Registration requirements where residential units are located apart from Village facilities

A frequently-asked question is whether a number of different sites can be amalgamated together and termed a single village for the purposes of registration or compliance with the Retirement Villages Act.

The Retirement Villages Act 2003 (section 6(5)) says that whether a property is a retirement village

“Must be determined according to the nature, substance and economic effect of the operation of the property, building, or premises and other facts, and independently of its or their form or description in any document.”

Where there are units or residences in more than one location, you may register as a single retirement village if:

• the additional site or sites cannot be described as a "retirement village" under the Act in its own right (eg the additional site or site does not provide “services or facilities” in a single defined property boundary);
  
  AND
  
  the additional residential units:
  
  
• are within a reasonable geographical proximity of the main site, (where all or the majority of services and activities are located) ie in the same suburb, town or territorial authority
  
  AND
  
• are managed by the same people or person and other key staff (if any) for all facilities and services
  
  AND
  
• provide the same level of access to common facilities and services (set out in the Occupation Right Agreements) regardless of where the residents live
  
  AND
  
• provide or make available transport to and from the facilities and services for residents who do not live in walking distance to them.

If you can answer yes to all these questions, you will need to provide:

• this information in your disclosure statement at the time of registering your village
• evidence to support these questions
• a copy of your current occupation right agreement or licence to occupy to demonstrate that your residents and intending residents understand that they are entitled to use all of the services and facilities within the village, irrespective of where they live.

If the Registrar accepts your registration as a single village you must:

• provide your residents with a copy of the disclosure statement by 1 May 2008
• include this information in your advertising and any other promotional material that you give to intending residents