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Residents feel 'abandoned' at mobile home park owned by reality star

Sarah Easedale
BBC News
BBC An elderly man and a woman in her 60s sit opposite each other at a marble top kitchen table. They both have folders of paperwork in front of them and they are looking towards each other. Both are wearing glasses. He has white hair and she has grey hair. He is wearing a beige fleece and blue trousers, she is wearing black and white check trousers and a white arran jumper, as well as a large white-faced wristwatch. A window, vase of flowers, microwave and built-in oven are visible behind them. BBC
Ken Pierce and Jackie Morgan say they are not being helped by Wyldecrest or Flintshire County Council

At a mobile home park owned by a reality television multimillionaire, residents moved in to "live the dream".

Instead, some are now "living a nightmare" as they battle issues with potholes, lighting and water leaks.

Willow Park, in Mancot, Flintshire, is owned by Wyldecrest Parks, the company of Alfie Best, who was the subject of TV documentary Gypsy Billionaire.

However, its licence for the site was not renewed when it expired in July 2023, and a new licence was also refused on appeal last year.

While Wyldecrest said it was "still committed" to carrying out work, residents in the 159 homes have said no upkeep is carried out despite them paying a quarterly maintenance fee to the firm.

Those that live there simply want someone to take responsibility.

"They [the residents] are so fed up of having to fight for basic needs when all they want is a hassle-free life in their later years," said long-term resident Julie Davies.

"We have been abandoned... Wyldecrest don't want to know, the council, the Senedd don't want to know.

"We've been left in limbo."

A junction of roads on a mobile home park. There are some big potholes in the foreground, and stretching away into the distance. A cream coloured mobile home with a brown roof and front porch sits on the curve of the junction with a small red car parked in front. There are double yellow lines running along the sides of the road. Other mobile homes are visible on the left-hand side and some gates stand open in the background with red brick houses visible beyond.
Residents say no maintenance is being done on Willow Park, leaving the roads in a poor condition

She said the site was "lovely" when she arrived 17 years ago to care for her elderly parents, but it had seen a "rapid decline".

Ms Davies said people had moved to "live the dream", but instead, they are living "a nightmare".

A middle-aged woman with light brown hair and metal framed glasses wearing a black puffer jacket over a black, white and brown striped jumper. She has gold chains around her neck, including a locket and a cross. The background is blurred but she is standing in front of some mobile homes with parked cars.
Resident Julie Davies says she feels like they have been abandoned

Licences for parks are issued by local authorities under the Mobile Homes Act (Wales) 2013.

But the sites have to be kept to a certain standard in order to keep them, as well as meeting other criteria.

Flintshire council said it refused a residential mobile homes licence to Wyldecrest Parks in October 2024 following complaints from residents regarding conditions on site.

It was now awaiting a date for Wyldecrest's appeal of that decision.

"The council continues to comply with the directions in respect of the appeal and is working with a legal team to ensure legal compliance is obtained on the site," a spokesperson said.

"The council is not in a position to take further legal action until the appeal process is completed and is unable to comment further while the legal process remains ongoing."

"We are in a no man's land," is how Jackie Morgan, 68, describes it.

"Wyldecrest totally ignore our pleas, and Flintshire council say they won't come on site to help because there's no licence."

Ms Morgan cannot take her 94-year-old father out in his wheelchair for fear it will tip over on potholes.

She also points to perimeter hedges left overgrown, while empty plots were left unmaintained.

Who is Alfie Best?

Alfie Best started his company Wyldecrest in 2001 and now has more than 100 parks in the UK.

He is the star of a TV documentary called Gypsy Billionaire.

He was ranked number 232 in last year's Sunday Times Rich List, which valued his wealth at £745m.

A middle aged man with grey swept back hair stands with his arms crossed wearing a black jacket with a logo which reads Wyldecrest. Underneath it he is wearing a grey polo shirt. A mobile home is in the background.
Alfie Best - nicknamed the Gypsy Billionaire - now has more than 100 parks in the UK

The residents are also paying three times what they should for water because of leaks, according to residents' association chairman Ken Pierce, 84.

He has been on the site 23 years, and said: "Each home is paying £56.14 a month for water we don't use, it is going through the site meter, but not reaching our homes. We should be paying around £16 a month."

In a statement, Welsh Water said the leakage on site must be resolved.

It added: "We appreciate the concerns of the residents but this is an issue between them and their landlord as the leakage is occurring on the private part of the water network which Welsh Water does not maintain.

"The billing agreement between the tenants and the landlord is a private matter for them."

Wyldecrest spokesman David Sunderland, who is the manager for sites including Willow Park, said the company had not been served any compliance notices by Flintshire council and he denied that they had been ignoring residents.

"We communicate with all residents," he said, adding: "If anyone has a query, I'll talk to them."

He said the company had already been getting quotes for a new water main to be laid and any road resurfacing would take place after that work is complete.

The Welsh government said the local authority was best placed to comment on the situation.

Wyldcrest's other site in Flintshire, Willow Brook Park in Sandycroft, is also currently without a licence.