People who live in a residential park (such as a caravan park or lifestyle village) and own their home, often have what are called Part 4A site agreements.
These agreements cover the land that is being rented for the home. Part 4A agreements only apply to a home that can be moved, such as a pre-fab home or cabin.
Part 4A agreements do not apply to other movable homes that can be registered with VicRoads, such as caravans or camper trailers. These are covered by an agreement for residency in a park.
People who rent their homes in a caravan park will also have an agreement for residency in a park.
On this page:
When a Part 4A site agreement applies
A part 4A site agreement is for someone who owns a ‘movable dwelling’ and rents a site for it in the park or village they live in. A movable dwelling is a building that has been designed and manufactured to be moved by another vehicle. For example, it could be a pre-fab, portable, manufactured, relocatable or tiny home.
A site agreement is between a ‘part 4A site tenant’ and a ‘part 4A site owner’.
- The site tenant is the person who owns the dwelling and rents the site.
- The site owner is the person who owns the site. This is usually the park owner or operator, but not always.
Part 4A is the section of the Residential Tenancies Act that covers this type of agreement.
A site agreement applies when a dwelling is:
- fully or partly owned by a site tenant
- designed, built or manufactured to be transported for use as a residence (but not including a dwelling that can be registered with VicRoads, such as a caravan)
- the site tenant’s main home (not a holiday home); and
- in a park on a rented site (not in a park on Crown land).
Someone is not a site tenant if any of the following apply:
- they rent both the dwelling and the land as a park resident
- they only use the site for holidays
- they are renting the site under an employment agreement
- they live in a park on Crown land.
For more information, view our Movable dwelling guide.
Before signing a site agreement
Before signing a site agreement, the site owner must provide certain information and documents to the site tenant. Use the checklist for signing a site agreement to find out what is legally required.
We also recommend getting independent legal and financial advice before signing an agreement, and learning more about living in residential parks.
There are certain things that the site owner is not allowed to include in an agreement. You can see a list of conditions that are not allowed to be included on residential rental agreements.
If you have also bought a movable dwelling to live in on the site, read our checklist to find out about your right to cancel a purchase agreement for a movable dwelling.
Adding someone to a site agreement
A site tenant can request that the person they live with or intend to live with (such as a partner or relative) be listed as an additional site tenant on the agreement.
The site owner cannot unreasonably refuse such a request, but they can ask to be reimbursed for reasonable expenses incurred to accommodate the additional person.
If the site owner does not consent to the additional tenant, the site tenant may apply to VCAT to have the decision reconsidered. VCAT can:
- hear submissions from the site owner as to the suitability of the additional person
- hear submissions from the site owner as to why consent was not given
- order that the co-habitant be added to the site agreement as a site tenant.
Note: This only applies to new site agreements signed from the 29 March 2021. If your agreement was signed before this date, you can find more information on Transition to new renting laws.
Sections of the Act
If you want to know what the law says about site agreements, you can read these sections of the Residential Tenancies Act 1997:
- Part 4A Division 1 – General requirements for site agreements.