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Court rules : A floating caravan is not a boat so you cannot be evicted.


Alan de Enfield

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This will open up a can of worms - bet the marina wishes they hadn't left the wheels on the caravans !!

I expect all the other cavavan owners on site will now claim the same protection.

An artist who lives in a floating caravan has won a court fight to prove her 'dream home' is not a boat - after being threatened with eviction.

Janet Jaffe's property, which she moved into in 2017, consists of a caravan sitting atop a specially constructed platform in a flooded former gravel pit at Hartford Marina in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire.

Last year Ms Jaffe, who sells hand-crocheted toys and clothes online and in craft shops, became locked in a landmark legal fight after the owner of the lake and the surrounding land tried to evict her.

Ms Jaffe claimed the landowner was not permitted to throw her out of her home without good reason, citing protections afforded to permanent residents in caravans by the 1983 Mobile Homes Act.

But landowner Tingdene Marinas Limited argued that she was not entitled to claim protection under the act, as her caravan is not on land but floating on water. 

 
Tingdene Marinas Limited wanted to evict Ms Jaffe and argued that as she lived in a houseboat  they could do so at anytime. Pictured, floating caravans at Hartford Marina
 
Tingdene Marinas Limited wanted to evict Ms Jaffe and argued that as she lived in a houseboat  they could do so at anytime. Pictured, floating caravans at Hartford Marina
 
 
Lawyers for the company argued that because of its situation the Willerby-branded caravan is now technically a houseboat and that Ms Jaffe can therefore be evicted.
 

Judge rules a floating caravan is still legally a caravan

Judge Elizabeth Cooke said: ''Caravan' means any structure designed or adapted for human habitation which is capable of being moved from one place to another.

'The tribunal found that the property is a caravan on a float, which is a type referred to on the site as the 'Hartford Houseboat'.

'The Willerby caravan is clearly identifiable, it is not fixed to the float and can be moved on and off.

'To provide the property with a particular nomenclature, such as the 'Hartford Houseboat', does not alter what it is, namely a caravan on a float.

'Therefore as a matter of fact, Ms Jaffe lives in a structure which is a statutory caravan.'

But Ms Jaffe, 58, has now won a ruling from a judge at the Upper Tribunal in London, confirming that her caravan has not stopped being a caravan just because it is floating on a lake.

 

'I do not agree that a structure is not "on land" merely because it is placed there with another physical structure between it and the surface of the earth or of the water covering the earth,' Judge Elizabeth Cooke said.

Writing online in an attempt to raise funds to pay her mum's legal bills last year, Ms Jaffe's daughter Vicky said the floating caravan was Ms Jaffe's 'dream home.'

 

'My mum has worked hard her entire life and, at the age of 58, she deserves to have the home she's always dreamed of,' she said.

Stephen Cottle, for Ms Jaffe, told the judge that she claimed protection under the Mobile Homes Act 1983 when the landowner presented her with a notice to quit.

Ms Jaffe had an agreement, which gave her permission to station a mobile home on the site and to live in it as her sole residence, he told the judge.

And the act states that caravan-dwellers cannot be evicted without good reason so long as they are on land licensed for permanent residents in caravans and have signed a written agreement to be there with the landowner which they have subsequently not breached the terms of. 

 

But Michael Ruddy, for Tingdene Marinas Limited, argued that the caravan and the floating platform should be taken together as forming a houseboat, which fails to pass the definition of a caravan.

He also argued that the caravan was not technically 'on land' and claimed that to classify it as a caravan not a boat went against planning laws.

But Judge Cooke dismissed those arguments and ruled that a floating caravan is still a caravan in the eyes of the law.

Upholding a decision made by the First-tier Tribunal in Ms Jaffe's favour, the judge said: '"Caravan" means any structure designed or adapted for human habitation which is capable of being moved from one place to another - whether by being towed, or by being transported on a motor vehicle or trailer - and any motor vehicle so designed or adapted.

'The tribunal found that the property is a caravan on a float, which is a type referred to on the site as the 'Hartford Houseboat'.

'The Willerby caravan is clearly identifiable, it is not fixed to the float and can be moved on and off.

 

'To provide the property with a particular nomenclature, such as the "Hartford Houseboat", does not alter what it is, namely a caravan on a float.

