Residents and their families say they should be paid for any capital gains made while units are occupied. (file photo) Photo: Supplied
Retirement village operators and residents want clarity about the handling of repayments for unsold units.
The government has set out three priorities for its review of the Retirement Villages Act to protect consumers and balance the rights of operators and residents.
One priority is finding options for incentivising or requiring earlier capital repayments when residents move out, which has been a sore point for residents and operators.
When someone moves into a village they pay for the right to occupy a unit and when they leave that money is repaid to them or their family, minus a management fee.
But any repayment does not have to be made until the unit is resold. Residents think interest should be paid if the process takes too long.
Retirement Village Association executive director Michelle Palmer said around 75 percent of operators have made improvements under recent sector reforms.
"One of the key things is about relicensing vacant units as soon as possible. We've encouraged our members to also stop weekly fee requirements when people vacate a unit... and many of our members are paying interest on outstanding capital sums after nine months.
"There's also been a lot of work done around defining the chattels, repairs and the maintenance responsibility and ensuring that there's choice for residents coming into the villages."
Palmer said updating the law should bring all businesses up to standard, but the devil would be in the details.
When interest was paid on capital repayments, it would have be worked out carefully so it was a fair process for both operators and residents, she said.
Retirement Village Residents Association president Brian Peat said slow repayments were a burden for residents and families.
They should also be paid any capital gains made on the unit while it was occupied, he said.
"We would absolutely welcome some more intensive discussion with the operators to come up with a more satisfactory solution.
"If the operators can't pay it back in a certain time frame, then surely there should be some consideration of capital gains being applied and they should be releasing some sort of monies for estate purposes, for funeral expenses so that some funds are available."
The government said any amendment Bill updating the Act and implementing a code of practice would likely be introduced next parliamentary term.
Both retirement village residents and operators agreed that was too far away.
"As everyone probably knows, elderly people, we don't have time on our side and we would dearly like to see that time frame brought back substantially so that we can see things happening - and sooner, rather than later," said Peat.
The two other priorities for the government review were maintenance responsibilities and managing complaints.
