A land lease community (referred to in the RTA as a Part 4A park) operates on a model in which:
Victoria's land lease industry is navigating simultaneous reform across two fronts:
The reforms significantly increase regulatory demands on land lease community developers, making the path from site identification to resident onboarding longer, more complex and more compliance heavy, creating risks of delay, penalty and reputational harm for developers who are unprepared.
Developers’ first and most persistent challenge is identifying land that can genuinely support a new land lease community, which requires consideration of the following:
- planning permissibility: zoning, overlays and policy determine whether a residential park‑style use can be approved and on what conditions; and
- infrastructure feasibility: land lease communities are infrastructure‑intensive, requiring embedded electricity networks, internal roads, wastewater systems, reticulated services and shared facilities; and
- disclosure-driven environmental risk: environmental due diligence findings prior to land acquisition feed directly into the expanded disclosure obligations under the new regulation 77.
Challenge 2: Navigating the tiered planning systems
Securing approval for a new land lease community has always been complex, and the BDMF adds a further layer by introducing two separate tiered systems that may apply simultaneously:
- planning scheme amendments: the low / medium / high impact system applies where rezoning is required, with the impact category determining notification and exhibition requirements; and
- planning permits: the Type 1 / 2 / 3 system governs assessment of the use and development of the land itself, with the permit type determining statutory timeframes and the extent of third‑party rights.
Both systems are designed to match the level of assessment to the scale and complexity of the proposal. Simpler applications move through streamlined pathways, while larger and more complex developments attract greater scrutiny and longer assessment processes.
Low, medium and high impact amendments
Where rezoning or another amendment is required, the three categories operate as follows:
- low impact: limited stakeholder consultation and generally no independent panel review;
- medium impact: public notice and exhibition, with a panel review only if directed by the Minister of Planning; and
- high impact: public notice and exhibition with a panel review, attracting the highest level of scrutiny.
Although the criteria are still being finalised, amendments needed to facilitate a new land lease community on land not already zoned for that purpose will almost always fall within the high impact category.
Types 1, 2 and 3 permits
The three permit types are:
- Type 1: simple, low‑risk developments assessed within a 10‑day determination period with no third‑party notice requirements and no third‑party review rights at the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT);
- Type 2: moderate‑impact developments assessed within a 30‑day determination period with limited third-party notice requirements and no third‑party review rights at VCAT; and
- Type 3: Larger and more complex developments assessed within a 60‑day determination period with third‑party notice requirements and limited third‑party review rights at VCAT, available only to objectors who received direct notice.
A new land lease community will in almost every case be a Type 3 application. Developers should assume that third‑party objections remain available and that statutory timeframes may not reflect the full approval period, particularly if review proceedings are commenced.
Challenge 3: Disclosure and contracts
The new regulation 77 significantly expands pre‑contract disclosure, requiring developers to provide:
- financial information: rent, fees, charges, utilities, and exit or resale‑related costs;
- environmental information: flooding and bushfire zone designation; and
- operational information: emergency management, facilities, committees and community rules.
Pre‑contract disclosure must be given in a form approved by the Director of Consumer Affairs Victoria and, as developers move toward sales readiness, they must also have two contractual documents prepared:
- part 4A site agreement: governs the resident’s right to occupy a site and sets out rent, access to community facilities, maintenance obligations and termination rights; and
- home purchase agreement: governs the sale and transfer of ownership of the Part 4A dwelling, typically entered into before (for new communities) or at the same time as the site agreement.
Although separate, the two agreements are closely linked. Under section 206JA(2)(b) of the RTA, a resident who rescinds the site agreement during the cooling‑off period may also rescind the home purchase agreement, so developers must structure execution and settlement to manage that risk.
From 1 July 2026, all new Part 4A site agreements must also be in the prescribed Form 16A which:
- standardises existing RTA rights and obligations;
- permits additional bespoke terms provided they do not conflict with the RTA; and
- incorporates the suite of notices, statements, reports and plans that form part of pre‑contract disclosure.
Using a non‑compliant form attracts a penalty of 25 penalty units ($5,227.50) for each contravention. Further information on pre-contract disclosure and Form 16A can be found here.
Other challenges
Other considerations that developers should keep in mind include:
- affordable housing contributions: the BDMF empowers responsible authorities to impose affordable housing contributions on land lease community developers, especially where a planning scheme identifies a local need for affordable housing and the development exceeds prescribed thresholds;
- increased penalties for planning non-compliance: the BDMF introduces imprisonment for individuals (up to 10 years), raises corporate penalties to 6,000 penalty units ($1,254,600) and expands court powers to impose adverse publicity, commercial benefit, supervisory intervention and industry exclusion orders; and
- gifts and donations disclosure: new Part 5A of the PEA requires developers to disclose any gifts or donations they have received in the preceding two years that are connected with a planning permit application or planning scheme amendment.
What developers should do now
In terms of land acquisition and planning, developers should:
- conduct a planning risk audit of any target site, assessing zoning, overlays and relevant policy; and
- assess whether a planning scheme amendment is required in addition to a planning permit, and factor the tiered processes into the development programme.
In terms of contract preparation, developers should:
- transition to Form 16A for all site agreements and audit any bespoke terms for consistency with the RTA; and
- prepare pre‑contract disclosure packs covering all prescribed matters under the updated regulation 77 and the accompanying documents required under Form 16A.