RESIDENTIAL parks are being overlooked when it comes to making decisions about downsizing.
That’s according to the state’s peak body for residential park residents, which is urging more people to consider the parks as an alternative to retirement village living.
The SA Residential Parks Residents Association said more needs to be done to support the state’s residential parks industry. Secretary Chris Cairalle-Allen said residential parks provide an “affordable lifestyle and a secure environment for people in their mid-50s and those reaching retirement age”.
“When you feel the need to downsize, either for physical or financial reasons, it could be a suggestion to consider a dedicated residential park – where all the home owners live permanently and independently in manufactured homes,” Mrs Cairalle-Allen said.
Residential parks offered an alternative to those “seeking to downsize their existing homes to something more manageable both physically and financially”.
“Residential parks also provide social inclusion, which is very important at our age when sometimes mobility can become a problem.”
“In a residential park we the residents own our own homes and pay a weekly site fee for the site to the owners of the residential park.
“When we sell our homes the only fees payable at this stage are the real estate agent’s commission – there are no exit fees.” If eligible, she said, some residents receive rent assistance from Centrelink and other concessions – “and there is no stamp duty payable on the home”.
The Retirement Living Council said while many people assume retirement villages and residential parks (sometimes called lifestyle parks or manufactured home parks) are the same thing, the main differences are the contract and financial models.
“There are indeed similarities between the two products: they both house older people who live independently, have communal facilities, and are generally located on large landscaped grounds,” a spokesman said.
“The key difference ... is the contractual and financial models that apply. It should also be noted that both housing types are regulated under separate consumer protection legislation.”
In South Australia, residential parks are protected under the Residential Parks Act of South Australia. Generally speaking, a residential park is a land lease community where residents live in a manufactured home or relocatable home and pay rent on the land.
In the majority of cases the resident will own their home and pay a site fee for use of the site.
While many parks are technically not restricted to older people, many are primarily designed for, and marketed towards, over 50s.
Some have on-site health or medical services; some are exclusively for permanent residents, while others accommodate residents and short-term holidaymakers.