This consultation relates to permanent homes with pitch agreements under the Mobile Homes Act 1983. This means agreements on caravan sites which are licenced under the Caravans Control Act 1960 for permanent homes. The basis for uprating pitch fees is set out at Paragraph 23 of Schedule 1 of the Mobile Homes Act 1983. There is a presumption that the pitch fee will increase or decrease by a percentage which is no more than any percentage change in Retail Prices Index (RPI), since the last review date, unless this would be unreasonable.
As RPI is no longer considered a suitable measure of inflation, we propose to amend the presumed basis of pitch fee uprating from Retail Prices Index (RPI) to Consumer Prices Index (CPI) through primary legislation, so that the change is made to all Scottish contracts under the Mobile Homes Act 1983, existing and future.
The three common inflation indices in the UK are Retail Prices Index (RPI), Consumer Prices Index (CPI), and CPI with housing costs (CPIH).
More information on what is included in the indexes and the advantages and disadvantages of using them as a measure for pitch fee uprating are available in the consultation paper and on the Office for National Statistics website.
Annual inflation rates for the year to the end of November 2022 are shown in this table:
|
Index |
RPI |
CPI |
CPIH |
|
Rate to November 2022 |
14.0% |
10.7% |
9.3% |
|
Indicative monthly increase based on £172* per month pitch fee |
£24.08 |
£18.40 |
£16.00 |
* based on an average pitch fee of £172 identified in recent UK Government research