Rental home is being sold
- Published:
This information is a guide and should not be used as a substitute for professional legal advice.
Rental Dispute Resolution Victoria (RDRV) now handles some rental disputes instead of VCAT. Until we roll out more information, see our RDRV overview: tenantsvic.org.au/rdrv/
Summary
The caravan owner – who may also be the caravan park owner – can sell your caravan, even if you have a fixed-term residency agreement. However, there are rules that the caravan owner must follow. These include what kind of notice they must give you to enter your home, and how and when they conduct sales inspections or valuations.
If your caravan has been sold or is going to be sold, it does not necessarily mean that you must move out. The caravan owner can ask you to leave, but there are rules they must follow. If you are told the caravan is being sold and you want to leave, there are rules that you must follow, to prevent ‘breaking’ your residency agreement and paying costs. If you do stay once the caravan is sold, your residency agreement continues at the same rent and with the same bond, but the new owner becomes your landlord (officially called a rental provider).
When the whole caravan park is sold – rather than just a single caravan – this will generally have no effect on your tenancy, and there is no obligation for the caravan park owner to tell you about the sale. The caravan park owner may close down the park, but they have to follow certain rules.
What does ‘caravan park resident’ mean?
If a caravan in a caravan park has been your main home for at least 60 days in a row or you have signed a residency agreement with the park or caravan owner, you are likely a resident and have legal rights that don’t apply to holidaymakers.
Steps for the caravan owner to sell your caravan
If the caravan owner wants to sell your caravan, there are rules they must follow about how and when they enter your home to get a valuation or show potential buyers. There are also rules about telling you once the caravan is sold and about giving notice if they want you to leave the caravan because of the sale.
The caravan owner must follow the rules to enter your caravan
The caravan owner or their agent is legally allowed to enter your home to show potential buyers or to get a valuation. However, there are rules they must follow. If they follow the rules, you must let them in.
See our page on your privacy while renting, to learn more about what to do if they do not follow the rules.
The caravan owner must give you a written ‘notice of entry’ at least 24 hours before they want to enter the property to show a potential buyer the caravan or conduct a valuation.
The notice of entry must:
- Be in writing – a phone call or text message telling you about it is not enough
- State the legal reason that allows them to enter your home
- Be given to you with the right amount of advanced warning (known as a minimum notice period)
You must receive the notice of entry in one of the following 3 ways:
- In-person between 8 am and 6 pm
- By mail
- By electronic communication, such as email, if you have given written consent to receive notices this way
See our page on starting a tenancy for more information on consenting to have notices sent electronically.
Entry to your caravan by the caravan owner or their agent is allowed between 8am and 6pm, but not on public holidays.
If the time set by the caravan owner does not suit you can ask to change the time, however they do not have to do so.
The caravan owner or their agent can only stay for as long as is reasonably required to carry out the sales inspection or valuation.
The caravan owner or their agent, must act reasonably and respect your privacy during the visit. For example, they cannot go through your drawers or wardrobes or damage your belongings.
Family or personal violence
There are also extra legal protections for those experiencing, or at risk of, family or personal violence. These include a requirement to only hold inspections by appointment, not public open for inspections. For more information, see our page on privacy while renting.
You have the right to object to certain photos or videos being taken of the caravan, including if they expose you or someone else to the risk of personal or family violence, or because valuable items shown expose you to the risk of your caravan being broken into.
See the information on our page on your privacy while renting, to learn more about your right to object to photos or videos.
Family or personal violence
There are extra legal protections for those experiencing, or at risk of, family or personal violence. See the information on our page on your privacy while renting.
You can apply to VCAT for compensation if:
- Any of your belongings are damaged or stolen during an entry to your caravan
- The caravan owner or their agent has failed in their duty to make sure you have ‘quiet enjoyment’ of your caravan
An example of this is if the caravan owner stays too long during a sales inspection. ‘Quiet enjoyment’ means you have the right to reasonable peace, comfort and privacy in your home that the caravan owner or agent cannot seriously disturb.
For more information, including how to apply for compensation, see our pages on your privacy while renting and claiming compensation.
There are actions you can take, when the caravan owner or agent does not follow the rules about privacy and entry or access to your caravan. These include sending them a ‘notice of breach of duty’ (asking them to fix the problem and compensate you) or applying to VCAT for a restraining order, compensation order or other type of order.
