Housing Legislation (Building Better Futures) Amendment Bill 2017

Introduced: 10/8/2017By: Hon M de Brenni MPStatus: PASSED with amendment

Housing & Renting Seniors Cost of Living

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Plain English Summary

This is an omnibus bill covering multiple policy areas.

Overview

This bill updates five Queensland housing laws to give more protection to people living in manufactured home parks, retirement villages, boarding houses and rental properties. It was part of the 2017-2027 Queensland Housing Strategy and introduces new disclosure rules, dispute processes, behavioural standards, and a head of power for minimum rental housing standards.

Who it affects

Mostly affects older Queenslanders in residential parks and retirement villages, private renters, residents of boarding houses (including women and children fleeing family violence), and the operators and landlords who run these places.

Manufactured home parks

Gives people buying into a residential park more time and information before they sign, caps how often site rent can be increased, bans administrative and meter-reading fees, and sets up a negotiation-then-mediation pathway before going to QCAT.

Park owners must provide disclosure documents at least 21 days before a site agreement is signed (can be shortened to 14 days if the buyer has legal advice)
Site rent can only be increased once a year and on one basis at a time
75% of home owners must agree before rent can be raised to cover an upgrade to shared facilities
QCAT can appoint an independent valuer if home owners dispute a market rent review
Park owners must keep an emergency plan and cannot block visits from health and community service workers
Administrative and meter-reading fees for utilities are banned

Retirement villages

Residents will get plainer upfront information, stronger protections if the village closes, changes operator or is redeveloped, and a guaranteed timeframe to be paid their exit entitlement after they leave.

Operators must pay former residents their exit entitlement within 18 months of leaving, unless doing so would cause undue hardship
New approved closure, transition and redevelopment plans protect residents when a village winds down, changes hands or is rebuilt
Residents now get a plain-English village comparison document, a prospective costs document and a condition report before they move in
Financial transparency is increased with quarterly financial statements, a general services charges fund and approved-form budgets
Operators and residents must follow behavioural standards and operators must maintain a village website

Minimum standards for rentals

Creates the power for the Queensland Government to set minimum housing standards for rental properties by regulation, covering things like weatherproofing, basic facilities and safety.

Lessors, landlords and rooming accommodation providers will have to ensure premises meet any prescribed minimum housing standards at the start of and during a tenancy
Covers general tenancies, moveable dwellings, rooming accommodation and facilities in moveable dwelling parks
The actual standards will be set later in the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Regulation 2009 after further consultation

Boarding houses and residential services

Cleans up the Residential Services (Accreditation) Act 2002 to better protect people in boarding houses, aged rental schemes and similar accommodation.

Providers of level 3 services must notify the chief executive within 7 days of a resident's death
Accreditation must be applied for within 3 months of registration (down from 6 months)
Associates who make decisions affecting residents must report criminal history changes within 30 days
Addresses of services housing women and children fleeing domestic violence will not appear on the public register of residential services

Community housing assets

Clarifies, retrospectively to 2014, that properties improved with State funds remain subject to the transfer and disposal rules if a community housing provider is not registered under the national scheme.

Widens the definition of 'relevant property' in the Housing Act 2003 to cover property the provider holds that has been improved with government funding
Protects around $40 million of State interests in social housing dwellings ahead of the 31 December 2018 transition deadline

How this affects you

Housing & Renting

•Renters will get minimum housing standards (like weatherproofing and basic amenity) once a regulation is made under the new powerClause 82 (new s 17A)Inserts a new Chapter 1, Part 3, Division 4 into the RTRA Act 2008 allowing regulations to prescribe minimum housing standards for residential premises, inclusions and moveable dwelling park facilities.
•Manufactured home owners in caravan and residential parks get 21 days to read disclosure documents before signing, or 14 days if they get independent legal adviceClause 19 (new ss 29 and 29A)Park owners face a maximum penalty of 200 penalty units for entering a site agreement without giving the initial disclosure documents in the required period.
•Park owners cannot charge administrative or meter-reading fees for utilities like electricity or waterClause 49 (s 99A)A prohibited amount expressly includes meter-reading fees and any administration charge for the supply or on-supply of a utility.
•Women and children fleeing domestic violence who stay in a residential service will no longer have the service's address shown on the public registerClause 76 (new s 179(2A))Sensitive information must not be shown on the register where the service accommodates people at risk of homelessness because of domestic violence or where it is in the interests of residents' wellbeing and safety.

Seniors

•Retirement village operators must pay you your exit entitlement within 18 months of leaving, even if the unit has not sold, unless this would cause them real hardshipClause 109 (s 63) and Clause 144 (new s 171A)Scheme operator must pay the exit entitlement the earliest of the day stated in the contract, 14 days after settlement, or 18 months after the termination date; QCAT can extend or reduce the payment if the operator shows undue hardship.
•Before you move in, you will get a plain-English village comparison document, a prospective costs document and a condition reportClauses 118 and 119 (new ss 74, 75, 76, 84)The old public information document is replaced with standardised documents that must be given to prospective residents, with penalties for non-compliance.
•If a retirement village is closing, changing operator or being redeveloped, the operator must prepare an approved plan to protect residentsClauses 99, 101 and 138 (new ss 40A-40G, 41B-41J and 113B-113J)New closure plans, transition plans and redevelopment plans must be approved by residents by special resolution or by the chief executive, with penalties for non-compliance.
•Operators and residents must follow clear behavioural standards, including respecting peace, privacy and autonomyClauses 53 and 140 (new ss 104, 105, 135, 136)Park owners and retirement village operators must not unreasonably restrict a resident's autonomy and must respond to written correspondence within 21 days; residents must not harass or intimidate staff.

Cost of Living

•Site rent in a residential park can only go up once a year, and only on one basis at a time (for example, CPI or a market review, not both)Clause 33 (new ss 69-69E)Park owners must nominate a single general increase day and cannot use more than one basis for increasing site rent at a time.
•If you think a market rent increase for your park site is unfair, QCAT can appoint an independent valuer paid for by the park ownerClause 35 (new s 70A)The tribunal can appoint an independent registered valuer where consultation was inadequate, where the valuation is unclear or unreasonable, or where at least 25% (or 20) of notified home owners dispute the increase.
•Retirement village residents will get quarterly financial statements so they can see where their general services charges are goingClause 136 (new ss 112 and 112A)Operators must give residents quarterly financial statements in the approved form and must explain in writing any variation between actual and budgeted general services expenditure if requested.

Bill Journey

Introduced10 Aug 2017

First Reading

Committee

Committee Report28 Sept 2017

Committee report tabled

Second Reading

In Detail

Third Reading

Royal Assent10 Nov 2017

Referenced Entities

Sectors Affected

Community Housing Community Services Residential Rental Aged Care Accommodation

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