NSW, Victoria and Tasmania all passed land lease laws between mid August and mid September, on top of new maintenance rules in Queensland. Together they change how these communities are costed, approved and built.

Land lease has grown up. The rules are catching up with it.

For the past few years, communities where residents own the home and lease the land have been one of the more reliable sources of new residential work in the country. Institutional money has flowed in, and builders, modular manufacturers and civil contractors have followed.

Between 14 August and 11 September, three state parliaments passed laws that reshape how the model works. Queensland’s new maintenance planning rules took effect in June. None of the reforms stop land lease from being built. All of them change the maths.

NSW is moving manufactured homes into the building approval system

The NSW change sits inside the state’s broader overhaul of building approvals in NSW. The Building (Approvals and Practitioners) Act 2026 received assent on 14 August.

Buried in its schedules, the Act removes manufactured homes from the exclusion in the planning law’s definition of a building, and strips the manufactured home definitions out of the Local Government Act. The Tenants’ Union of NSW reads this as moving manufactured homes out of council installation approvals under section 68 and into the standard building approval and completion system.

For anyone building or supplying homes in NSW land lease communities, that is a change to the approval pathway itself. Most of the Act starts on proclamation, and much of the operating detail depends on regulations not yet made.

Victoria is capping deferred management charges at 20 per cent

Victoria’s Consumer Legislation Amendment Act 2026 received assent on 8 September. Its land lease changes amend Part 4A of the Residential Tenancies Act, which governs parks where residents own the home and rent the site.

What is a deferred management charge?

A deferred management charge is an amount a resident pays the site owner when leaving a land lease community, as a contribution to the cost of managing, maintaining or improving the park. It is sometimes called an exit fee. Under Victoria’s reforms it must be calculated as a percentage of the price the resident paid for the home, based on how long they lived there, and capped at 20 per cent.

The biggest shift is how that charge is worked out. For new agreements, it must be calculated on the price the resident paid for the home, not what the home later sells for, and by reference to how long they lived there. It cannot exceed 20 per cent of the purchase price, a ceiling added as the Bill passed Parliament. It can only be collected at the end of the resident’s time in the park.

Site rent increases for new agreements are limited to a fixed amount equal to the higher of Melbourne CPI or a prescribed rate. Anything more needs a special rent increase approved by VCAT, for significant cost increases or major repairs, with at least 90 days before it takes effect. Money raised for repairs must be spent on those repairs.

The Act also removes the ability to end a fixed term agreement without cause, creates a register of parks, and lifts the owner’s standard to keeping parks clean, safe and in good repair. The land lease changes start on proclamation, and no later than 1 December 2027.

Tasmania has banned exit fees outright

Tasmania went further. Its Residential Parks Act 2026 received assent on 11 September and, once proclaimed, bans a park owner from taking any payment other than a bond, rent or permitted utility charges. Entry, exit, management and communal contribution fees are all prohibited, however they are described.

Rent can rise once every 12 months with 60 days notice, and residents can ask TASCAT to declare an increase excessive. There is no cap. Redevelopment is permitted, but only after the owner offers the resident a new site, a buyback of their home or relocation at the owner’s cost.

Queensland now requires ten year maintenance plans

Queensland’s changes are the only ones already running. Since 7 June 2026, most parks with more than 15 manufactured home sites have needed a maintenance and capital replacement plan. Ordinary plans must look at least ten years ahead, list capital items with a replacement value over $1,000, and set out when each will be maintained or replaced. Residents get at least 28 days to have their say on revisions.

That sits alongside earlier Queensland reforms that cap site rent increases at the higher of CPI or 3.5 per cent, ban market rent reviews, and require park owners to buy back homes that have been in a buyback scheme for 12 months without selling.

Revenue is shifting to the front end and to site rent

Read together, the four states are pulling the land lease model in the same direction.

Back end fees are being capped in Victoria and banned in Tasmania. Site rent increases are tied to a formula in Queensland and Victoria, and open to tribunal review in Tasmania. Maintenance is becoming a documented, forecast obligation rather than a discretionary spend.

The result is that more of an operator’s return has to come from the upfront home sale and steady site rent, with long term maintenance costs visible from day one.

Maintenance is becoming a documented, forecast obligation rather than a discretionary spend.

What it means for the people who build these communities

For builders and suppliers, the effects show up in three places.

The first is approvals. In NSW, manufactured homes are moving into the same building approval and completion system as other buildings, which brings them closer to the state licensing and compliance obligations builders already work within.

The second is specification. When an operator has to publish a ten year replacement plan for clubhouses, roads, pools and services, as in Queensland, or keep a park in good repair under threat of tribunal orders, as in Victoria, the durability of what gets built at the start flows straight into its forward costs.

The third is feasibility. With back end fees capped or gone, operators will test project budgets harder before committing. Projects that still stack up are likely to be the ones with efficient build costs and predictable delivery.

A maturing sector, with tighter margins

These reforms treat land lease as what residents already consider it: permanent housing. That should build trust in the model over time. It also narrows the room for error in how communities are priced and built.

Three of the four changes are still waiting on proclamation and regulations, so the detail will keep moving through 2027. Against the broader housing supply challenges facing the industry, how those regulations land will help decide how much land lease gets built, and where.

We will keep tracking each state as the regulations arrive. Follow The Good Builder for updates, and listen to the podcast for conversations with the people building across the land lease sector.

Frequently asked questions

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• Macquarie’s $2.9b Play into Land Lease: What It Means for Builders
• NSW Has Passed Its New Building Act. Construction Certificates Are On the Way Out.

Last updated: 30 September 2026. Queensland’s maintenance plan rules were in force at this date. The NSW, Victorian and Tasmanian reforms were awaiting proclamation.

General Information Only: This article provides general information about legislation and industry developments and does not constitute legal, financial or professional advice. Laws and regulations change, and their application depends on individual circumstances. Seek independent professional advice before acting on any information in this article.

Author: TGB Editorial