What it does
The Residential (Land Lease) Communities Act 2013 is the primary statute regulating “residential communities” in New South Wales. Section 3 states its objects: to improve governance, set out rights and obligations of operators and home owners, enable informed choices by prospective home owners, establish dispute-resolution procedures, protect home owners from bullying, intimidation and unfair business practices, and encourage the continued growth and viability of such communities.
A “community” is defined in s 4(1) as an area of land that comprises or includes sites on which homes are, or can be, placed, installed or erected for use as residences under an agreement or arrangement in the nature of a tenancy, together with any common areas. The definition expressly includes caravan parks and manufactured home estates (whether or not approved under the Local Government Act 1993). The Act therefore captures both traditional caravan parks and modern land-lease estates where residents own their dwelling but lease the land.
The Act applies to all communities and all site agreements, whether existing at commencement or created later (ss 5–6), subject to limited exemptions in ss 7–8 and 11. It binds the Crown (s 10) and prohibits contracting out (s 12).
Core mechanisms include:
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Registration – Operators must notify the Commissioner of prescribed particulars within 30 days of commencing operation or of any change (s 16). The Commissioner maintains a public Register (ss 14–19) that records basic details, enforcement history and whether the community has ceased accepting new residents.
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Entry into site agreements – Before any site agreement can be signed, the operator must give the prospective home owner a disclosure statement at least 14 days earlier (s 21) and approved information (s 22). A 14-day cooling-off period applies (s 23). Agreements must be in writing, identify the site, name the parties and comply with any prescribed standard form (ss 26–27). Additional terms are permitted only if they do not contravene the Act, are not inconsistent with the standard form and are clearly labelled (s 28). Prohibited terms may be prescribed by regulation (s 29). Site fees cannot be demanded before entry except for a separate home-construction deposit (s 30). A site agreement cannot specify a fixed term of less than three years (or any longer regulatory minimum) or it is deemed unlimited (s 31).