Greater transparency through new retirement regulations

The new NSW Retirement Villages Regulation 2017 commenced today instilling transparency and consistency into the fee structure for retirement villages in NSW.

Part of the implementation of the Regulation will be the introduction of an online fee comparison tool to compare village pricing. The Property Council has been working closely on the design and implementation of this tool with NSW Fair Trading and is pleased with the outcome.

“The Property Council welcomes the introduction of the Regulation as it makes it simpler for potential retirement village residents to easily compare value offerings and supports the key changes to standard disclosure provisions for village fee structures,” Property Council NSW Executive Director Jane Fitzgerald said today.

“The Property Council recently released an eight-point plan for Australia’s retirement villages to deliver higher standards and clearer information about costs and contracts and this initiative from the NSW Government is entirely consistent with the plan.

“We would also like to see the establishment of a government-backed ombudsman to facilitate dispute resolution outside courts and ensure better outcomes for both residents and retirement village operators.

“We look forward to working with NSW Fair Trading further to refine the comparison tool and help grow the retirement villages sector.”