Retirement Village Residents Association president Rob Wilson. Photo / Michael Craig
Retirement Village Residents Association president Rob Wilson. Photo / Michael Craig
The results of a probe into retirement village residents' complaints and disputes with their owners and managers will be revealed next month and could lead to a shake-up of the system.
Jane Luscombe, external relations manager at the Commission for Financial Capability, said a study of major issues had been conducted.
That is expected to shine a light on the less rosy side of retirement village dwelling and examine a wide range of issues.
"There has been an extensive piece of research into the complaints and disputes processes among villages and the resulting report is due out next month," Luscombe said.
"It is helping us to understand further where the system is working and where it is not. Once we have the final report, the commission will be meeting with villages and residents to discuss what changes might be beneficial."
Retirement villages are some of the country's biggest property developers, rapidly expanding to keep pace with increasing demand as the population rapidly ages.
Ryman Healthcare, Oceania, Metlifecare and Summerset are some of the largest owner/managers with big expansion plans, including purchasing new sites and developing more buildings on their existing plots.
A JLL study showed there were 363 registered retirement villages, expansion was planned or under way at 75, with 5188 new village units planned, 1511 of which would be in Auckland.
Retirement commissioner Diane Maxwell said most managers and owners did a good job.
"Broadly, most operators do an excellent job of hearing and addressing residents' concerns and it's an area they recognise as key to running a successful village. However, we want to ensure that when things do go wrong for the resident, they have an avenue for being heard," Maxwell said.
"In my role as the commissioner I do get involved in individual cases from time to time, but there need to be robust and effective complaints and disputes processes in place, to ensure residents across New Zealand feel heard."
The Commission for Financial Capability - a state organisation - has a role in guarding the interests of 32,000 retirement village residents and Luscombe said it had beefed up resources.
Commission representative Troy Churton was at the inaugural annual meeting of the Retirement Village Residents Association in Hamilton last Wednesday, Luscombe said.
Churton is the commission's fulltime retirement villages programme strategy manager..
"We have put greater investment into this area," Luscombe said. "He will be playing a more active role on behalf of the commission with the villages and residents.
Jane Luscombe is the external relations manager at the Commission for Financial Capability. Photo / Chris Gorman
"He will be talking at the AGM about our education activities in this area, including a series of really popular seminars that he has been running for people considering moving to a retirement village."
The new association, headed by president Rob Wilson of Auckland, was established partly to get the law on retirement villages changed so residents have more rights.
Once we have the final report, the commission will be meeting with villages and residents to discuss what changes might be beneficial.
Wilson said the balance of power lay with the village owners but Luscombe said the law was already powerful.
"The act's primary purpose is to protect the interests of residents and those planning to move into a village. ... including compulsory registration of the villages, appointment of a statutory supervisor ... and a mandatory disclosure regime, requiring everyone to have independent legal advice before they sign up ..."
MBIE tracks illegal rest homes
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment has found illegal, unlicensed retirement villages operating in New Zealand.
Mandy McDonald, retirement village registrar, wrote to the new village residents association about the issue.
"The ministry has an ongoing programme to work to identify unregistered villages. Possible unregistered villages are brought to the registrar's attention in two ways: by ministry staff actively reviewing advertising and media and by referrals from the Retirement Villages Association and members of the public and their advisers," she wrote.
If the operator is unresponsive, the registrar appoints inspectors and gets a legal adviser to determine a village's status under the law, she said.
