Savings Plan - Additional Information (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Millions	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
Defined Benefit Pension Plans and Defined Benefit Postretirement Plans Disclosure [Abstract]
Employees eligible compensation deferral for 401(k) Plan	60.00%
401(k) Plan, employer matching percentage for the first 3% of participants' contribution	100.00%
Defined Contribution Plan, Employer Matching Contribution, Percent of Employees' Gross Pay	3.00%
401(k) Plan, employer matching percentage for the second 2% of participants' contribution	50.00%
Employer 401K, Employee Contribution matched 50 percent by Employer	2.00%
Employer 401 K Matching Contribution To Employee Maximum	4.00%
Defined Contribution Plan, Employer Discretionary Contribution Amount	$ 1.5	$ 1.4	$ 1.3

Deferred Compensation Arrangement with Individual, Contributions by Plan Participants, Percentage of Salary, Maximum

No definition available.

Name:	els_DeferredCompensationArrangementWithIndividualContributionsByPlanParticipantsPercentageOfSalaryMaximum
Namespace Prefix:	els_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

Employer matching contribution of fifty percent of the employee contribution.

No definition available.

Name:	els_EmployerFourZeroOneKFiftyPercentMatchingofEmployeeContribution
Namespace Prefix:	els_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

Additional level of matching contribution by employer for employee retirement plan.

No definition available.

Name:	els_EmployerFourZeroOneKMatchingContributionToEmployee
Namespace Prefix:	els_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

The maximum matching contribution by employer for employee retirement plan.

No definition available.

Name:	els_EmployerFourZeroOneKMatchingContributionToEmployeeMaximum
Namespace Prefix:	els_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

Employer matching contribution of one hundred percent of the employee contribution.

No definition available.

Name:	els_EmployerFourZeroOneKOneHundredPercentMatchingofEmployeeContribution
Namespace Prefix:	els_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

Initial matching contribution by employer for employee retirement plan.

No definition available.

Name:	els_InitialEmployerFourZeroOneKMatchingContributionToEmployee
Namespace Prefix:	els_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

No definition available.

Name:	us-gaap_DefinedBenefitPensionPlansAndDefinedBenefitPostretirementPlansDisclosureAbstract
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

Amount of discretionary contributions made by an employer to a defined contribution plan.

No definition available.

Name:	us-gaap_DefinedContributionPlanEmployerDiscretionaryContributionAmount
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration