The Noticeboard | Information for NSW park residents

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The Tenants' Union of NSW publishes two free newsletters for land lease community residents and advocates — Outasite and Outasite Lite. These contain useful articles and up-to-date information on a broad range of issues relating to land lease community living and the law.

Outasite is our print newsletter. It is published once per year and distributed via mail.

Outasite Lite is our email newsletter and is sent out regularly through the year.

To read or download back issues of Outasite and Outasite Lite click on the links below. Subscribe to get our free newsletter/s sent out to you using the form on ths page. If you would like to get extra copies of Outasite to pass on to your neighbours or friends, please let us know and we will send these out at no cost to you.

A brighter future?

Wednesday, 5 December, 2018 - 11:05

Pictured: Members of the Residential Parks Forum (left to right) Charles Dalgleish, Don Rose, Julie Lee, Mary Preston, Sandy Gilbert, Jean MacLean, Di Evans, Ian Finlayson, Jock Plimmer, Graham Byrne, Peter Reberger – see story 'Forum turns 20!' below.

We are approaching the end of another year and have reached the third anniversary of the commencement of the Residential (Land Lease) Communities Act 2013 (the Act). Looking back over 2018 it is difficult to see past electricity usage charges because without doubt that has been the biggest issue of the year.

When we entered 2018 the Tenants’ Union of NSW (TU) had been working on electricity usage charges for 18 months however this year we saw the biggest developments. Electricity usage charges are not fully settled but as we approach 2019 we are hopeful that home owners on embedded networks are in for a brighter future.

When we published ‘Outasite’ in July 2018 the decision of the NCAT Appeal Panel in Reckless v Silva Portfolios Pty Ltd (Reckless) had been appealed to the Supreme Court of NSW. The case was heard on 17 August and the decision handed down on 4 September. Justice Davies dismissed the operator’s appeal and agreed with the Appeal Panel that section 77(3) of the Residential (Land Lease) Communities Act means an operator cannot charge more for the use of electricity than their supplier charges them.

This time the operator did not appeal and the meaning of section 77(3) is therefore settled. What is not settled is how a home owner’s usage charges should be calculated.

Power to the people – at a reasonable price

Thursday, 19 April, 2018 - 11:10

With the commencement of the Residential (Land Lease) Communities Act 2013 (the Act) the method of calculating consumption charges for electricity, gas and water changed. The Tenant’s Union has highlighted the change through articles and a report. We have also held discussions with home owners, Tenant Advocates, the NSW Energy and Water Ombudsman (EWON) and NSW Fair Trading to explain that operators should not and cannot charge more than they are charged by their utility providers.

The majority of operators buy electricity at significantly reduced prices yet they charge home owners at the highest rate – the standing offer price published by the local area retailer. If home owners are charged correctly many would see considerable reductions in their power bills.

On the whole, since the Act commenced, operators have failed to change the way they calculate utility usage charges. Through Tenants Advice and Advocacy Services the Tenants’ Union has been advising and assisting home owners to take up the issue of electricity charges with operators. When negotiations failed to bring change, some home owners made applications to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT). Margaret Reckless was one of those home owners and when she received an adverse decision, she appealed.

Stand your ground

Monday, 12 February, 2018 - 14:13

When it comes to agreements, promises and contracts the advice is always the same – get it in writing. Why? Because if a dispute arises the terms, or even the existence, of a verbal agreement can be difficult to prove. In this edition of Outasite Lite we look at a recent case about whether a statement made by an agent amounted to a verbal agreement.

In 2015 a prospective home owner purchased a home in a land lease community partly based on a verbal statement made by the sales assistant. In 2017 this home owner was in dispute with the operator because of the statement. At the heart of the dispute was whether what the real estate agent had said amounted to a binding promise or contract. The home owner believed it did but the operator claimed the agent had merely outlined a possibility.