Leaving a retirement village – information for non-registered interest holders

Before leaving a village

Before leaving a village, you may wish to meet with your operator for a contract check-up meeting. At the meeting, operators are required to provide a verbal and written summary of all of the costs involved as if you were to leave the village on a set date, based on the terms and conditions of your contract.

Are you a ‘non-registered interest holder'?

You are a non-registered interest holder if you have:

• a 'loan or licence’ type of tenure or
• a registered long-term lease under 50 years.

Loan or licence arrangements are mainly offered by non-profit organisations such as church or charity village operators.

This arrangement allows you to live in the unit, but you do not own it or have a registered interest in it. 

Selling your unit

When you permanently leave the village, the operator determines the sale price for your unit and all other aspects of the- sale of your unit.

You’re not required to pay any costs involved in selling your unit. These must be paid in full by the operator.

You’ll receive any refundable money within 14 days after your unit is re-sold or re-occupied.

If your unit is not re-sold or re-occupied, the operator must pay you your refund after 6 months from the date you move out unless your contract says otherwise.

Fees and charges

Departure fees

Also known as an ‘exit fee’ or ‘deferred management fee’, a departure fee is the amount you must pay when you permanently leave the village.

The fee is paid to the operator when a resident leaves the village and is usually deducted from your ingoing contribution. This payment is often a percentage of the ingoing fee, or the sale price.

This fee can be a significant amount: check your village contract for details!

Departure fees also allow for greater flexibility with entry prices, enabling prospective residents to pay a lower upfront payment by agreeing to an amount being kept by the operator when they leave. This provides more people with access to retirement villages.

Ongoing charges for general services

Ongoing charges for general services (also called ‘recurrent charges’) go towards the upkeep of the village (e.g. village administration, gardening and maintenance).

You only need to pay for these general services for a maximum of 42 days after you leave. This is cut short if a new resident moves in during this time.

If you (or your estate) fail to pay for any recurrent charges that are due, the operator can charge interest on the unpaid amount.

Ongoing charges for optional services

You stop paying these charges as soon as you permanently vacate.

Repairs and renovations

You’re only required to pay for repairs if a condition report was completed when you moved in. If one was, you must return the unit to the way it was when you moved in (as noted in the report).

You are only responsible for negligent, irresponsible or intentional actions that damaged the unit. You are not responsible for general wear and tear.

Some general examples:

If you leave during the ‘settling in’ period

The settling in period is the first 90 days of you living in your unit.

If you move out in the first 90 days, you don’t have to pay any departure fees, and you’re entitled to a refund of the ingoing contribution or the proceeds from the sale of the premises plus any recurrent charges paid under the contract.

The timing for payment of the refund depends on the type of village contract.