No puppies, mandatory medical examinations and hard-to-understand financial consequences. Welcome to life inside some of Australia's retirement villages.
No pets without permission, no smoking in your own home, no visitors for more than a month and no garden decorations without consent.Welcome to life inside some of Australia's retirement villages , which hawk themselves as offering residents a worry-free life of independence, low maintenance and security.
When they leave, residents are usually entitled to a refund of what they paid to get in — minus what is called a "deferred management fee", plus a list of other charges including the cost of renovating the property.Helen McPhee signed a contract with Torrens Grove in 2020, when her doctor says she was suffering from cognitive decline.One contract seen by the ABC includes a complex mathematical formula to work out the exit fee that is based on seven different variables.
The code was introduced in 2020 but less than half of the sector has signed up to it and administrators haven't recorded a single breach by code members in the four-and-a-half years it's been in force. In a statement, RetireAustralia admitted the equation "may be complex for some" and was "granular in detail" but said it was the first time the issue had been raised with the company.
It said it was first told of her cognitive decline in June 2022 and at the time she bought the villa in 2020 "she drove herself, was articulate and asked considered questions about the purchase and process".Last financial year RetireAustralia, the owners of Torrens Grove, made a profit of $43.1m from its 29 villages on the eastern seaboard and in South Australia for its owners, ASX-listed company Infratil and the New Zealand Superannuation Fund.
In Colleen Green's case, her mother, a resident in the Tranquil Waters village at Victoria Point in Queensland, was told she would lose 79 per cent, or more than $300,000 out of the almost $384,000 she tipped into her villa in 2013.
For the Greens, Dr Kyng's calculation works out to her paying the equivalent of about $3,600 a month. Real estate listings show this is about $1,360 a month more than renting a nearby three-bedroom home in the same postcode and only $320 a month less than a five-bedroom luxury house, complete with pool and spa.
"It is important that consent to keep a cat or dog is obtained but permission is not unreasonably refused," it said. The woman, who asked that she and her village not be identified due to fears of retribution, alleged that clauses in these contracts were used to intimidate residents. He proceeded to recite potential breaches of the contract, including the maintenance and repair obligations, which required residents to "keep your premises clean, free from rubbish, well-maintained and in a state of good repair", as well as another section under which "we are obliged, and you are obliged, to provide a safe workplace for our staff".
This is backed up by a survey of NSW residents conducted by the Retirement Village Residents Association last year, in which almost a third of those surveyed said they had been patronised.One resident in a NSW retirement village said they made a complaint about dust and received a letter from management that they believed was a way to silence them.
One resident, who asked not to be named, said when management discovered a new auditor had been approved to do the accounts, they pushed back with a series of emails and a letter to residents that read: "For nearly 10 years we have enjoyed a harmonious village atmosphere which has made us extremely proud," then added: "Unfortunately it is disappointing to see some residents creating division of this peaceful environment.
"Our detailed objection to the initial resident proposed auditor was provided to all residents in full and after receiving this information our residents voted to approve a different auditor."It has admitted to underfunding the Coastal Waters village budget, near Nowra on the NSW South Coast, by more than $168,000 in 2020.
In a statement, Keyton said Lendlease paid the $168,593 to the village in December and had strengthened its accounting systems to make sure the problem didn't happen again.
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