Forming a Residents Committee

Forming a Home Owners Committee For Land-Lease Living

Many land lease communities have a residents’ committee, also known in some villages as a home owners’ committee.
Such committees can play an important role as a channel for communication between the residents and the site owner/operator.

This role is formally recognised under the Act.

NOTE:
RC / HOC Residents’ Committee / Home Owners’ Committee
RTA Residential Tenancies Act 1997 Part 4A. Referred throughout as ‘the Act’
Site tenants (the term used by the Act) are referred throughout this manual as residents but within some villages are known as home owners.

What is a Residents’ / Home Owners’ Committee?

A RC/HOC is a group of residents in a land lease village/park who are elected by, and represent, the residents in that village/park in dealings with the site owner/manager.
RC/ HOC should, when dealing with management, express their opinions and expectations in a respectful and constructive way.
RC/ HOC should maintain their focus on the issues presented to them by their residents, or the village/park site owner/manager.
Do not forget you are representing the site tenants, so be clear on all issues, be straightforward and present the issues with confidence and honesty.
Residents in a land lease village/park have a right to establish one RC/HOC under the Act and this right cannot be restricted by the village/park site owner/manager.
The Act does not provide guidance or requirements for how many members there should be in the
RC/HOC, or what roles they should serve. This will generally be established in the Constitution for the RC/HOC and may depend on the size of the village/park.

Only one RC/HOC may be established for a land lease village/park

A majority of residents may adopt a Constitution to govern the performance of the RC/HOC’s functions. The Constitution cannot be inconsistent with the Act. Once made, the RC/HOC must comply with its Constitution. The Constitution may only be changed by special resolution at a meeting of residents.

A special resolution requires a quarter majority of the residents’ votes.
That would be 25% of all residents attending the AGM or special resolution meeting (as long as all residents in the village/park are informed of the meeting venue date and time in writing?)

The RC/HOC can, subject to the Constitution, determine its own procedures to support how it operates, and form sub-committees and decide each sub-committee’s procedures.
The RC/HOC should hold regular structured meetings with all residents, to allow discussion on matters of concern relating to the running of the village/park.
The RC/HOC should operate with core principles and values that enable the RC/HOC to conduct its functions. This may include principles and values which facilitate a RC/HOC that is approachable to residents and builds a good relationship with the village/park site owner/manager.
Dealing with the village/park site owner/manager is an important function of the RC/HOC; by working with the owner/manager this strengthens residential communities and provides better outcomes for residents and village/park managers.
The village/park site owner/manager can attend RC/HOC meetings if invited by the RC/HOC.
The village/park site owner/manager may, for example, be invited to address specific issues of concern.

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