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Can estate agents or strangers online give you legal advice? Understand the limits before you buy a park home

Published: 22nd August, 2025

Can Estate Agents or Strangers Online Give You Legal Advice?

When buying a park home, it can feel natural to trust the person who sounds the most confident. That might be the estate agent selling the home, or even someone friendly in a Facebook group.

Unless that person is a qualified lawyer, there are strict limits on what they can do for you. No matter how helpful they seem, they are not allowed to give you legal advice. And if you rely on the wrong advice, it could cost you dearly — sometimes thousands of pounds to put things right.

I have seen this many times through my legal work. People come to me after problems have already happened and sadly, fixing mistakes is often much harder and more expensive than getting the right help at the start.

What the Law Says About Estate Agents

Under the Legislation, “the Legal Services Act 2007”, certain work is reserved for qualified legal professionals, such as barristers, solicitors and legal executives.

Estate agents can: give you basic information, such as how to make an offer or when searches are usually done.

They cannot explain your legal rights or check the meaning of terms in your agreement, for example.

Takeaway point: If you let an unqualified person handle these things, you could face serious legal or financial trouble later. For example, I've even seen cases where buyers ended up paying the seller's commission fee - something that should never have happened. The purchaser should pay 90% to the seller and withhold 10% to pay directly to the site owner.

For agents, they could be opening themselves up for a claim against them, without even realising it!

Beware of Strangers Online Offering ‘Legal Advice’

In recent years, Facebook groups, online forums, and community pages for park home owners have exploded in popularity. These are a great way to exchange stories, recommend professionals (such as myself) and give practical advice.

While these spaces can be useful for sharing experiences, they also carry a serious risk: people offering what looks and sounds like legal advice - without having any legal qualifications at all.

Often, these individuals are well-meaning, but they may base their comments on personal opinion, outdated information, or their own experience, which may not apply to your situation.

If someone online has never trained in law, never handled a park home transaction professionally, and cannot be held accountable for the accuracy of their statements, you are taking a gamble with your future by treating their comments as fact.

Takeaway point: You wouldn’t let just anyone carry out an operation on you — so why take chances with one of the biggest financial decisions of your life?

Why It Matters in Park Home Purchases?

Park home agreements are governed by various pieces of Legislation, which carry specific rights and protections. An estate agent or an unqualified stranger online, who is unfamiliar with these regulations might inadvertently mislead you, even with the best intentions.

I have seen cases where buyers relied on advice from Estate Agents or from strangers online and later discovered:

  • They misunderstood their pitch agreement
  • They were unaware of site rules or charges
  • They had waived important rights without realising

By then, it’s usually too late to fix the problem, and they may have trouble when they or their family want to sell the park home.

The considered approach

Always get advice from a qualified lawyer experienced in park home law before you sign anything or paya deposit.

This isn’t just a box-ticking exercise — it’s your protection against costly mistakes that could affect your finances and your home life for years.

Note that a court said:

“It is for the purchasers of [Park] Homes through their legal representatives to check in advance of the sale such matters as the pitch fees having been paid up to date, ensuring that there are no breaches of the Written Agreement or Site Rules which may affect them when they take up occupation…”

Takeaway Point: Know the limits, protect your rights, and make sure you obtain independent legal advice for your purchase. It is that simple.

Author: Ibraheem Dulmeer (Barrister-at-law) at Park Homes Law

The information provided in this article serves as useful guidance. Please note that this is not intended to be comprehensive and should not be taken in place of specific legal advice.  This material should not be replicated without the author’s consent. Ibraheem Dulmeer © 2025