It’s always sunny and warm when the lawn bowls come out. The swimming pool looks inviting. The petunias are lush and brightly coloured. Afternoon teatime? Couple of club sandwiches for me, please.
This vision of perfect living may perhaps come close to reality on some occasions and for some residents of retirement villages around the country. And who can blame them for wanting to live in such comfortable surroundings? Everything certainly appears very nice on the ads (it always does).
However, not everything in the garden is lovely, despite the best efforts of the village gardeners to keep the dandelions at bay and the Onehunga weed out of the lawns.
Life in a retirement village is bookended by two quite different experiences.
Moving in is generally a positive event. It’s a decision independently made by retired people and their kin that now is the time to downsize, leave that draughty old family home behind, say goodbye to loneliness and enjoy something bright and new, with plenty of company and activities to keep them occupied.
The other bookend is grimmer but inevitable. The resident in the village dies and their family has to deal not just with their grief, but with the operator and the contractual obligations to keep paying weekly fees for the deceased’s unit until it has been sold.
The unfairness of the system, particularly the slowness for a family to receive money for the now-vacant unit and the requirement to continue pouring money into the village operators’ coffers until then, has prompted an overdue revision of the Retirement Villages Act.
These are issues which affect a great deal of New Zealanders, and increasingly more every year as our population continues to age.
Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka announced on Thursday that long-awaited changes to the Act, prompted by a review of the current law in 2023 by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, are now ready to go through the legislative process.
The main improvements include operators having to repay funds within 12 months of a unit being left vacant, that interest will accrue on what is owing after six months if it has yet to be resold and that, when a resident leaves, their weekly fees and deductions will stop immediately.
If passed, the law change will also introduce a much-needed independent complaints resolution scheme, which will help speed-up decisions and lower stress.
Unsurprisingly, the changes have been greeted positively by villagers, especially the Retirement Villages’ Residents’ Council. However, there are still some concerns, despite bringing more balance to the system.
Council spokeswoman Carol Shepherd said the group had wanted to see capital repayments made within six months rather than a year. Labour Party seniors’ spokeswoman Ingrid Leary has a Private Member’s Bill going further, advocating for those repayments within three months.
There were also concerns from the council that the changes would only apply to new, rather than existing, residential contracts. But Mr Potaka said "sanctity of contract" meant changes could not be applied retrospectively.
While residents welcome the proposals, operators, through the Retirement Villages Association, are not as happy. The changes come at a time when some smaller operators are already struggling to make ends meet, with significant financial and operational issues, drops in profit and share values, and having to manage high debt levels and cover expenses.
Executive director Michelle Palmer said the changes would not just burden operators but also risk derailing the government’s plan for more homes and care facilities.
Figures vary but there are around 60,000 Kiwis now living in retirement villages. That has risen by close to 20,000 residents in the past decade.
Our population is ageing rapidly, due to lower birth rates and longer life expectancy. About 17% of the country are 65 or older, and this cohort is expected to hit 1 million by 2029.
Getting the system right now is crucial to avoid major issues with finding homes for retirees just a few years down the road.
