Pensioners face being homeless this Christmas after being ‘missold homes’

A group of people who moved into new-build mobile homes at a site in Devon say they face homelessness after it emerged the seller broke planning rules.

Residents of the 20 homes at Devon Oaks Park in Dartmoor claim they bought the bungalows with leases stating they could live in them for 11 months of the year.

They say their contracts, some of which were signed years ago, confirmed they could use the properties as their only legal home.

But they later discovered the site only has a ‘holiday’ planning designation, meaning they can only stay there eight months of the year.

Peter Birdsall, 76, who bought one of the homes with his wife Jane, 75, for £206,000 in early 2024, said: ‘This could make us homeless – we have no money to buy another property.

‘We put the money from our previous house and our savings into this. This was going to be our last destination in life.

‘I love living here. We’re out in the countryside, which is lovely, and it’s a lovely community. We don’t want to go from here, but now we may have to – all because someone’s sold us a pack of lies.’

The chair of the residents’ group, Chris Griffiths, says landowner Barton Park Homes is responsible for breaching planning permission.

‘Many of [the residents] are elderly, vulnerable, and long-standing contributors to the local community but are now facing the threat of losing their homes as a result of a planning situation they did not create,’ he said.

The group recently met with Dartmoor National Park planning members and were told the authority had voted to begin enforcing the rules.

Susan Fice, 74, who has lived at Devon Oaks Park with husband Kerry for three years, said: ‘A few members indicated that they were trying to speak to the chair to ask where these people are supposed to go – but they were spoken down and told that wasn’t really relevant.

‘A lot of the members were heavy-hearted when they did vote – I don’t believe they wanted to, but because of the policy, I believe they had to.

‘A few ladies that live here were crying – it really wasn’t nice.

‘A lot of them were sorry, and I don’t understand why they had to do why they did. I’m no expert, and it is a policy, but I’m just hoping the human side of what will happen will affect the way they view the propositions.’

Dartmoor National Park said it has been unable to resolve the issue despite successfully taking legal action against the landowner for ‘various breaches of condition and unauthorised developments’ several times since 2018.

Officials said there is currently ‘no prospect’ of moving forward without enforcement.

But they stressed that residents have been given the option to apply for the appropriate planning permission themselves and haven’t done so.

A spokesperson said of the recent meeting: ‘We advised residents that submitting a planning application to regularise site use remains an option for the landowner or for residents.

‘As yet, no such application has been submitted. Any application would be subject to the usual planning, consultation and decision-making processes.’

The authority added in a statement: ‘The responsibility for ensuring development complies with legislation and planning policy lies with the landowner.

‘In this particular case, we’ve been working hard to address what is a complex legal and planning matter, and we’re doing it with sensitivity and compassion for the people who live there.’

The owners of Barton Park Homes have not yet responded to an invitation to comment.

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