NSW retirement villages amendment bill introduced into Parliament
Following an extensive consultation process and detailed review of the Retirement Villages Act 1999, the Retirement Villages Amendment Bill 2008 was introduced to Parliament by Minister for Fair Trading, the Hon Linda Burney on 26 June 2008.
These law reforms will ensure that the rights of residents are better protected, and provide a solid and effective framework that allows the retirement village industry to develop and expand.
The Retirement Villages Amendment Bill 2008 includes:
- better pre-contractual disclosure to prospective residents
- the introduction of a 90-day settling in period for new residents
- cutting the maximum time residents must pay recurrent charges after they have moved out of a village from six months to six weeks
- streamlining procedures, removing red tape, and reducing the compliance burden on smaller, volunteer retirement village operators
- giving operators the flexibility to vary expenditure between budget line items, and make allowance for contingencies
- making operators responsible for budget deficits
- establishing a register of retirement villages
- a requirement for operators to carry out annual safety inspections
- giving residents rights in regard to alterations to the property
- a requirement that operators hold annual meetings with their residents
- reducing the number of proxies any resident may hold from five to two
- the introduction of a three-year cap on the time any one resident can hold a particular position on a residents’ committee
- better protection for the refund entitlements of residents, in the event of an operator’s financial collapse
- reforming the way capital repairs and replacements are funded by retirement villages.
The laws have not changed yet and the changes are not expected to occur until late 2008 or early 2009 at the earliest.
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