Summerside residents have concerns after owner offers to sell them mobile home park

The owner of a mobile home park in P.E.I. is putting it up for sale, leaving some residents worried about what the future holds.

Twin Rivers Properties sent letters out to residents of Linkletter Estates in Summerside, offering them the opportunity to purchase the park.

The letter notes that the sale would likely require all of the residents who own their homes to buy into the deal, making the park into a non-profit co-op.

The company said in the letter that it would be willing to sell the park to the residents for $12,500 per site. It said it would not facilitate any meetings with the homeowners.

Riley and Alexandra Carriere bought their home in the park just weeks ago — and now they're already worried about what lies ahead.

“We've been here less than a month, so it was definitely concerning for us. A bit of a surprise,” Alexandra said. “It just kind of left us with a lot of questions.”

Riley described stress and panic when he received the letter, and said they would have sought other options for housing if they knew the owner was looking to sell. 

“It seems like there's a lot of unknown surrounding it,” he said. “Not necessarily a negative thing but also can't really call it a positive thing — just change we weren't prepared for.”

He cited concern over the cost of buying the park, and the difficulties that would come with getting everyone in the community to agree.

“If we don't buy it, someone else has to buy it I would assume," Riley said. "They haven't really said one way or another.”

Twin Rivers Properties said water and sewer lines in the park need repairs, but suggested that municipal and provincial governments could help residents with that cost.

The company said the letter isn't meant as a threat to close the park, but rather an option for residents to take control of their housing.

Blair van Veld, the Nova Scotia-based company's CEO, told CBC News that increased tax rates have made it tough to keep the park profitable. He said it doesn’t make sense for an off-Island company to continue operating in Summerside.

“We want to give the residents an opportunity to try to get together and purchase the property from us before we took it to market because that is our intentions after this,” van Veld said.