The amendment bill to the NSW Residential (Land Lease) Communities Act has had a second reading in the NSW Parliament on Wednesday, 5 June, with 48 recommendations.
Operators are being placed under new pressures. One change to an amendment is that operators will be given just 12 months to enter into compliant site agreements, instead of three years, against a backdrop of multiple structural changes.
The bill implements 21 of the 48 recommendations from the statutory review into the Act in 2021. The four major amendments are:
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A fixed method for site fee increases Operators must use a single element to calculate a site fee increase under the fixed method.
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A price cap for electricity charges in the 40% of communities with embedded networks.
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When an operator issues a by-notice site fee increase, they must detail a reason for the increase.
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Home owners allowed to make certain minor changes to their homes without the need for operator consent.
Bob Browne (pictured), General Counsel and Company Secretary, of Manufactured Housing Association NSW, Land Lease Living Industry Association and Caravan and Camping Association NSW, said the associations’ preference was for two elements to the fixed method rather than the single element recommended in the 2021 review report.
“We were also disappointed with the change from three years, as recommended in the review report, to 12 months for the phase-in period. It is a short time to turn around those fixed methods, for example, CPI + a $ amount to a single element.
“We were able to get an agreement with everyone for the electricity charging changes. Importantly, it corrects an anomaly that came with the Residential (Land Lease) Communities Act 2013 in 2015.
“The regulator omitted to change a reference to electricity retailers, which caused great upheaval and, consequently, introduced a mechanism that meant operators could only charge what they paid for in electricity - nothing for the infrastructure and administrative costs.
The new system will require the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) to calculate a median usage and a median availability charge. This will provide a much better and uncomplicated regime for operators. The existing unreal cap on electricity charging will be removed and the new fairer model introduced.”
As Bob noted, a further 27 recommendations are still to be negotiated and made law.
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