If you’re a resident, or potential resident of a retirement village, or know someone who is, Te Tūāpapa Kura Kāinga - Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) wants to hear from you.

About 50,000 people live in retirement villages in NZ. However, the sector itself is no stranger to bad press, with reports of some villages charging weekly fees for months after residents pass away, not providing a share of capital gains on the sale of units, or not repaying people or their estates in a timely manner.

In December last year, HUD announced a review of the Retirement Villages Act 2003 - the set of laws that village operators must abide by – after prolonged calls from the likes of Consumer NZ, the Retirement Commissioner, and the Retirement Village Residents Association for an overhaul of the sector.

Now HUD has released a discussion paper proposing changes to the laws, regulations and codes governing retirement villages and is seeking feedback from interested parties, including residents.

The paper: The Retirement Villages Act 2003: options for change covers the three phases of retirement village life – moving in, living in, and moving out. The proposals likely to generate the most discussion include:

• replacing disclosure statements with new plain language documents,
• introducing a partially standardised occupation right agreement,
• requiring operators to pay for the maintenance and repair of any appliances, fixtures and fittings that are part of the unit (i.e. not resident-owned),
• improving the dispute resolution scheme,
• requiring more comprehensive information to be provided around the transfer within a village to aged residential care,
• stopping fees after a resident vacates a unit, and
• imposing timeframes for repaying a resident’s capital when they move out, and/or requiring an operator to pay interest if the repayment is not made after a certain time.

Nigel Matthews, chief executive of the Retirement Village Residents Association has lobbied hard for changes to the sector and was encouraged by the ministry’s recommendations.

“We’re very pleased with this as a starting point as well as the tenor of the proposals. This will offer better consumer protection, fairness and consistency within the sector,” he said.

Do you have a plan for your Retirement?

Retirement Commissioner Jane Wrightson urged people to share their views on the discussion paper.

“Retirement villages remain an attractive choice for some older New Zealanders, providing a sense of community and a quality option for those who wish to downsize. [The sector] is by no means broken. I acknowledge recent voluntary changes made by the industry itself. But the Act has not been reviewed in 20 years: it’s important for residents, their families and operators that sector-wide best practice is clearly set out in legislation. I encourage all interested parties to submit their feedback on the proposals put forward.”

Te Ara Ahunga Ora Retirement Commission proposed a review of retirement village legislation in December 2020 and released a white paper setting out issues around the retirement villages framework.

“I am really pleased to see the review progress to this consultation phase. The proposed changes tabled in the discussion document address many of the issues we have raised, along with important others,” the Retirement Commissioner said.

You can access HUD’s full discussion paper here or this shorter summary. Consultation closes on Monday 20 November 2023 and you can provide your feedback by email, post or by completing an online survey on HUD’s website.