Planning permission

The relevant planning law is contained in the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 and the Planning etc. (Scotland) Act 2006. Planning permission is required for any material change in the use of land (subject to exceptions). The parking of a mobile home on land is normally treated as a change of use of land. Planning permission is deemed to be granted for certain temporary or occasional uses of land for the siting of mobile homes and the uses designated are those for which a site licence is not required.

If there is a breach of planning permission the local planning authority may serve an enforcement notice or a stop notice and failure to comply with such a notice is punishable by fine and/or imprisonment for up to two years. The local planning authority must serve the enforcement notice on the site owner and occupier and either of them can appeal to the Scottish Government. The local planning authority has the power to enter onto land in cases of non-compliance and is able to remove mobile homes constituting an unauthorised mobile home site. [1]