RLLC Amendment Bill in Parliament
05/07/2024
By Eloise Parrab, Land Lease Communities Officer, and Paul Smyth, Land Lease Communities Solicitor.
This article is an updated version of an article sent in Outasite Lite on 16 May 2024.
In May the Minister for Better Regulation and Fair Trading Anoulack Chanthivong MP (pictured) introduced into NSW Parliament a Bill to amend the Residential (Land Lease) Communities Act 2013 (RLLC Act). The Residential (Land Lease) Communities Amendment Bill 2024 (the Bill) addresses 21 of the 48 recommendations that came out of the 5 year Statutory review. There are still a number of steps that the Bill must go through before the changes to the RLLC Act will take effect. There is not a clear timeline but we will keep you updated on its progress.
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Overall, the Tenants’ Union is supportive of the Bill as the changes are aimed at safeguarding the interests of residents within land lease communities.
Electricity pricing
The biggest change is an overhaul of electricity pricing for all residents in embedded networks. These residents are supplied with electricity by the operator of the community or in some cases a third party supplier for example Humenergy. There are new requirements for when utility bills are issued and what key information must be contained in the bills sent to residents. The Reckless method will no longer be used to calculate a resident’s electricity bill. The maximum price that can be charged will now be determined by the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) and it will be the median retail market price in each local distribution area, reviewed annually.
Site fee increases
The other big change in this Bill are improvements in site fee increases. The Bill restricts fixed method
increases to a single element which, if passed by NSW Parliament, will see the end of multiple component fixed method increases. Our biggest concern with the Bill that was introduced into NSW Parliament was that operators were given three years from commencement to negotiate with existing home owners on replacing multiple component fixed methods. Agreement on any new fixed method with a single element will need to be reached or the home owner can choose to move to a by notice increase.
We strongly felt that three years was unnecessary. Allowing three more years of an unfair method would have locked in those increases even once a fairer method kicks in. This is too long and the Tenants’ Union believed that 12 months would be more than sufficient time.
We raised our concerns with Members of NSW Parliament and proposed an amendment to the Bill. We were very pleased when Greg Piper, Independent MP for Lake Macquarie and Speaker of the House moved a motion to amend the Bill to provide for a 12 month transition period for multiple fixed method increases.
This amendment was passed with support from Labor, Greens, Independent and Liberal MPs in the Legislative Assembly. The Bill now needs to be passed by the Members of the Legislative Council which we expect will happen by the end of June.
“[Land lease communities] can play a significant role in assisting with the housing crisis in this State, but reform is needed to encourage the growth and viability of this housing option and to ensure that homeowners and residents, many of whom are elderly and reliant on government support payments, are protected from unfair business practices... “While the proposed amendments in the bill will not address all the recommendations of the statutory review, they do address significant issues, which will, I hope, ease some cost‐of‐living pressures for vulnerable residents... “The bill is a good start but there is more work to be done. However, I am confident that the Government recognises the importance of housing reform in this State. I encourage the Government to press on to ensure that the next tranche of residential land lease community reforms occur in this term of government.”
– Greg Piper MP, Independent MP for Lake Macquarie and Speaker of the House, during the Second Reading Debate of the Residential (Land Lease) Communities Amendment Bill 2024. Image source: NSW Parliament livestream. Quote source: NSW Parliament hansard.
We will have to wait for the other 27 recommendations to be introduced into legislation as the Minister has indicated that they require further consultation with stakeholders.
If you would like to read the Residential (Land Lease) Communities Amendment Bill 2024 the full text can be found at https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/bill/files/18589/Second%20Print.pdf
This article was published in Outasite magazine issue 11. Outasite is published once or twice annually. Outasite Lite email newsletter is sent several times a year – subscribe subscribe here. All past issues are available in the archive.