Equity Incentive Awards (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2023	Mar. 31, 2022
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Compensation expense related to incentive plans	$ 2.5	$ 2.6
Restricted Stock \| 2014 Awards
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Shares issued (in shares)	82,884
Shares categorized as vesting (in percentage)	50.00%
Vesting period (in years)	3 years
Fair value of shares issued	$ 3.0
Shares categorized as performance based (in percentage)	50.00%
Restricted Stock \| 2014 Awards \| Share-based Payment Arrangement, Tranche One
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Vesting percentage	33.33%
Restricted Stock \| 2014 Awards \| Share-based Payment Arrangement, Tranche Two
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Vesting percentage	33.33%
Restricted Stock \| 2014 Awards \| Share-based Payment Arrangement, Tranche Three
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Vesting percentage	33.33%
Performance Shares \| 2014 Awards
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Shares issued (in shares)	13,812
Fair value of shares issued	$ 1.0

Percentage Of Shares Considered Vesting

No definition available.

Name:	els_PercentageOfSharesConsideredVesting
Namespace Prefix:	els_
Data Type:	dtr-types:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Percentage of Shares Considered Performance Based

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	els_PercentageofSharesConsideredPerformanceBased
Namespace Prefix:	els_
Data Type:	dtr-types:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Share-Based Compensation Arrangement By Share-Based Payment Award, Shares Issued In Period, Value

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	els_ShareBasedCompensationArrangementByShareBasedPaymentAwardSharesIssuedInPeriodValue
Namespace Prefix:	els_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of expense for award under share-based payment arrangement. Excludes amount capitalized.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 718
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (h)(1)(i)
-URI https://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=128089324&loc=d3e5070-113901

+ Details

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

- Definition

Period over which grantee's right to exercise award under share-based payment arrangement is no longer contingent on satisfaction of service or performance condition, in 'PnYnMnDTnHnMnS' format, for example, 'P1Y5M13D' represents reported fact of one year, five months, and thirteen days. Includes, but is not limited to, combination of market, performance or service condition.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/exampleRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 718
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (a)(1)
-URI https://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=128089324&loc=d3e5070-113901

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ShareBasedCompensationArrangementByShareBasedPaymentAwardAwardVestingPeriod1
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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

- Definition

Number of shares issued under share-based payment arrangement.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 718
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-URI https://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=128089324&loc=d3e5070-113901

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ShareBasedCompensationArrangementByShareBasedPaymentAwardSharesIssuedInPeriod
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:sharesItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Percentage of vesting of award under share-based payment arrangement.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2009/role/commonPracticeRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 718
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (a)(1)
-URI https://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=128089324&loc=d3e5070-113901

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_SharebasedCompensationArrangementBySharebasedPaymentAwardAwardVestingRightsPercentage
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	dtr-types:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_AwardTypeAxis=us-gaap_RestrictedStockMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_PlanNameAxis=els_A2014EquityIncentivePlanMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_VestingAxis=us-gaap_ShareBasedCompensationAwardTrancheOneMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_VestingAxis=us-gaap_ShareBasedCompensationAwardTrancheTwoMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_VestingAxis=us-gaap_ShareBasedCompensationAwardTrancheThreeMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_AwardTypeAxis=us-gaap_PerformanceSharesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: