Hometown Australia takes 10% stake in Lifestyle Communities, comments on takeover

The land lease sector is currently valued around $12 billion and experiencing rapid growth, positioning itself as a solution for affordable housing and retiree downsizing. 

Despite the interest in the asset class, the ASX-listed Lifestyle Communities is still seeking to recover from the ABC 7.30 attack in July 2024 and the VCAT ruling 12 months later.

In releasing its 1H26 financial report last month, the Victorian land lease community operator revealed its statutory profit after tax was $15.8 million, compared with $22.7 million in 1HFY25.

The decline reflects lower new home settlements (1HFY26: 128 v 1HFY25: 137), reduced DMF revenue following the VCAT case (which is subject to appeal), and a greater portion of interest costs expensed against the land bank.

The Australian Financial Review reported last Friday (13 March) that investment bank JPMorgan printed a block of 11.93 million Lifestyle Communities shares at $4.90 each on Thursday, representing an 8% premium to the market or just under 10% of the business.

David di Pilla’s HMC Capital Partners was the seller, and the media outlet reported that US-owned land lease operator Hometown Australia purchased the shares.

The Weekly SOURCE reported on 27 February that Hometown Australia had entered into Victoria for the first time, buying Lifestyle Communities’ land in Merrifield in Mickleham, 29km north of Melbourne’s CBD.

After the revelation of the Hometown Australia purchase, Lifestyle Communities CEO Henry Ruiz spoke to the Financial Review, saying the business was focused on improving its performance to position itself for expansion beyond Victoria.

Hometown Australia also released a statement, stating it was “not considering a takeover bid for Lifestyle Communities at this time.”