Rent increases in site agreements

Note: This page is about Part 4A site agreements. These are for people who live in a residential park, own a movable dwelling and rent the site the dwelling is on. A residential park might be a caravan park or lifestyle village. A movable dwelling might be a pre-fab home or cabin. Site agreements cover the land that is being rented for the home. Read more about site agreements in residential parks.

Rent cannot be increased more than once every 12 months.

Site agreements must say that rent can be increased by either:

a fixed amount which is calculated by a chosen method
a non-fixed amount.

For a fixed amount rent increase, the way it will be calculated must be stated in the agreement. The agreement can also specify different methods of calculating the increase, depending on the circumstances. For example, ‘the rent will increase each year by 2% or by CPI, whichever is higher.’

For a non-fixed amount rent increase, the site owner can decide how much to increase the rent by.

Giving notice of a fixed rent increase

For site tenants with an agreement that has a fixed increase, the site owner must give them written notice at least 28 days before they increase the rent. The notice must:

be in the prescribed form, using the Notice of fixed rent increase to site tenant (Word, 70KB)
state the amount of increased rent
say how the increased rent amount was calculated
state the date the increased rent must be paid from.

Giving notice of a non-fixed rent increase

For site tenants with an agreement that allows rent to be increased by a non-fixed amount, the site owner must tell them in writing at least 60 days before they increase the rent. The notice must:

be in the prescribed form, using the Notice of non-fixed rent increase to site tenant (Word, 82KB)
only include one increase
state that the site tenant can apply to the Director of Consumer Affairs Victoria to investigate and report on the increase within 30 days of getting the notice.

Challenging a rent increase

Only site tenants with an agreement that allows rent to be increased by a non-fixed amount can challenge a rent increase. They must do this within 30 days.

Forms you might need

To tell a site tenant about a rent increase, use this form:

Sections of the Act

If you want to know what the law says about rent increases in a site agreement, you can read these sections of the Residential Tenancies Act 1997:

Section 206SA – Rent increases in site agreements
Section 206V – How much notice is required of non-fixed rent increase?
Section 206W – Site tenant may complain to Director about excessive rent.