SITE LICENCE AGREEMENT
Your "licence" agreement is simply called that as a result of the terminology historically used in the caravan holiday park business. However that description is not particularly helpful for owners, as it often associates your thinking, with Driving Licence, TV Licence, Licensed Premises, Licensed Taxi and so on...which are all granted as a result of specific legislation.
Your Park has a Local Authority Licence to operate as a holiday park under the terms of Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960, but when it comes to the owners Site Licence Agreement it is simply a flash name for a contract for service. It is not granted under terms of any specific legislation as with the above examples.
However, it is subject to consumer legislation in as far as the terms it contains. This is because your Park is a "trader" and you are a "consumer", therefore the contract is a "business to consumer contract", a consumer contract.
This is significant in that it is subject to the doctrines that apply to normal contract law, but, and most importantly, it has specific legislation governing the included terms and their interpretation.
If your site licence agreement was signed before Oct 2015 then it is covered by the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 and the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999, The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 as amended 2014.
If your agreement was signed after October 2015 then it is covered by the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 as amended 2014 and the Consumer Rights Act 2015.
Combined these are powerful pieces of consumer legislation, and your Parks will do their utmost to persuade you that they do not apply to your licence agreements or indeed any purchases or services that you pay for, from them.
Why? Well to use decking as a prime example, you all know that Parks more or less force you to buy decking from them at a highly inflated price. This is an unfair trading practice as it makes you take a transnational decision that you would not ordinarily take if you could compare prices and purchase direct from the supplier. If you can prove this to be the case through emails or terms in your agreement or park rules, then you are entitled to redress under the terms of the 2008 Regs if you have purchased, or you can claim that their terms to purchase decking through them are not binding on you under the Act 2015.
Now your ears have just pricked up, because you have realised that with a bit of digging through your documents you may be able to claim back the £4,000 extra you paid for your decking!
The only thing stopping you is that you have been fed the belief that your contract is not a consumer contract and therefore not subject to these protections. You can make your own mind up who has fed you that info and for what reason.
But dont accept my word on it, read the Consumer Lawyers blog here.
https://theconsumerlawyer.blog/2020/05/26/parkdean-pitch-fees-your-rights-during-the-lockdown/
Then read the OFT 734 guidance here which was drawn up between the Office of Fair Trading and NCC and BH&HPA in relation to unfair terms in consumer contracts and has been superseded by the CRA 2015. Both these are clear evidence that your licence agreements are "consumer contracts".
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/unfair-terms-in-holiday-caravan-agreements--2