'Therefore as a matter of fact, Ms Jaffe lives in a structure which is a statutory caravan.

'It happens to be on a float and to form part of a houseboat, but the fact remains that she lives in a Willerby caravan, which is agreed to be a statutory caravan, and her agreement with the appellant entitles her to do so.'

She continued: 'Many caravans on dry land have a base, and that does not mean they are not placed on the land. I fail to see that the presence of a float between the caravan and the water means that the caravan is not on land. In the legal sense, that includes land covered by water.'

She went on to find that the floating caravan was also permitted under local planning laws, concluding, 'therefore the site is a protected site'.

'It is helpful to note that this is consistent with the policy of the legislation, which is to give some security to those who live in caravans as their home,' the judge concluded.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Judge Cooke dismissed Tingdene Marinas's arguments and ruled that a floating caravan is still a caravan in the eyes of the law
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
Edited by Alan de Enfield
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8 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

''Caravan' means any structure designed or adapted for human habitation which is capable of being moved from one place to another.

 The reporter (or the judge) is being careless with this definition perhaps? As a boat "with the accouterments of navigation" would also qualify as a caravan - or perhaps a normal boat does? 

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9 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Judge Elizabeth Cooke said: ''Caravan' means any structure designed or adapted for human habitation which is capable of being moved from one place to another.

That would also include any boat designed for residential use. So does the Mobile Homes Act 1983 also protect residential boat owners?

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15 minutes ago, David Mack said:

That would also include any boat designed for residential use. So does the Mobile Homes Act 1983 also protect residential boat owners?

 

 

 

Remember that this was the ruling of a higher court, on appeal - that is why I suggested it could well be :

 

 

 

Can of Worms.jpg

 

There are other criteria which must be met, such as it must be on a 'residential pitch' (mooring) and there must be permission given by the land owner for it to be there, and there must be a contract in place.

 

All -easily achievd by a boat on a 'proper' residential mooring.

 

Ms Jaffe had an agreement, which gave her permission to station a mobile home on the site and to live in it as her sole residence, he told the judge.

And the act states that caravan-dwellers cannot be evicted without good reason so long as they are on land licensed for permanent residents in caravans and have signed a written agreement to be there with the landowner which they have subsequently not breached the terms of. 

Edited by Alan de Enfield
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5 minutes ago, David Mack said:

That would also include any boat designed for residential use. So does the Mobile Homes Act 1983 also protect residential boat owners?

 

I've wondered that before on a different topic.  It would be hard to argue that definition does not apply to boats, and it's a much better fit than the legal definition of a houseboat for any cruising boat.

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I followed this case through the tribunals;  https://landschamber.decisions.tribunals.gov.uk/Aspx/view.aspx?id=1871

 

Whilst of passing interest, it has very little wider application in the boating world.  The headline is essentially incorrect.  The decision is that the top bit is a caravan for the purposes of the mobile Homes Act 1983 notwithstanding it is positioned on a pontoon.  It does not rule that it isn't a boat when viewed with the floaty bit; in fact together they are referred to as a houseboat.

 

The ruling will not run across the neighbours as, apparently, this is the only caravan on a 365 day tenancy basis. 

 

 

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2 hours ago, Paul C said:

The more you look into the details, the more irrelevant it becomes regarding canals (thankfully).....

 

Not necessarily. The judge linked the structure (the caravan on a float) to the land below the water. The fact water was used between the float and the land made no more difference than if the caravan was sitting on the land. The land owned by the marina, and with residential planning permission. All water in a marina is governed by the owner of the land. Any water that flows into a marina from the canal becomes governed by the private nature of the marina land, and ceases to be in the jurisdiction of the canal authority. 

 

Canal authorities have no direct jurisdiction in a marina.

 

 

 

 

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33 minutes ago, magpie patrick said:

 The reporter (or the judge) is being careless with this definition perhaps? As a boat "with the accouterments of navigation" would also qualify as a caravan - or perhaps a normal boat does? 

No.  The decision is that it is a caravan whether it is on firm ground or on a pontoon.  It might also be a houseboat.

 

21 minutes ago, Tonka said:

So the judge is saying if I put a caravan on something that floats then I do not need a licence and boat safety certificate as it is a caravan. 

I am off to the caravan shop

No.  

