Land-Lease Communities

Land-Lease Communities By-law Modernization Project

Update: November 8, 2024

On August 22, 2023, Regional Council approved the new Land-lease Community By-law (By-law L-500) which addresses requirements that land-lease community owners must comply with to obtain a license to operate, such as maintenance and drinking water requirements. At the time the by-law was being considered, Regional Council directed staff to review the new by-law requirements after a year to determine if any adjustments were needed to the new by-law.

In addition to seeking feedback on the new requirements of By-law L-500, staff are proposing several “housekeeping amendments” to correct errors or omissions in the original by-law approved by Council last year. The specific “housekeeping amendments” proposed include:

The water testing requirements (Schedule C of L-500) state that chemical and physical properties of water are required to be tested quarterly (4 times per year). This was an error in L-500 as the water testing requirements were intended to mirror the provincial water testing requirements which require testing to be completed annually (once per year).
Introducing new language to provide clarity on when the License Administrator may issue a conditional operating license for a land-lease community, and what decisions can be appealed.
Correcting minor errors in punctuation, section titles, and missing or incorrectly placed words.

An important step of this process is to hear from land-lease community residents and operators! Input will serve as a critical part of any proposed amendment that addresses the concerns and opinions of all stakeholders. A survey has been provided below to obtain feedback. We invite you to share feedback before the survey closes on January 10, 2025.

Update September 1, 2023:

The land-lease communities by-law was given second (and final) reading at the August 22, 2023 Regional Council Meeting and was approved by Regional Council. Approval of the by-law will be advertised on Saturday, September 2, 2023, and will come into effect on that day.

The new by-law can be found here: By-law L-500

A land-lease community is one in which residents own their home but lease the lot it is placed on. Land-lease communities are also known as mobile home parks, mini-home communities, or manufactured home communities.

The Halifax Regional Municipality is reviewing and updating its Mobile Home Park By-laws. There are currently three Mobile Home Park By-laws within the municipality:

These Mobile Home Park By-laws serve to regulate the operation and permitting of current mobile home parks, as well as the creation of new mobile home parks within the municipality. These By-laws pre-date amalgamation and may no longer appropriately consider today’s development and permitting standards. The Halifax Regional Municipality’s goal is to modernize and update land-lease community regulations, which will apply to all areas of the municipality, and all land-lease communities, regardless of housing type (mobile home vs other forms of housing).

We are proposing a two-step approach to updating regulations.

1. The first step is to review the requirements that land-lease community owners must comply with to get a license to operate a land-lease community, such as maintenance or drinking water requirements.

2. The second step of the project would deal with built-form requirements, such as the placement of homes within a land-lease community, and the requirements for constructing new land-lease communities.

The new By-law would apply modern standards to the operation of land-lease communities.

An essential step towards this goal is to hear from residents, owners and developers of land-lease communities. This input will serve as a critical part of drafting a new land-lease communities By-law that addresses the concerns and opinions of all stakeholders.

Thanks to everyone who shared their feedback. The survey is now closed.

For more information on the project and the existing regulations for land-lease communities, check out the following information sheets:

Next Steps: Thanks to everyone who shared their feedback. Check out our What We Heard Report to learn more about the feedback we received. We are now working on drafting the new By-law. Stay tuned for updates on this page!

Check out this map of all existing land-lease communities in the municipality: