Lifestyle Communities’ fees show land lease is Frankenstein’s monster
At its peak, the model looked like innovation. A tribunal decision in Victoria shows it is where financial engineering meets a complete lack of housing policy.
The land lease sector is one of the strangest creatures in Australia’s housing menagerie. You buy the home, lease the land, pay the fees – and spend your twilight years being monetised gently until aged care swallows you whole.
That this model has not only existed but thrived tells you everything about the state of housing policy in this country. At its peak, the land lease model looked like innovation. It was lauded for affordability, praised for design and publicly listed with billion-dollar valuations.
