Betting the house

Retirement villages rely on a business model that deters many prospective buyers. With demand increasing as the population ages, clamour for reform is building. 

- PAUL LITTLE

The sunny faces of the smiling seniors you see on the ads for retirement villages are not stock images posed by models or actors. They are real people in real places playing real pétanque, according to Adam Yates, owner and chief executive of Karaka Pines Villages. "All the images you see on TV are genuine. People are genuinely excited and happy." Indeed, surveys show satisfaction levels among village residents consistently around the 90% mark.

"The camaraderie in the villages is second to none," says Yates. "When people have that environment, and they have all the maintenance and stuff looked after, and then just have freedom to enjoy their living, it's tremendous. I have no trouble saying you should move into a retirement village because they are just great places."

And yet, last year, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development - Te Tüāpapa Kura Kāinga launched the first review of the Retirement Village Act 2003. Its discussion paper identified 35 "issues" with the industry, along with suggestions for how they could be "addressed".

A ministry spokesperson said it is now assessing the submissions received on options for changing the act and will provide Housing Minister Chris Bishop with advice later this year. "The minister will need cabinet agreement for any policy changes ahead of an amendment bill being drafted, introduced into Parliament and referred to a select committee. A timeframe for this has not yet been confirmed."

It's possible many people now in retirement villages will not live to see the outcome.

VILLAGE VISITS

The village landscape is an increasingly diverse one from charitable establishments providing housing for the near indigent to the likes of the multimillion-dollar apartments in The Foundation [see "Show them the money", page 18]. And plenty in between.