Living in residential parks
The Residential Parks (Long-stay Tenants) Act 2006 ('Parks Act') came into effect on 3 August, 2007. These laws may affect you if you are a long-stay resident of a park home or caravan park.
Note: These laws do not apply to retirement villages.
Background
The development of the Residential Parks (Long-stay Tenants) Act 2006 ('the Parks Act') was a response to a 2001 Government election commitment to ensure that tenancy legislation was appropriate to the needs of industry and consumers, as Western Australians increasingly consider residential park living as a viable long-term accommodation option.
The Parks Act sets out the broad principles (or minimum standards) for the conduct of park operators and tenants in the residential park tenancy market. The Regulations to the Parks Act ('Regulations') provide the day-to-day systems of the park to ensure that the broad principles of the Parks Act are implemented.
The provisions of the Parks Act and Regulations reflect a broad recognition that park operators may not have had much experience in producing agreements, particularly agreements that comply with the Act. To address this issue, the Parks Act and Regulations provide for specific clauses to be included in all tenancy agreements.
Such clauses form the basis of all tenancy agreements between the park operator and the tenant. Outside of the provisions of the Parks Act, the tenant and the park operator 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.
The Parks Act and Regulations also contain provisions that recognise that 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.
More information
- Forms and publications
- Key aspects of the new Act
- Information booklet - Park living [PDF 540kb]
- Long stay tenure - a consumer guide to living in residential parks
- Frequently asked questions
- Commissioner's Guidelines to Park Liaison Committees [PDF 803kb]
Where do I get copies of the current laws?
State Law Publisher
Ground Floor, 10 William Street (river end) PERTH WA 6000
Telephone: (08) 6552 6000 Website: www.slp.wa.gov.au