HC Deb 15 May 1973 vol 856 cc1450-4

Lords Amendment: No. 50, in page 28, line 45, at end insert new Clause C:

"C.—(1) Sections 27 to 30 above shall, so far as applicable, have effect in relation to a person residing in a caravan on a caravan site who is displaced from that site as they have effect in relation to a person displaced from a dwelling on any land but shall so have effect subject to the following modifications.

(2) No home loss payment shall be made to any person by virtue of this section except where no suitable alternative site for stationing a caravan is available to him on reasonable terms.

(3) Subsection (1) of section 27 above shall have effect as if for the words preceding paragraph (a) there were substituted the words "Where a person residing in a caravan on a caravan site is displaced from that site in consequence of" and subsection (2) of that section shall have effect as if for paragraphs (a) and (b) there were substituted— '(a) he has been in occupation of the caravan site by using a caravan stationed on it as his only or main residence; and (b) he has been in occupation of the site as aforesaid by virtue of an interest or right to which this section applies.

(4) Sections 28(3) and 29(3) above shall have effect as if—

  1. (a) paragraph (b) were omitted; and
  2. (b) in paragraphs (a) and (c) for the word 'dwelling' there were substituted the words 'caravan site together with a caravan'.

(5) Section 30 above shall have effect—

  1. (a) as if in subsection (3) for the words 'in occupation of a dwelling or a substantial part of it', 'resided in the dwelling, or a substantial part of it' and 'in occupation thereof' there were substituted respectively the words 'in occupation of a caravan site', 'resided in a caravan on that site' and 'in occupation of that site ';
  2. (b) as if in subsection (3A) for the words 'resided in the dwelling, or a substantial part of it' there were substituted the words 'resided in a caravan on the caravan site'; and
    3. 1451
  3. (c) as if for subsection (4) there were substituted—
'(4) Where any land comprises two or more caravan sites and the claimant has successively been in occupation of or resided in a caravan on different caravan sites on that land, section 27(2) above and subsections (3) and (3A) above shall have effect as if those sites were the same site.'

(6) Sections 27 to 30 above shall have effect as if in any provision not modified as aforesaid for any reference to a dwelling or land there were substituted a reference to a caravan site.

(7) In this section 'caravan site' means land on which a caravan is stationed for the purpose of human habitation and land which is used in conjunction with land on which a caravan is so stationed."

Mr. Graham Page

I (beg to move, That this House doth agree with the Lords in the said amendment.

Mr. Deputy Speaker

With this amendment we are taking Lords Amendment No. 73.

Mr. Page

This amendment is a new clause, the purpose of which is to deal with home loss payments for caravan dwellers. The purpose of the home loss payments scheme is to provide a financial solatium to occupiers of dwellings in which they have a specified interest or right when they are forcibly displaced, provided they have occupied the dwelling for a period of five years or more. To the occupier, a caravan is as much his home, as is a traditionally-built dwelling to any other occupier, and the personal upset he suffers when his caravan site is acquired and he is forced to dispose of his caravan may be just as acute. The main difference between a caravanner whose site is acquired and, say, the tenant of a house is that if an alternative site is available the caravanner can take his home with him on displacement, like a snail. He does not, therefore, lose his home as such, and for this reason the new clause specifically excludes him from an entitlement to a home loss payment if a suitable alternative site is available to him on reasonable terms.

The rest of the clause, generally, adapts the dwelling provisions to the caravan site but imports the five years' occupation qualifying condition. It substitutes an interest or right in the site on which the caravan stands for the occupation of a dwelling and an interest or right in that dwelling. The subsections make those adjustments throughout.

New Clause E—Amendment No. 73— on the Order Paper, provides for the rehousing provisions to apply to certain caravan dwellers. That is not only the home loss payment but rehousing under certain circumstances. The new clause requires local housing authorities to ensure that suitable residential accommodation is provided for a displaced caravan dweller if neither such accommodation nor a suitable alternative site for a caravan is otherwise available. The subsections of the new clause merely adjusts the rehousing provisions which apply to the normal dwellinghouse so that they apply to the caravan and particularly the caravan site.

Mr. Norman Buchan (Renfrew, West)

It would be churlish of me if I did not say at this stage some words of thanks to the Government for the efforts which they have made to meet some of the Opposition's point. Like the mills of God the Government machine grinds slow but long. My hon. Friends and I will not reiterate our thanks to the Government for the efforts they have made. I thank them in advance for matters which are still to come.

Mr. James Allason (Hemel Hempstead)

I welcome this new concession for caravan dwellers. In my constituency a new road of motorway standard is being driven past some caravan dwellings. I am not certain whether they will be displaced. I understand that there will not be compensation for noise and nuisance. Supposing those caravan dwellings are just the wrong side of the boundary and are not displaced? If that were the situation they would be rattled to pieces by the noise. In those circumstances, the situation appears to be rather illogical. It is rather too late to put that right if I am correct in my assumption. I hope that when the matter is dealt with in a practical way it will be possible to draw a line so as to make sure that such caravan dwellers shall be displaced rather than allowed to be rattled to pieces by the noise of a motorway.

Mr. Graham Page

With the leave of the House, Mr. Deputy Speaker. I am not sure whether my hon. Friend is referring to caravans which park on the roadside—

Mr. Allason

No.

Mr. Page

I should make it clear, even if my hon. Friend is not referring to such caravans, that they would not get the benefit of new housing compensation or double glazing. They are there as trespassers. If a caravan dweller is on land or a caravan site lawfully he will be entitled to home loss payment. He will be so entitled unless sites are available elsewhere. He will be entitled to be rehoused within a dwellinghouse or to be provided with a site to which he can take his caravan. I hope that I have covered the point which my hon. Friend had in mind.

Mr. Allason

My point was based on the supposition that the line, which has not yet been drawn, is drawn just outside the land taken for the road. If that were the position, caravan dwellers on the edge of the motorway would be rattled to bits.

Mr. Page

We are talking here not of Part 1 claims for injurious affection but the claims in the remainder of the Bill. The caravan dweller on a caravan site near a road that is being built and who is suffering within the noise range would, I believe, be just as entitled as any other owner of a dwelling near the highway to compensation for the noise. I do not say that the regulations which are to be published by the Secretary of State will go as far as double glazing for caravans. Double glazing, insulation, and so on, will be covered by the regulations, but I do not think we would be prepared to take things as far as that.

Mr. Mulley

Do I understand the right hon. Gentleman to say that ownership of a caravan is an interest in land, even though it may be resting on rented land? That opens up a whole avenue of new problems.

Mr. Page

The right hon. Gentleman has me on the run at this time of night. I had better say that I shall write to him about this, without trying to give a decision off the cuff. When we have corresponded I may invite him to table a Question so that we can get this clearly on the record.

Mr. Buchan

Perhaps this can be dealt with in the regulations if we adopt the same ingenious attitude that has been adopted in respect of earlier matters.

Mr. Sydney Chapman

I do not wish to sound churlish. I agree with Lords Amendment No. 50 and appreciate what my right hon. Friend has tried to do. As I understand it, he said that if a caravan owner suffers and an alternative site is not found, compensation is payable. But there are many different types of caravan. Some are so large that they cannot easily be wheeled to another site. For these, considerable expense would be involved.

Mr. Page

I think my hon. Friend is referring to mobile homes, which are not really caravans. Such homes can be just as permanent as bricks and mortar homes. We have to judge this on the individual case rather than try to lay down regulations at this time of night. A caravan is a caravan. I cannot go further than that.

Question put and agreed to. [Special Entry.]