Report: 5 years of the Residential (Land Lease) Communities Act 2013

Since the commencement of the Residential (Land Lease) Communities Act 2013 (RLLC Act) the land lease living sector has been in a process of expansion. The industry today is also markedly different to the industry prior to the commencement of the Act. We have seen change in almost every aspect including the nature of communities, the style and price of homes,
the type of operator and home owner, and the relationship between operators and residents. The RLLC Act has met the objective of encouraging the continued growth and viability of the industry however, moving forward it must rebalance the rights and responsibilities of operators and home owners in order to meet the other stated policy objectives.

The RLLC Act made a number of positive changes in key areas such as removal of the principal place of residence test, access to the community, the right to sell onsite, and compensation for relocation or closure. However, in other areas the Act has fallen short of the expected outcomes. In this report we comment on the provisions that are working and appear to be achieving the desired outcomes, and those that need amendment to enable the policy objectives to be achieved.

The key themes of this report are:

• The governance of residential land lease communities
• Site fee increases
• Repair and maintenance obligations
• Dispute resolution processes
• Community rules
• Utility charges