This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
MAJOR superannuation fund AustralianSuper has quietly upped its stake in embattled land lease community operator Lifestyle Communities from 15.80% to 16.94%.
It comes on the back of David Di Pilla’s HMC Capital buying into the company with 2.69% stake in November, through its unlisted HMC Capital Partners Fund I.
Lifestyle Communities’ share price has slumped since ABC’s 7.30 reported in July on a group of 80 residents at its Wollert Lifestyle Community on Melbourne’s northern outskirts who had banded together to lodge a claim to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) over fees they believe are illegal and excessive, which included charging dead people rent and exorbitant charges for residents wanting to sell their home.
Co-founder and managing director of Lifestyle Communities James Kelly announced in October he would retire from his post in the wake of the reports. At its annual general meeting, the company said it had seen a rise in cancellations in the financial year to the end of October to 64.
The allegations came a few months after Lifestyle Communities had launched a $275 million raising as it sought to go deeper into the land lease sector, going on just few weeks later to downgrade its new home settlements for the 2024 financial year.
