Littlehampton Marina caravan tenants misled over evictions

Thomas Grubb told the tenants of his 38 static caravans in Harbour Close, Littlehampton Marina, on January 5 that they had two months to leave.

He said he found out about the new rules, meaning his site no longer met the required standards, on December 22 last year.

But The Argus can reveal Mr Grubb has known about the legislation since February 2023 and that he only needs to replace ten caravans a year until 2027 rather than scrapping the whole lot as he told his heartbroken tenants. They will all be evicted on March 6.

On February 10 last year Arun District Council gave Mr Grubb a residential caravan licence for 51 caravans in Harbour Close.

A condition of the licence was that he “engage a suitably qualified, independent professional" to ensure each caravan complied with British Standards.  He was told he must also provide a report of the findings to the council by August 10.

Mr Grubb told his tenants they have two months to leave (Image: Google Earth)

The report should also set out a schedule of replacement and/or upgrade of caravans, to be approved by the local authority in writing, to ensure all caravans meet the British Standard within five years of the granting of the licence.

Under the conditions he was told he must replace ten caravans per year.

Arun District Council said it has not received the report and is taking further action as a result.

A council spokeswoman said that in October 2023 it received a request from Mr Grubb to change the rate at which the caravans would have to be replaced and to reduce the maximum number of caravans overall to 28.

The request was refused on December 22, the same date Mr Grubb claims he was told his caravans no longer met the required standards.

“The applicant has until January 19, 2024, to appeal against the refusal decision to the first-tier tribunal,” the spokeswoman said.

“In the refusal letter, the applicant was reminded of their non-compliance with condition one of their site licence and advised that the matter has been referred for further consideration.

“Arun District Council has no involvement on the eviction of tenants.

“The schedule of upgrade/replacement required by the site licence is to ensure that the caravans on site are capable of meeting the standard considered suitable for residential use.”

There are fears over the impact the evictions with have on social housing (Image: Google Maps)

Mr Grubb did not respond to several requests for comment.

READ MORE: Landlord evicts entire caravan park from Littlehampton Marina

There are concerns that the mass eviction will put added pressure on the district council’s limited social housing supply.

“Given national and local housing pressures, we are concerned about the impact this is going to have and we are looking to establish effective engagement with residents about their options and needs to be able to provide appropriate support where we can,” said the district council spokeswoman.

“We have engaged with Littlehampton Marina with a view to communicating directly with the affected residents.”