If you or your parents are considering moving into a retirement village, you'll find that there are a few differences to buying a home on the open market. We've compiled ten of the most commonly asked legal questions about living in a lifestyle village.
In Australia, you'll generally find that villages have one of five types of contract for its residents:
You can read more about these retirement village contract types in this blog post.
Different villages have different names for this fee, but departure fees and deferred management fees both refer to the same thing. This fee is set up to cover any expenses (such as maintenance fees) that a village has had to pay during your stay. Each village has its own rate for its departure fee, but whatever it's set at it's a good idea to budget for this during your residency.
Find out more about retirement village departure fees here.
Insurance depends on the type of contract you have (see question one). In most cases, the village operator must have insurance to cover all the properties and in strata arrangements it is up to the owners' corporation to sort this out.
Fair Trading NSW prohibits village contracts requiring residents to have their own insurance, with the exception of insurance relating to wheelchairs.
In most villages, the residents will have their own committee that acts as a go-between for the operators and the residents. This, however, is not the case in strata villages where general meetings are called for residents.
There are two types of maintenance fees and pools in most villages. Residents generally pay ongoing maintenance fees (e.g. for lawn mowing and cleaning of communal areas) but the operators are also required to have a capital replacement fund that covers any large maintenance fees (such as replacing an old swimming pool).
Retirement and lifestyle villages are able to set their own minimum age for residents. This usually begins at 55, but some villages have a higher minimum age.
Your management agreement is a document that states if the operator or the resident is responsible for certain areas of the village. Who is responsible changes from village to village, but the management agreement should always include:
Details for each will be laid out, but you may want some legal help to clarify anything that you're unsure of.
You should always check the terms and conditions of each retirement village you're interested in, but as a general rule you should expect to pay:
As an owner, there is a long list of rights that you have. This includes autonomy in domestic, personal and financial affairs, to have requests for repairs responded to in a reasonable time and to live in a safe and secure setting.
A full list of rights can be found on page 20 of this Fair Trading NSW document.
After signing your contract, you have a minimum cooling off period of seven days, so long as you haven't moved into the property.
Moving into a retirement village has lots of considerations. Find out more about the entire process by downloading out ebook Downsizing your home: selling and downsizing tips for seniors or by calling 1300 327 826.