Urgent amendments are required to the legislation NOW on the issue of the CPI formula presently being used and abused!
Submission dated: 12th August 2022
The purpose of this submission from the Alliance of Manufactured Home Owners Inc. is to raise again to your knowledge and awareness why we are advising the Minister for Housing and the Department of Communities, Housing & Digital Economy of the urgent and immediate need for action on the issue of the present use of the CPI All Groups Brisbane being used for the raising of site fees in residential parks.
When this Act was written in 2003 the CPI rate stated to be used in the Dictionary was the “All Groups Brisbane”, which is extremely volatile and includes tradable items of the Queensland economy, such as electricity, gas, fuel etc. Rent does not belong in this category, the correct CPI measure was the Weighted Median being the lesser of the two percentage categories that rent is aligned. The Queensland Government Statistician has confirmed that the “All Groups Brisbane” figure should not be used, raising the question – why did the Department of Communities, Housing & Digital Economy (CHDE) have this incorrect formula placed in the Act?
Back in 2017 in a Press Release on the 9th of July from our Premier stating:
New laws will be introduced to protect Queenslanders living in retirement villages and residential parks across the state in a major shake-up of the industry— she promised a major shake-up of the industry—including limitations on rent increases and the simplification of contracts. She then went on to say we must ensure Queensland seniors can enjoy peace of mind in their retirement years by giving them the stringent consumer protection they need and deserve. Finally, she said people have invested significant amounts of money to live in manufactured homes in residential parks and they have a right to be heard.
It is now 2022, the major deficiencies in the Act are still the same problems they were in 2017, and now five years later we still have a government unwilling to enshrine the original provision of the Act, “to protect Home Owners from unfair business practices”. Once again, we start the long drawn out process, while residents are still being financially abused by the actions of park owners. Most concerning, is the government continues to use the phrase “whether Legislation change is required”. This government can do one thing now and we request that they rectify this injustice and part of the Act, that is not fit for purpose and is now causing such financial abuse to these homeowners.
Many residents in manufactured home parks now cannot afford a viable standard of living as their site rent, which their only asset stands on, is taking up to 40% of their fixed income. We cannot wait any longer for reform in this area of CPI as a site fee increase factor.
Not all problems come from the park owners, as we advised this government over 12 months ago that the CPI “ALL GROUPS BRISBANE” in the dictionary of the Act as a basis to raise rents is incorrect, due to the extreme volatility of this figure. The Queensland Government Statistician has confirmed that rents do NOT belong in this category and questions why it was legislated into the Act in 2003.
