In May 2015, Aveo launched a new retirement village contract called ‘The Aveo Way’.

You can watch The Aveo Way Intro Video on YouTube here.

Here are the major points:

Deferred Management Fee

Your 35% DMF is incurred over your first 3 years in the village as follows:

Year 1: 7%
Year 2: 14%
Year 3: 14%

Monthly Village Fee

Your monthly village fee is charged according to the Retirement Villages Act. Aveo do not profit from this fee. However, Aveo are now subsidising these fees.

Retirement village operator, Aveo, has been accused of pressuring residents over redevelopment plans.

The village in question is a 75 villa retirement village in Free Street, Newmarket, Brisbane.

Aveo have started discussions with residents about their desire to replace the 75 villa retirement village with a 300 unit multi-storey development.

Willow Lodge

Simon Johanson, Property Editor for The Age, recently (3 March 2015) published an article in the Sydney Morning Herald entitled ‘Fee shock pushes pensioners to take on retirement industry’.

14 retirement village residents, aided by the Consumer Action Law Centre, are taking village operator Walter Elliott Holdings to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT).

You can read the article here: http://www.smh.com.

RETIREMENT VILLAGES MELBOURNE
How to get the best possible deal on a retirement village home in Melbourne and how to avoid making one common mistake that could cost you thousands!

Retirement Villages Melbourne is the most popular search in google when people search for retirement villages in a particular city or state.

RETIREMENT VILLAGE INDUSTRY

Recently, Alan Kohler, the ABC News Finance presenter, has weighed in on the retirement village industry debate.

He says “The Retirement Village industry is a booming national disgrace, with three very juicy rackets: deferred fees, ongoing fees that keep going when you die, etc…”.

Mary Wood, the Executive Director of the Retirement Living Council at the Property Council of Australia (formerly the RVA) has responded.

Retirement home in Bendigo considers changes to the way they assess whether people are able to live independently

The Bendigo Advertiser ran a story on Tuesday 4th June 2013 that highlights some issues, both positive and negative, for those living in, or planning to live in a retirement home.

An 87 year old man named Alan had only just moved into a retirement home with his wife, Evelyn.

Comparing Village Retirement Communities in Victoria is getting easier!
Village Retirement Communities in NSW

Last week retirementvillageinfo.com.au posted an article outlining some positive legislative changes that were happening in NSW. The article was entitled Retirement Villages Regulation (NSW). The basis of that article was that in October 2013 three new mandatory documents come into effect.

Retirement Villages Regulation in New South Wales has undergone some recent changes.

The Retirement Villages Regulation 2009 (NSW) has been changed  with the aim of making it easier for prospective purchasers of a retirement village home to compare costs and conditions between retirement villages.

By making these changes, the NSW government is acknowledging how complex retirement village contracts can be and how difficult it can be to be clear on the differences between retirement villages. This in turn makes it very difficult to make an informed decision.

Retirement village residents warned about scams that target Australia’s retirees by Minister for Fair Trading, Anthony Roberts

Last week, retirement villlage residents warned about scams at the Bracken House Retirement Village in Dubbo, New South Wales were treated to a visit from Anthony Roberts, the Minister for Fair Trading (http://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au) and Troy Grant, the Member for Dubbo (http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au).

STOCKLAND
Stockland released their strategic review under their new management team, headed by Mark Steinert, this week. Stockland are one of the three major retirement village operators in Australia. They have over 62 retirement villages under their management.

There had been speculation in previous weeks, including a report in The Australian newspaper on April 22nd 2013, suggesting that Stockland were planning to try and sell their retirement village holding. The article suggests that there holding is not financially profitable.