What action to take depends on what rules have been broken and your circumstances.
See our page on your privacy while renting, to learn what to do.
You must receive notice if the owner wants you to move out
If the caravan owner wants you to move out because they have sold the caravan as ‘vacant’, they must give you a ‘notice to vacate’ at least 60 days before they want you to leave.
If the caravan owner has already signed a contract of sale with a buyer and wants you to move out, they must give you a notice to vacate within 14 days of signing the contract of sale, or when all the contract conditions have been met. This means the caravan owner cannot think about it for a few months after signing a contract, then use the sale as the reason for sending the notice to vacate.
Note: If you have a fixed-term lease, you have the right to stay until the end of your fixed term. The date in the notice to vacate cannot be before the end of your fixed term, unless you have agreed to leave earlier.
If you receive a notice to vacate, it must include evidence showing that the caravan owner intends to sell the caravan or has sold it. This evidence must be either a signed contract of sale or a clear and legally valid sales authority. A sales authority is a document that appoints a real estate agency to sell a property.
For more information see our page on notices to vacate and eviction.
You must give notice if you want to move out
If you want to move out, because your rented caravan is being or has been sold, there are rules you must follow, including giving the owner a notice of intention to vacate with the correct amount of advanced warning. You can do this if you have been given a notice of intention to sell but were not told of the owner’s plans to sell before you signed the residency agreement, or if you receive a notice to vacate and want to move out earlier than the date given.
If the caravan owner gives you a notice of intention to sell and did not tell you about their plans to sell the property before you signed your residency agreement, you can tell them that you want to move out. You can do this even if you have a fixed-term residency agreement.
To do so, you need to give the caravan owner a ‘notice of intention to vacate’ with at least 7 days written notice. You must pay the rent while you are in the caravan, up until the date listed on the notice, even if you move out before that date.
Note: You cannot be asked to pay any costs (compensation) to the caravan owner if you end your agreement this way.
For information on how to give a notice of intention to vacate see our page on ending or breaking your lease.
If the caravan owner gives you a notice to vacate because the property has been, or is being sold, and you want to move out before the vacate date that is in the notice to vacate, you can do this.
You will need to give at least 7 days notice of your intention to vacate, and you can do this even if you have a fixed-term residency agreement.
You will have to pay rent while you are still in the caravan, up until your move-out date.
Note: You cannot be asked to pay costs for leaving early, because the caravan is being sold and not re-let. If the caravan owner does ask you to pay costs, we recommend you do not pay anything. The caravan owner would have to make a claim to VCAT, which decides whether any costs should be paid.
For information on giving a notice of intention to vacate, see our page on ending or breaking your lease.
Ask for compensation if you agree to move out early
If the caravan owner wants you to move out before the end of your fixed term, and you agree to this, you can ask for compensation for your inconvenience.
If they agree to the compensation:
- Get the agreement in writing
- Make sure that it’s signed by you and the current or new owner, whichever one owns the caravan at the time and is offering you the compensation
See our page on claiming compensation.
Note: You do not have to agree to move out before the end of your fixed term.
See the information on this page about receiving notice if the landlord wants you to move out.
Report the caravan owner if they did not tell you of plans to sell
If the caravan owner already has plans to sell the caravan, or has entered into a contract to do so, before they enter into a fixed-term residency agreement with you, they must tell you about this before you sign.
If they did not, and you are then told the caravan has been sold, or is about to be sold, the caravan owner has committed an offence under Victorian rental laws.
You can report an offence to Consumer Affairs Victoria, which can issue an infringement notice to the caravan owner and make them pay a fine. Consumer Affairs Victoria has an online ‘Make a complaint’ form, or you can call them on 1300 55 81 81.
Note: Consumer Affairs Victoria does not pay compensation to renters.
For more information, see our page on complaints about landlords and agents.
Steps for the park owner to sell the caravan park
A caravan park is a business that is run on a piece – or pieces – of land. The owners of the land and the business might not be the same people, and both the business and the land can be sold.
If the land or business is sold – and the caravan park continues to operate – then generally there will be no effect on your tenancy.
There is no obligation for the business owner or the landowner to notify you of any sale, although you will probably receive advice about where to pay your rent if this happens.
