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Will I own my retirement home?

Tuesday, 13 June 2023

When you buy into a retirement village, there are different ownership or tenure agreements to consider. Here, we explain what it means to ‘own’ your retirement home.

When you buy into a retirement village, you’re usually buying the exclusive right to reside in the home. 

The ownership of your property will depend on the arrangements available in your village and the type of contract you’ve agreed to. 

Usually, you’ll enter an agreement which could be a: 

  • Leasehold 
  • Strata title 
  • Purple title (applicable in Western Australia only)

Below, we explain the difference between these forms of tenure and related agreements. 

The sales manager at the village you’re interested in can explain in more detail and answer any questions about the specific home you’ve chosen. 

Leasehold 

Our most common agreement is a leasehold contract. This gives you the exclusive right to live in your home and most of our leasehold contracts offer a 99-year lease (unless you choose to enter into one of our short-term leases). With this model, the village operator owns the title to your home, but you have exclusive possession of your home and your right to reside remains in place even if a new owner buys the village. The lease agreement would usually also include a right to use communal areas and facilities of the village. 

With a leasehold contract, you’ll still pay an ingoing price and a monthly service fee during your occupation of the home. You’ll also pay any exit fees or other applicable fees, depending on the type of contract you choose.

Strata title 

In a strata titled village, you will be able to own the freehold title to your home. You will also own a share in the common property (if any) and as a lot owner you will also be a member of the body of strata lot owners/the owners corporation. There will be a manager of the strata scheme/owners corporation to manage the common property (this will either be the retirement village operator or an external third party). 

With a strata titled unit, you’ll still pay a purchase price on entry plus a monthly service fee (which will likely be in addition to a strata levy/owners corporation fee) during your occupation of the home. You’ll also pay any exit fees or other applicable fees, depending on the type of contract you choose. You will also be required to pay stamp duty and Titles Office registration fees when you purchase a strata unit. 

Purple title (Western Australia only)

If you buy into a purple title village, you will acquire an undivided share in the whole of the retirement village land as a co-owner with other residents and sometimes with the village operator. This means you do not own your residential unit, but rather have a residency right to your residential unit linked to your ownership of a share of the whole village land. Residents in this type of village would enter into a purchase contract to buy their undivided share in the village land. They will also enter into a residency deed whereby all of the co-owners grant to the resident the right to exclusive use of one of the units in the village linked to the resident’s undivided share in the village land. In this way, each can occupy a residence to the exclusion of the other co-owners of the village. 

With a purple titled unit, you’ll still pay a purchase price on entry plus a monthly service fee during your occupation of the home. You’ll also pay any exit fees or other applicable fees, depending on the type of contract you choose. You will also be required to pay stamp duty and Titles Office registration fees when you purchase a purple title share in the village. 

Explore your options 

There are different types of ownership and tenure agreements for different types of homes and villages. The best way to explore your options is to speak with the sales manager in the village you want to move to. 

No matter what the tenure is, you are always offered the protection of the Retirement Villages Act in the relevant State.

Whatever you choose, make sure you ask questions and understand your rights and obligations before signing your contract. We also recommend you seek legal and financial advice on the terms and conditions of your chosen contract type. 

For more information about the lifestyle and support offered at our retirement villages, call our customer service team on 1800 550 550. 

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