Residential Home Parks are becoming increasingly popular with those members of our community who have reached or are nearing retirement age. Many parks cater specifically for the over 50 or 55 age group. There are many reasons for this, just as there can be many reasons why you may choose to make a residential home park your home.
Residential Home Parks over time can and do develop their own personality. The owners and the residents can create a great environment and caring community for the residents to live an, active, fruitful and healthy lifestyle for many years.
Residential Home Parks or villages are known by various names including Lifestyle Parks, Manufactured Home Parks, Manufactured Housing Estates, Relocatable Home Parks, Mobile Home Parks and Permanent Residential Parks as well as the traditional Caravan Parks. They are all governed by appropriate legislation and regulations relative to the state they are located in.
Caravan Parks can be a mix of both tourist sites and residential sites or just residential sites. Over the years many of what were tourist parks have been converted and developed into residential parks.
Residential Parks usually provide common area facilities and amenities for the residents to enjoy and create the lifestyle they are seeking. Whilst some parks will have basic facilities others will provide an extensive range of the most modern facilities including a community hall or club house, heated swimming pool either indoor or outdoor, library, theatre room, lawn bowls, tennis court and men’s shed.
Whatever the type of park, residents occupy the site under a residential site agreement or lease and pay a weekly site rental to the owner. Generally, the resident is responsible for paying their utilities according to how these are provided to their site. In some parks, owners will read the individual water and electricity meters then invoice the resident.
The rights and obligations of both park owners and residents who occupy and rent a site in a residential park in New South Wales are set out in the Residential (Land Lease) Communities Act 2013 and Regulations. In other states specific legislation can apply.
There are nearly 500 such communities in NSW catering for about 34,000 residents.
If a resident and park owner cannot reach agreement on a particular matter then either party may lodge an application with the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal to adjudicate the matter and make appropriate orders which both parties must comply with.
In some parks rental properties are available. The occupant is a tenant, not a resident, so the home is occupied using a residential tenancy agreement under the NSW Residential Tenancy Act 2010 instead of a site agreement. The tenant must comply with the legislation governing both tenants and residents.
Some parks will allow residents to keep a pet. This may be a small dog, a cat or caged birds. Generally, the park rules and residential site agreement will stipulate what is necessary for a resident to gain approval to keep a pet. The rules are in place to ensure that the pet does not disturb the quiet enjoyment and comfort of other residents.
When a resident has been granted an ongoing residential site agreement or lease generally, only the resident can terminate the agreement. If the park owner has just cause they can apply to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) for an order to terminate the agreement. The grounds for this could be for serious and persistent breaches of the Act or ongoing failure to pay rent after the resident has been provided with ample opportunity to rectify the matter.
