Moveable dwellings must follow local laws

by Samantha Fradd, Residential Parks Legal Officer

Does a resident’s moveable dwelling have to comply with local government laws?

The short answer is yes!

The Tenants’ Union has been giving lots of advice in the last little while about whether a resident’s moveable dwelling has to comply with the local government laws and if so, what those laws require.

It is a standard term in a residential tenancy agreement under the Residential Parks Act 1998 (NSW) that where a resident owns a moveable dwelling, they agree that their dwelling complies with any requirements set out in the Local Government (Manufactured Home Estates, Caravan Parks, Camping Grounds and Moveable Dwellings) Regulation 2005 (NSW).

Those requirements include things like how far the dwelling is from the road, how much of the site can be covered by the dwelling, and whether the resident needs a certificate from a practising structural engineer or a compliance plate for the dwelling.

There are different requirements in the regulations for different types of moveable dwellings. The requirements for manufactured homes are different from those for caravans and annexes. The requirements for caravans are different from those for annexes. Just because a resident needs a compliance plate for their rigid annexe does not mean that they also need a compliance plate for their caravan.

The requirements in the regulations have changed over time. This does not mean that a resident has to keep spending money to change their dwellng to meet the changed requirements. Fortunately, there are special parts of the law that say that if a moveable dwelling complied with the regulations as they were at the time it was installed on the site, then the dwelling is taken to continue to comply with the regulations, even if the requirements of the regulations have changed.

If a resident’s moveable dwelling does not comply with the regulations as they were at the time it was installed (this is a breach), a park owner may ask the resident to fix the breach. If a resident does not, the park owner may apply to the Consumer, Trader and Tenancy Tribunal for orders that the resident fix the breach. A park owner applying to the tribunal has to prove that the resident is breaching the requirement and has to specify which requirement the resident is breaching.

The local council may contact a resident directly and ask them to fix a breach. If the resident does not fix the breach, the council may make an order requiring the resident to do so.

Contact your local Tenants Advice and Advocacy Service for advice about:

• what to do if a park owner or local council asks you to do something to your moveable dwelling to make it comply with local government laws
  
• what the local government laws say about your kind of dwelling.