Retirement village contracts explained

Deferred management fees, exit costs, and the difference between buying a home and buying a right to live in one, before you sign.

Retirement villages can be a great move, but the contracts are unlike buying an ordinary home, and the costs that matter most often land years later when you leave.

You are usually buying a right to occupy

In many villages you are not buying the property outright; you are buying a right to live there under a long-term lease or licence. That shapes everything that follows, including what you get back when you leave.

The deferred management fee

The biggest cost is usually the deferred management fee (sometimes called an exit fee), a percentage of the price that the operator keeps when you leave, often building up over the first few years you live there. Two villages with the same entry price can have very different exit costs.

Questions to take to the contract

What is the deferred management fee, how is it calculated, and what does it total after, say, five years?
Who pays for repairs, refurbishment, and reselling the unit when I leave?
What are the ongoing recurrent charges, and can they rise faster than my income?
How long might it take to get my exit entitlement back after I move out?

Get independent advice

Every state regulates retirement villages and most require a disclosure statement and a cooling-off period. Have a solicitor who knows retirement village law read the contract before you sign. It is the cheapest insurance you will buy.

Retirement village listings on Our Mate come from official state registers where available, with the verification date shown.