Steps for the park owner to close down the caravan park
If the park owner is closing down the caravan park, you will need to leave your caravan or site. There are certain rules, however, that the park owner must follow.
If you own the caravan you live in, but pay a hiring charge to the site owner, and the park is being closed down, you may be able to receive compensation.
Park owner must notify council
A park owner must send written notice that the park is closing to the relevant local council at least 14 days before you receive a notice to vacate the caravan or site.
If the park owner does not notify council, the park owner can still send you a notice to vacate, but they will have broken Victorian rental laws and may be fined.
Park owner must send you a notice to vacate
The park owner must send you a ‘notice to vacate’ the caravan with at least 6 months advanced warning (known as the minimum notice period). It must also be a date that is after the end of the residency agreement, if it is a fixed-term agreement.
The reason on the notice must state that the park is being closed down.
For more information, see our page on notices to vacate and eviction.
Park owner may have to pay compensation
If the park owner owns the land that the caravan park is located on, they may need to pay you compensation.
You are only eligible for compensation if you own the caravan you live in, the caravan is fixed to the site, and it is not a caravan that can be registered with VicRoads.
For more information, see our page on claiming compensation.
If your caravan will be relocated, VCAT will review a range of factors, including the likely cost of:
- Disconnecting services from the caravan
- Removing the caravan from the site
- Transferring the caravan to a new site
- Installing the caravan at the new site (except for any landscaping)
If your caravan will not be relocated after the closure of the caravan park, VCAT will consider what is a fair amount of compensation, given:
- The original purchase price of the caravan
- The current market value
- Rent and fees paid for the caravan site
- Likely costs and level of inconvenience to move elsewhere
- How long you have lived on the site
Get help and other resources
If you need support when your caravan is being sold, help is available.
Tenants Victoria services
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Renter Support Line
For all Victorian renters.
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Financial counselling
Other organisations
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Federation of Community Legal Centres
For all Victorians.
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Tenancy Assistance and Advocacy Program (TAAP)
For Victorian renters in private rentals, rooming houses and caravan parks who are in financial hardship or affected by family violence.
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Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT)
For all Victorians.
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Consumer Affairs Victoria
For all Victorians.
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Housing for the Aged Action Group (HAAG)
For Victorians aged 50 and older.
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Community Connection Program
For Victorians who are homeless or live in low-cost accommodation.
There are step-by-step guides, self-help tools and other resources to assist you with understanding more about when a caravan is being sold, as well as compensation for renters.
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Consumer Affairs Victoria website
Consumer Affairs Victoria has informative website pages about when and how a rental provider (such as a caravan owner) can enter your rental property, as well as what happens if a caravan or residential park is closing.
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Tenants Victoria animation on compensation
Tenants Victoria has prepared a one-minute animated video about compensation.
The Residential Tenancies Act 1997 is Victoria’s main law for renting. It describes the rights and duties of renters and landlords in numbered sections.
The sections in this list relate to when a caravan or caravan park is being sold or closed. Click on a link to see more about the section.
- Section 145E – Information the caravan park owners or caravan owners must disclose before agreement under s144(1) or (2) commences
- Section 177 – Quiet enjoyment – caravan park owner’s duty
- Section 199 – Entry of caravan by caravan park owner
- Section 200 – Entry of caravan by caravan owner
- Section 201 – Grounds for entry of caravan or site
- Section 202 – Manner of entry
- Section 203 – What must be in a notice of entry?
- Section 204 – Resident has duty to permit entry
- Section 205 – What if damage is caused during entry?
- Section 206 – What is a person exercising right of entry fails to comply with provision?
- Section 206A – Offence relating to entering a site or caravan occupied by resident
- Section 206AK Notice of intention to vacate site or caravan
- Section 206AZ – Sale of caravan
- Section 206AZA – Closure of caravan park
- Section 209 – Application for compensation or compliance order for breach of duty
- Section 210 – Application to VCAT for compensation order on other grounds
- Section 215A – Compensation in relation to closure of caravan park or Part 4A park
- Section 215B – Tribunal may make park closure compensation order
- Section 452 – General applications to VCAT
The Residential Tenancies Regulations 2021 and the Residential Tenancies (Caravan Parks and Movable Dwellings Registration and Standards) Regulations 2024 provide more detail and definitions, and specify updates to the Residential Tenancies Act.
