Guides

Each Australian State and Territory and New Zealand has enacted specific legislation that regulates the operation of retirement villages. The main purpose of the legislation is to protect the interests of residents and prospective residents. This is generally achieved by: imposing a heavy disclosure burden on operators prescribing various matters that either must or must not be included in the legal documentation regulating some (but by no means all) financial matters establishing mechanisms for resolving disputes. The legislation in each jurisdiction is different and has its own definition of what is and what is not a retirement village. This is important because a village that falls outside the definition will generally not be regulated by the legislation. The definition...

Pet owners know how important our furry friends are, but whether you can bring your pet with you when you move to a retirement village will depend on the characteristics of your pet and the pet policy and rules of the village. The pet policy and rules of the village will generally have been formulated having regard to the physical characteristics of the village and the appropriateness of having pets in the village. If pets are permitted at all, the size, temperament and audibility of the particular pet will be relevant. Realizing the importance of pets to prospective residents, some village operators may allow certain current pets to live in the village, but may not allow replacement pets should the current pet pass away or otherwise leave the village. Retirement villages may ther...

There is a lot to do and think about before you move to a retirement village. The following list should help you get started. Don't leave it too late Moving to a retirement village is essentially a lifestyle decision so it doesn't necessarily make sense to put it off until your health starts to fail, your mobility starts to deteriorate, or your spouse moves into residential aged care or dies. Depending on the village, there could be a waiting list to get in or for particular home styles, configurations or locations. Shop around It's a good idea to look at several retirement villages before you make a final decision. You will then have at least some basis for comparison, which is usually the best way to identify relative value for money. You can Search our Retirement Village Dir...

You can use our Departure Fee, Exit Fee and Deferred Management Fee (DMF) Calculator to estimate how much a particular departure fee, exit fee, deferred management fee or DMF could be over different periods in a range of scenarios. The formula used to calculate the departure fee can vary greatly from village to village, so you will need to adjust the input variables in the green cells accordingly. Just click on a green cell, change the value and press "Enter" or click on another cell. If you need to start again, just refresh the page. You can find more information about the variables in the calculator in our Departure Fee Calculator Instructions and Explanations. Please note that: the amounts in the "Total Departure Fee" column below are the sum of the percentage departure fee...

Although they are complicated, confusing and controversial, departure fees (which are sometimes called "exit fees", "deferred management fees" or "DMFs") have a sound historical rationale and they're not all bad, provided you understand what they are for and take them into account when deciding whether a particular home offers overall fair value compared to similar homes in other retirement villages and in other similar property situations, such as strata title or community title developments that are not retirement villages. Historically, departure fees allowed retirement village operators to: take responsibility for the depreciation and eventual replacement of capital items sell, lease or license homes for an entry price below the fair market value of the home. This suited ...

Retirement village departure fees, which are also sometimes called "exit fees", "deferred management fees" or "DMFs", are usually calculated as a percentage of either: the entry price, with a separate arrangement regarding the apportionment of any actual or notional capital gain that may accrue when the home is sold, leased or licensed to a new resident the re-sale price when the home is sold, leased or licensed to a new resident, which necessarily takes into account any actual or notional capital gain that may accrue. The percentage usually accrues over time at a rate that may be fixed or variable. For example, it could accrue at a fixed rate of 2.5% per annum or it could accrue at 5% per annum for the first 2 years and 2.5% per annum thereafter. The percentage may be subjec...

Retirement village residents may be required to pay: an initial entry price when they move in recurring charges or rent during their stay and perhaps beyond a fee called a "departure fee", "deferred management fee", "DMF" or "exit fee" when they leave. The form of the initial entry price depends on the particular legal structure. For example, it may be the purchase price of a freehold property or security, or it could be described as a loan, premium or prepayment of rent. In manufactured home villages it is the purchase price of the home, but not the site that the home occupies. No initial entry price is payable in rental villages. The recurring charges are for the general services that are provided by the operator for the benefit of all residents. These services vary from...

Retirement villages are potentially a very attractive accommodation alternative for seniors in Australia because retirement living can provide a number of real benefits, by far the most important of which is community. However, retirement villages are also complicated, they can be confusing and they are somewhat controversial, so you need to fully understand what they are and what they involve before you sign on the dotted line. Wishful thinking is not an option and is sure to lead to surprises at best and serious disappointment and financial stress at worst. A major contributor to the complexity is the range of different legal structures that have developed over time and which now exist together. The different structures are largely the product of the slow historical commercializati...

A retirement village is essentially a managed community for seniors, although the term is something of a misnomer because you don't necessarily have to be retired at all. Entry is generally restricted to people who are over 55 years of age or have retired from full-time employment, and their spouses. Each Australian State and Territory has enacted specific retirement villages legislation that defines what is and what is not a retirement village for the purposes of the legislation and regulates many aspects of the relationship between retirement village operators and their residents and prospective residents. Manufactured home villages for those over 50 and rental villages for those over 50 are also managed communities for seniors, even though they generally don't fall within the tech...