Proposed regulation changes: Caravan and residential park operators, are you up to date?
The Residential Tenancies (Caravan Parks and Movable Dwellings Registration and Standards) Regulations 2020 (current Regulations), which regulates caravan and residential park operators is set to expire on 30 June 2024.
The Department of Transport and Planning (DTP) has undertaken a review of the current Regulations and has developed the draft Residential Tenancies (Caravan Parks and Movable Dwellings Registration and Standards) Regulations 2024 (proposed Regulations) to replace the current Regulations, which will impact both caravan and residential park residents and operators.
The proposed Regulations will retain the existing regulatory requirements, with some key changes, including the following additional requirements:
1. Registration: Caravan park owners must submit an application for renewal of the park registration on or before 1 August of the year in which registration is due to expire (instead of 1 October of the relevant year). This will have the effect of increasing the timeframe during which councils must consider and process an application for renewal of park registration to 5 months (from 3 months), with the intention of improving council oversight.
2. Installation of unregistrable movable dwellings or annexes: All owners of unregistrable movable dwellings or rigid annexes installed from commencement of the proposed Regulations must provide subsequent owners with installation documentation, ensuring each subsequent owner benefits from the consumer protection provided by the installation certificate.
3. Facilities and services: Caravan park owners must ensure that all taps supplying water that is not safe for drinking are marked with a sign meeting the relevant Australian Standard, providing a greater health and safety benefit compared to the position under the current Regulations.
4. Emergency management planning: Caravan park owners must:
include with their application to council for registration or renewal of registration:
a fire safety report that was issued not more than 3 years prior to the application;
an emergency management plan that has been updated by the owner not more than 3 years prior to the application; and
affix to the emergency management plan for the park a new prescribed cover sheet.
5. Duties of caravan park owners: Removing the existing requirement that caravan park management must be in the caravan park office during ’normal office hours’. The rationale behind this amendment was to provide greater flexibility for staff to respond to issues around the park (e.g. maintenance issues with caravans, communal areas and sanitary facilities) more promptly.
The proposed Regulations are now open for public consultation and the DTP will consider all feedback received from the Victorian community in preparing the final draft of the Regulations.
The consultation process closes at 5pm on 26 May 2024 with the proposed Regulations set to come into effect on 29 June 2024. The intention is for certain requirements to have a ‘delayed commencement’ of 1 January 2025 to give the industry time to comply.
We will continue to provide updates on the progress of the Regulations.
Briget O’Callaghan
Principal Lawyer
T 03 5225 5244 | M 0436 456 144
E bocallaghan@ha.legal
Evelyn Zeglinas
Associate
T 03 5225 5245
E ezeglinas@ha.legal
