Living in a residential park

The Residential Parks (Long-stay Tenants) Act 2006 ('Parks Act')  applies to people who:

  • are renting a relocatable home, such as a caravan or park home and a site on a park for 3 months or more;
  • are renting a site on a park for 3 months or more;
  • had a written, fixed term agreement that expired or was extended on or after 3 August 2007; and
  • had entered into an oral long-stay tenancy agreement before 3 August 2007.

The law does not apply to people who:

  • are on holiday for any length of time;
  • are employees (including seasonal workers) of the park staying on the premises during the term of employment;
  • are in retirement villages (who are covered by the Retirement Villages Act 1992); or 
  • have written, fixed term agreements that have been entered into before 3 August 2007, until expiry.

The Parks Act sets out minimum standards for the conduct of park operators and tenants in the residential park tenancy market. These include managing rent increases, park liaison committees, and ending a tenancy.  The pages in this section and the Park Living information booklet cover these in more detail. 

The Residential Parks (Long-stay Tenants) Regulations 2007 ('Regulations') support the Parks Act by setting out timeframes, notice requirements and other key information including the new standard form long-stay agreements that must be used for all agreements entered into from 31 January 2022. Copies all the forms, notices and publications are available from Residential parks publications.

From 31 January 2022, the Parks Act provides standard lease terms providing for basic rights and obligations for all new and existing tenancy agreements. Tenants and park operators are free to negotiate other terms of the agreement, as long as such terms are not inconsistent with the core provisions of the Parks Act. Also see the page on Park rules

The Parks Act and Regulations also contain provisions that recognise prospective tenants may not be familiar with the operation of the residential park tenancy market. For example, tenants may have owned a house on a suburban block all their lives and may be unfamiliar with the requirements of renting, particularly in a communal living situation.

New laws contained in the Parks Act and Regulations came into effect on 31 January 2022. Further information on these changes can be found in Changes to the Residential Parks (Long-stay Tenants) Act 2006.

Further information

This information does not apply to retirement villages.

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