This submission outlines the relevant topics already addressed previously as concerns by AMHO and Manufactured Home Owners under the Manufactured Homes (Residential Parks) Act 2003.
Focus will be about immediate suggested amendments required for residents living in a residential park or resort relating to affordability rental rates for home owners and profitability for park owners.
The Amendments made to the ACT and passed under royal accent in 2017 and 2019 provided a power inequity in favour of the corporate park owners and failed to address the Main Object of the ACT:
Manufactured Homes Residential Parks Act Division 2 Objects of Act and relationship with FTI Act Number 4
Submission dated 28th of January 2022
The Main Object of this Act is to regulate and promote fair trading practices in, the operation of residential parks –
1(a) to protect home owners from unfair business practices;
2(b) to enable home owners, and prospective home owners, to make informed choices by being fully aware of their rights and responsibilities in their relationship with park owners.
Having spoken to many Members of Parliament, with more meetings yet to organise, AMHO is drawing to attention to a housing sector in crisis where rent increases is outstripping the fixed incomes of the home owners, this housing market sector predominantly consists of aged or disabled pensions who will be outpriced out of their own homes within the next 5 years. Following those people who already have been over the last 3 years.
Government must act now before the crisis in the manufactured homes sector deepens to the point it is irrecoverable.
Rents in manufactured home villages already are applied at 40% or above for residents who are on the aged and disabled pensions, well above the wider community of 24% rents against the average income of workers. This style of housing must be viewed over the long term at sustaining financial viability and affordability for home owners and the sector in general. If the present trajectory of how rent as applied is ignored, the exodus of people becoming homeless, having to sell their own home and other residents unable to afford to live in these villages having to move will increase.
The multi-billion-dollar multi-national corporations that now own these manufactured home villages are making in excess of 65%+ pure profit being sent offshore to the overseas headquarters of the parent companies. Thereby no profits are maintained in the Queensland economy and facilities are barely maintained to an acceptable standard.