11 minutes ago, David Mack said:

That would also include any boat designed for residential use. So does the Mobile Homes Act 1983 also protect residential boat owners?

Not unless their boats are caravans.

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6 minutes ago, Higgs said:

 

Not necessarily. The judge linked the structure (the caravan on a float) to the land below the water. The fact water was used between the float and the land made no more difference than if the caravan was sitting on the land. The land owned by the marina, and with residential planning permission. All water in a marina is governed by the owner of the land. Any water that flows into a marina from the canal becomes governed by the private nature of the marina land, and ceases to be in the jurisdiction of the canal authority. 

 

Canal authorities have no direct jurisdiction in a marina.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Get off you hobby-horse.

 

This is a flooded gravel quarry.

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1 minute ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

 

Get off you hobby-horse.

 

This is a flooded gravel quarry.

 

Not likely. I thought you'd object. Private marinas are not canal property, and do not become the statutory property of the canal authority. 

 

 

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9 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

 

 

Remember that this was the ruling of a higher court, on appeal - that is why I suggested it could well be :

 

 

 

Can of Worms.jpg

This tribunal has the same status as the High Court. It did hear the case on appeal from a lower tribunal and reversed that decision.

 

Next stop is the Court of Appeal and then the Supreme Court, but whether it will be taken further is uncertain.  

 

This tribunal has a sound reputation so not easy to succeed on further appeal.

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13 minutes ago, Tacet said:

Not unless their boats are caravans.

 

The Mobile Homes Act 2013 (which we are licenced under as a 'Static caravan Park') defines a caravan as :

 

Under this strict definition (it looks as if) a powered boat could not be a caravan, but an unpowered boat could be.

 

 

 

Appendix 2: Definition of a caravan

Section 29 of the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960

“caravan” means any structure designed or adapted for human habitation which is capable of being moved from one place to another (whether by being towed, or by being transported on a motor vehicle or trailer) and any motor vehicle so designed or adapted, but does not include:

(a) any railway rolling stock which is for the time being on rails forming part of a railway system, or
(b) any tent;

Section 13 of the Caravan Sites Act 1968 – definition of twin unit caravans as amended by the Caravan Sites Act 1968 and Social Landlords (Permissible Additional Purposes) (England) Order 2006 (Definition of Caravan) (Amendment) (England) Order 2006

(1) A structure designed or adapted for human habitation which:

(a) is composed of not more than two sections separately constructed and designed to be assembled on a site by means of bolts, clamps or other devices; and

(b) is, when assembled, physically capable of being moved by road from one place to another (whether by being towed, or by being transported on a motor vehicle or trailer), shall not be treated as not being (or as not having been) a caravan within the meaning of Part 1 of the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960 by reason only that it cannot lawfully be so moved on a highway when assembled.

(2) For the purposes of Part 1 of the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960, the expression “caravan” shall not include a structure designed or adapted for human habitation which falls within paragraphs (a) and (b) of the foregoing subsection if its dimensions when assembled exceed any of the following limits, namely:

(a) length (exclusive of any drawbar): 65.616 feet (20 metres);

(b) width: 22.309 feet (6.8 metres);

(c) overall height of living accommodation (measured internally from the floor at the lowest level to the ceiling at the highest level): 10.006 feet (3.05 metres).

(3) The [Secretary of State] may by order made by statutory instrument after consultation with such persons or bodies as appear to him to be concerned substitute for any figure mentioned in subsection (2) of this section such other figure as may be specified in the order.

Edited by Alan de Enfield
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17 minutes ago, Higgs said:

 

Not necessarily. The judge linked the structure (the caravan on a float) to the land below the water. The fact water was used between the float and the land made no more difference than if the caravan was sitting on the land. The land owned by the marina, and with residential planning permission. All water in a marina is governed by the owner of the land. Any water that flows into a marina from the canal becomes governed by the private nature of the marina land, and ceases to be in the jurisdiction of the canal authority. 

 

Canal authorities have no direct jurisdiction in a marina.

 

 

 

 

so why do you have to hold a licence when in the marina ?

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7 minutes ago, Tonka said:

so why do you have to hold a licence when in the marina ?

 

Good question. 

 

But it will be because the terms and conditions of the marina say so. Your partnership and direct legal authority to require a licence there is with the marina authority only. 

 

Edited by Higgs
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