Caravan park evictions: cases in Wales and Australia highlight housing insecurity

Long-term caravan park residents worldwide face eviction: in Wales, authorities enforce affordable housing commitments; in Australia, residents are forced out after ownership changes or to make way for tourist rentals.

Ridgeway Resort in Manorbier, Wales

The Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority has begun enforcement action against Ridgeway Resort (formerly Buttyland) in Manorbier. The move follows failure to comply with conditions of a planning permission granted on appeal in 2021, which required land to be transferred for 14 affordable homes to the local housing authority. As of May 2025, 17 static caravans had been installed on site, 16 occupied, but the land transfer had not occurred. The Development Committee approved legal proceedings to compel compliance.

Kirra Beach Tourist Park on the Gold Coast, Australia

An elderly couple living in the Kirra Beach Tourist Park on the Gold Coast must leave their site by June 2028. The city council plans to revert all seven of its parks to short-term tourist accommodation, having already spent around A$10 million buying out permanent residents. The couple refused a A$60,000 offer because they cannot afford open-market rent, where the median price reaches A$850 per week.

Rose Gardens (Acclaim Rose Gardens) in Albany, Australia

About twenty long-term residents of the Rose Gardens caravan park (also known as Acclaim Rose Gardens) in Albany, Western Australia, were evicted after the site was sold to a new owner in early 2025. The new owner, RAC Tourism Assets, bought the land from the state government on a "freehold" basis. Residents were offered lump-sum payments of up to A$25,000, but some—including a tenant with cancer—were left without permanent housing. The eviction was possible because residents held monthly tenancy agreements, which under the Residential Parks Act 2006 did not protect them when ownership of the land changed.