[2024] UKUT 180 (LC)

Fecha: 19-Jun-2024

The Pitch Fee Review Form

The Pitch Fee Review Form

16.

The document that must accompany the pitch fee review notice is known as the pitch fee review form; paragraph 25A was amended in July 2023 but the version in force at the date relevant to this appeal said this:

“25A. (1) The document referred to in paragraph 17(2A) and (6A) must—

(a)

be in such form as the Secretary of State may by regulations prescribe,

(b)

specify any percentage increase or decrease in the retail prices index calculated in accordance with paragraph 20(A1),

(c)

explain the effect of paragraph 17,

(d)

specify the matters to which the amount proposed for the new pitch fee is attributable,

(e)

refer to the occupier's obligations in paragraph 21(c) to (e) and the owner's obligations in paragraph 22(c) and (d), and

(f)

refer to the owner's obligations in paragraph 22(e) and (f) (as glossed by paragraphs 24 and 25).”

17.

That is a complicated provision, but for present purposes the important point is that for this second document there is a prescribed form. It is prescribed by regulations, currently the Mobile Homes (Pitch Fees) (Prescribed Form) (England) Regulations 2023, but at the date relevant to this appeal the Mobile Homes (Pitch Fees) (Prescribed Form) (England) Regulations 2013, of which regulation 2 stated that the Pitch Fee Review Form “shall be in the form prescribed in the Schedule to these Regulations or in a form substantially to the like effect.”

18.

The form contained in the Schedule is headed “Form to accompany a pitch fee review notice” and contains numbered boxes with provision for the site owner to set out the parties, the proposed new fee, the date it is to take effect and the way it is calculated. Box 5 contains text setting out “What to do if you disagree with the proposed new pitch fee”. Box 6 looks like this:

19.

Box 7 contains extensive notes about the provisions of the 1983 Act and the effect of the pitch fee review notice.