The decision to move into a retirement village must be seen more as a lifestyle choice for the long term rather than an investment decision.

What is a retirement village?

Retirement villages, residential parks, and over 55 strata complexes can look similar. However, they differ in:

• Ownership and occupancy arrangements
• Permanency of tenure
• Resident protections

A retirement village provides accommodation for people aged over 55 years of age or retired from full-time work. Some villages have extra benefits such as pools, libraries, medical services, meals and organised outings. Retirement villages are covered by the Retirement Villages Act 1992. 

You can check if a place is a retirement village by asking the village operator, Landgate or Consumer Protection.

Types of accommodation in a retirement village 

Retirement villages provide independent living accommodation for residents. The accommodation is designed for seniors and may include features such as handrails, and emergency call buttons.

Ownership and occupancy rights 

To move into a retirement village, you can:

• Lease/Licence –you have a long-term right to live in the premises, but never own it.
• Freehold title, which can be: 
  • strata title –you own a defined portion of land or building; or 
  • purple title – you are a co-owner in the whole retirement village.
• Rental – your agreement is covered by a retirement village residence contract. You will not be covered by residential tenancies laws. You may be eligible for Commonwealth Rent Assistance.

Important considerations

Ownership vs leasing 

Ownership of a unit (strata or purple title) comes with the extra expense of paying stamp duty with the purchase of the unit. Residents must also pay ongoing recurrent charges after they move out of their unit and until the unit is sold.  Otherwise, there is very little difference between owning a strata title unit or having a lease for life.

Moving into a village

You will be asked to sign a residence contract and pay a fee called an ingoing contribution. The ingoing contribution must be held in a trust account until you start living in the village. See more in moving in fees.

Living in a village 

You will also have to pay ongoing village recurrent charges, usually paid on a quarterly basis.  The recurrent charges will be used by the operator to maintain the village.

Leaving a village 

You may have to pay a significant amount of money when you leave a village. Leaving residents often pay a deferred management fee capped as a percentage of the ingoing contribution and usually dependent on how long they have been living at the village. See more in Leaving a village fees.

Retirement village legislation

• Retirement Villages Act
• Retirement Villages Regulations
• Fair Trading (Retirement Villages Code) Regulations 2022

Retirement villages with aged care

Retirement villages are different to residential aged care facilities. Some villages are connected to aged care, but living in the retirement village does not guarantee you entry into the aged care facility.

Aged care facilities operate under the Commonwealth Aged Care Act 1997. An eligibility assessment by Aged Care Assessment Teams (ACAT) is needed to access support services or enter aged care homes.

For more information about these costs, view our Leaving a retirement village page.

Residential parks

Residential parks are not the same as retirement villages. People moving into a residential park:

• do not pay an ingoing contribution
• rent the site and either own or rent their dwelling
• are covered by residential parks laws

More information is available from the Residential parks section.