Consumer NZ called recently for changes to be made to retirement village contracts. It reviewed the contracts offered by six major retirement village operators and concluded that some of the terms were unfair or unreasonable.
Retirement Villages Association chief executive John Collyns told media these contracts needed to be fair and unambiguous. We couldn’t agree more.
When you move into a retirement village you buy an Occupation Right Agreement to occupy your chosen accommodation. This gives you the right to live there but you don't own it. You have no ownership rights in the property or the chattels, they all belong to the operator.
Potential residents or their Powers of Attorney are required by law to have a legal advisor look at their retirement village contract before they move in. That's when we explain clearly what the resident is liable for under the terms of our contract.
For us, as a community-owned and operated retirement village with no international shareholders to keep happy, fairness is key. We agree with Consumer NZ that one-sided contracts, which unfairly favour a retirement village, are unacceptable.
Mr Collyns raised a good point. Retirees thinking about settling into a retirement village have choice and should factor into that choice the nature of the contracts they are asked to sign. Because all retirement villages are not created equal and many do not have the type of contracts that are of concern to Consumer NZ.
Consumer NZ pointed to examples of where residents have been held liable for electrical and plumbing repairs, or repairs to appliances and other items in their accommodation. Even though, under the terms of their contracts, they don't own them. That kind of thing doesn’t happen here.
Again as Mr Collyns said, we feel it is essential that retirement village contracts are clear about who pays for what, and what the boundaries are.
Residents here enjoy a flexible approach to the homes they occupy. Although we own the buildings our residents sometimes modify them to their own requirements. In most cases this is at their own cost but if we feel that the modification adds to the capital value, then we may fund it at our own discretion.
Our gardens are a differentiating feature of our village. As with our accommodation, we own the gardens. And while many operators insist on caring for their gardens themselves we recognise the joy and feeling of belonging they inspire in our residents. So we enable them to work alongside our gardeners in gardens of their choice, bringing their own flair and sparkle to these spaces.
The over-riding principle at Kerikeri Retirement Village is clear. This is home. And a place you have moved to for worry-free living. Fairness and decency mean that we won’t charge you extra for the little accidents of life.
