter.

Today, Sir Christopher Chope OBE, again tried to get a second reading of his Private Members Bill that would get the promised Government change from RPI to CPI included in the parliamentary timetable.  Yet again, to no avail and it was pushed forward to 6th May (when it will no doubt get blocked again.)

Enough is enough.  I hear from many of you regarding the hardships that the extortionate levels of RPI are doing to family finances in these austere times and

I can see no point in appealing further to the present government, who are obviously determined to ignore our plea.  Therefore, I have attached a letter below – that you can send if you wish – to the leaders of the Labour and Liberal Democrat parties.  I am hoping that if hundreds of you write we can shame this Government into action.  Hopefully, at Prime Minister’s Questions.

If you choose to send the letter, please insert your own name, address and date in the space provided and sign the letter.

Please send two letters.  One to Sir Keir Starmer. Leader of the Labour Party.

One to Sir Ed. Davey. Leader of the Liberal Democrat Party

The address for both is:  House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA

You might also like to send a copy to your constituency MP.

This is the best that I think we can all do at this stage.

Best wishes to you all and stay safe

Sonia

The National Park Home Owners JUSTICE Campaign

The following letter was sent to Eddie Hughes MP, the UK Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing and Rough Sleeping, by Sir Christopher Chope OBE MP, Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Park Homes, on Wednesday, 23rd March 2022.

‘Dear Eddie

I would like to thank you again for attending the Park Homes APPG on 7th February but it is disappointing that I have not heard from you since.

It is also a great disappointment to members of the APPG for Park Homes that the Government was unwilling to support the Private Members’ Bill to implement agreed Government policy for reform in this sector. Even the modest change from RPI to CPI in the calculation of increase in pitch fees seems to be beyond the capabilities of the Government. With a new Parliamentary session in prospect, I would be grateful for your confirmation that your Department will draft a ‘hand out’ bill for a private Member successful in the ballot so that the long over-due legislative changes supported by the Government can be implemented in the forthcoming session.

With best wishes,

 Chris

ENERGY SUPPLY CRISIS AND POWER OUTAGE ISSUES

If you are a Park Home Resident without a direct supply contract with an energy supply company, or recently you have had a claim for compensation for a power outage rejected by an energy supply company.

ISSUES ARISING FROM THE SUPPLY OF ENERGY TO PARK HOMEOWNERS

In 2021, the Government announced that in April 2022, the current price capping of energy supplies to domestic consumers is to be reviewed. Shortly thereafter, certain parts of the country were subject to severe storms resulting in flooding and power outages for many park homeowners. Within days, IPHAS began to receive complaints from members, that they had suffered a total loss of energy supplies for several days, and their applications for compensation from the supply companies were being rejected. IPHAS learned that although occupiers are legally entitled to choose their own source of energy supplies, many residents have agreements in place which require them to purchase their energy supplies from the park owner, leaving them at a significant disadvantage.

This is because the park owner has a business contract with his energy supplier, and the tariffs do not qualify for UK Government price capping. This also means that energy supply companies with a single contract with the owner to supply the site are not, therefore liable to pay compensation for power outages, as they have no direct contract with individual occupiers. Furthermore, as the resident does not have a direct supply contract with the Energy Company, they do not qualify for the government protection scheme, nor can they benefit from the £200 Energy Bills Rebate.

IPHAS has made strong representations to the Business Secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng MP, but have yet to receive a satisfactory response to address these anomalies. Meanwhile, they continue to stress the point that occupiers are legally entitled to choose their own source of energy supplies.

For further information, please refer to the following Citizens Advice Links in relation to contacting their consumer helpline if a person is not satisfied with the energy supplier’s decision, or making a complaint to the energy Ombudsman, who are responsible for settling disputes with network operators.

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/energy/energy-supply/problems-with-your-energy-supply/get-compensation-if-you-have-a-power-cut/

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/energy/energy-supply/complain-about-an-energy-company/complain-to-the-energy-ombudsman/

Information is also available from Ofgem with the following link: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/sites/default/files/docs/2016/12/ofg581_guarantee_standards_booklet_updated_dec16.pdf

FURTHER INFORMATION WILL BE PROVIDED AS AND WHEN IT BECOMES AVAILABLE.

Will you be affected by the forthcoming changes to the Energy Price Cap?

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/information-consumers/energy-advice-households/check-if-energy-price-cap-affects-you

 

STATE PENSION AGE

The State Pension age is currently 66 and two further increases are currently set out in legislation: a gradual rise to 67 for those born on or after April 1960; and a gradual rise to 68 between 2044 and 2046 for those born on or after April 1977.

Basic State Pension

You get the basic State Pension if you’re a man born before April 6, 1951, or a woman born before April 6, 1953. Currently the full basic State Pension is £137.60 per week. That’s £555.40 a month, or £7,155.20 a year. For the year 2022/23, the full basic State Pension will rise to £141.85, that is £567.40 a month, £7376.20 a year.

New State Pension

You will get the new State Pension instead if you are a man born on or after April 6, 1951, or a woman born on or after April 6, 1953. At present, the full new State Pension is £179.60 per week. That’s £718.40 a month based on four weekly payments, or £9,339.20 a year based on 52 weekly payments. For the year 2022/23, the full basic State Pension will rise to £185.15, that is £740.60 a month, £9627.80 a year.