Member for the Dubbo electorate Dugald Saunders has welcomed the implementation of the next stage of the NSW Government’s comprehensive retirement village reforms aimed at reducing ‘bill shock’ for residents.
Mr Saunders has welcomed the reforms to the Retirement Villages Act 1999, which were introduced to increase accountability and transparency in the retirement village sector by seeking to reduce costs and uncertainty for residents.
“We have a significant number of people living in retirement villages which is why the NSW Government has embarked on these revolutionary new reforms to make life easier and fairer for them,” he said.
“These new reforms will protect residents in retirement villages, with retirement village operators being accountable for the costs of managing assets, including fixtures and fittings, so there will be no hidden surprises for residents.
“They follow earlier reforms that remove some financial and mental burden from residents, who now should receive what they are entitled to in a quicker and more streamlined process.
As of 1 July 2021, village operators are required to:
- prepare and keep up-to-date a 10-year asset management plan for the village’s major items of capital (including items shared with other villages or aged care businesses),
- record certain information in the asset management plan,
- prepare a three-year report for the maintenance of major items of capital (extracted from the asset management plan), and include it in the annual budget process, and
- make the asset management plan available for all current and prospective residents at reasonable times.
For more information on retirement village reforms visit the NSW Fair Trading website here: Changes to retirement village laws | NSW Fair Trading