Park homes provide a valued lifestyle choice for up to 20,000 Western Australians, one that offers access to tight knit communities often in coastal locations and, as a bonus and not always a priority, housing at a low cost. Residential parks are usually close to beaches and other amenities, which means park-home owners are vulnerable to having desirable land sold from under them to developers. It routinely costs more than their homes are worth, often prohibitively so, to move to alternate parks; spaces can be scarce and people are vulnerable to price gouging at the hands of unscrupulous operators.
The balance of power between owners and operators has historically been unfair. People, who are often elderly, do not have life-long leases over their properties and can be evicted at short-notice.
The Greens have been raising concerns about the unjust treatment of park-home owners stretching back to 2001. Alison has worked closely with the Park Home Owners Association Western Australia throughout her term in the 40th Parliament. She was pleased to support the Residential Parks (Long-Stay Tenants) Amendment Bill 2018, which was finally debated in June 2020, and goes some way to balancing the rights of tenants with those of park operators.
This has been not before time, since, at the time of the bill passing, it had been six years since a review of the Residential Parks Act began. Alison will continue to advocate for park home owners to ensure they are aware of their rights under the law and are supported to access legal recourse when required.
