This content applies to Scotland only.

Housing laws vary between Scotland and England. Get advice relating to England

If you live on a protected site and are not happy with the conditions on your site and feel they should be improved, there are several courses of action open to you, whether you own or rent your mobile home.

Check the site licence

If you think that the site owner is not looking after the park properly or is not providing adequate services, you should check what their duties are under the site licence. In order to get a site licence, the park must meet certain safety and amenity standards laid down by the council.

If there are three or more caravans on your site, the licence should be displayed in a prominent place. If you cannot see it, you should ask the council to send you a copy or arrange an appointment for you to go and look at it. The licence is usually held by the environmental health department.

If the licence does not cover the matter that you are concerned about, you can either talk to the site owner or tell the council that you think the licence is inadequate.

Complain to the BH&HPA or NPHC

If your park is a member of the British Holiday & Home Parks Association (BH&HPA) or the National Park Homes Council (NPHC), you can take your complaint to these organisations and they will do their best to resolve the dispute.

Complain to the council

If you think the site owner is breaking the terms of the licence, you should inform your council's environmental health department, who will come out and inspect the site.

If the inspectors think that the site owner needs to do work to the site, the council can:

• give the site owner a set amount of time to carry out the necessary improvements or repairs
• carry out the repairs on the site owner's behalf and then send them the bill
• take the site owner to court and order the work to be done and/or issue them with a fine.

What if the council won't help?

Councils aren't always very pro-active when it comes to complaints against site owners. If the council won't help you, you can try winning support for your case by contacting local councillors or making a complaint to the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO).

Contact local councillors

Get in touch with local councillors and ask them to support your cause and urge the council to act. Look up your council's website or call their switchboard for councillors' contact details.

Contact the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman

The Ombudsman is an independent watchdog that investigates complaints against councils that have not done something they should have done or are doing things in the wrong way. For example, you can complain to the Ombudsman if you think the council has taken too long looking into your complaint or did not inspect the site properly.

The Ombudsman produces a complaint form and leaflet on how to complain, which are available free on the SPSO website. You have to complain in writing and should include copies of any evidence (such as letters to and from the council) that supports your complaint. If you need help with the forms, use the Advice Services Directory to find a Shelter advice centre, Citizens Advice or other advice agency in your area.

Take the site owner to court

If you own your mobile home and the site owner has broken an express term of your written statement by refusing to maintain the park properly, you can take them to court. You may be able to win damages from the site owner, but the court cannot order them to carry out the necessary repair work.

Get advice from a solicitor, Citizens Advice or Sheter advice centre before you consider court action.

Conditions on an unprotected site

If you live on an unprotected site, there may be very little you can do to improve conditions beyond complaining to the site owner. Get advice from a Shelter advice centre or Citizens Advice if you're in this position.