Caravan owners have highlighted the key areas they would like looked at in the review of the Caravan Act.
The Department for Communities has announced that a review of the legislation is to be carried out and has called on stakeholders to provide their views and opinions.
Belfast Live has reported how numerous caravan owners have felt they have been "forced off" the sites they have been stationed at for years due to a number of issues including the age of their caravans and site payment dates being increased or brought forward.
Caravan owner Cathy Graham has been campaigning along with hundreds of others in order to have issues within the caravan legislation addressed, saying there is not enough protections for owners.
Speaking to Belfast Live she highlighted a number of areas which she believes need to be looked at by the Minister in the review which include; seasonal agreements, clear and present contract terms and how site fees could increase and how caravan owners can maintenance their properties.
She said: "Caravan site owners have all of the power and the law needs to change in order to provide more security and tenure to caravan owners.
"Site owners should not be allowed to decide at a whim that your licence will not be renewed, or if it has been taken over by a new owner, they should also not be able to stop your licence being renewed.
"There should have to be a good reason that is challengeable by law for anyone being put off a site, similar to the protections given to residential holiday homes in part one of the Caravan Act.
"It needs to be mandated as part of legislation that site owners have to give clear and transparent terms on their agreements and that everything should be in writing. Many caravan owners have been only given verbal agreements and told that they can stay on site as long as caravan in good condition only to be told that rules have changed and they have nothing in writing to say otherwise.
"Caravan owners would also like to see the creation of an independent body to deal with disputes and oversee compliance law so that owners are able to have some form of protection."
The Department for Communities has asked for stakeholders input to aid assessment of the key emerging issues of the current Caravans Act (Northern Ireland (NI) 2011.
The Department for Communities is required to review parts of the interdepartmental Act relating to the the residential sector every five years however this year will be reviewed in its entirety.
It will run until Tuesday, March 8, 2022.
Minister Hargey said: “This engagement will allow stakeholders to engage and provide their views and help inform the overall outcome of the review.”
“The views of caravan owners and site owners and others in both the residential and holiday sector will help the cross-departmental working group determine what recommendations may be required to address potential concerns.
“I would therefore encourage those within the sector to take this opportunity to make your voice heard and help influence the findings of this review.”
The review questionnaire will run for 12 weeks from today until March 8, 2022, and is accessible at: www.communities-ni.gov.uk/consultations/consultation-2021-review-caravans-act-ni-2011
