In New South Wales as from 1 October 2013 operators of villages which are administered under the Act must use a prescribed form of contract when admitting new residents.

The aim of the new contract is to include more information upfront for residents covering:

  • whether the resident is acquiring an interest in land, a lease, a licence or some other type of interest in the village;
  • all the costs that the resident must pay to enter the village, to remain in the village and to leave the village;
  • whether or not the resident will share any 'capital gain' in the value of the 'apartment' or 'unit' realised during the period of occupancy;
  • whether a settle in period is available after which the resident could leave without penalty;
  • a clear indication of the types of services (for example podiatry, physiotherapy, hairdressing, occupational therapy) and facilities (for example common room, swimming pool, community bus, resident nurse, vital call, library) which are available;
  • if any building works or redecorating or alterations are to be done;
  • what maintenance is to be provided by the operator compared to what maintenance is to be done by the resident.

In addition to the new form of contract, the following two documents have also been prescribed:

  1. the general enquiry document which is a summary of village management matters; and
  2. the disclosure statement to replace the old form disclosure statement and to have a simpler layout.

The design of the new contract allows individual operators to add special clauses in a schedule at the end of the prescribed form. All operators should be reviewing their existing contracts and identifying any particular clauses they use which are not in the prescribed form and are compliant with the Act, so that they can be drafted for the annexure.

A link to NSW Fair Trading provided here takes you to the set of prescribed documents which are available on that website.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.