Documents and contracts for those involved in retirement village operations

By law, you must give the following documents to a prospective resident at least 21 days before you and the resident enter into the residence contract:

• Village comparison document (VCD)
• Prospective costs document (PCD)
• Residence contract
• the village by-laws
• any other required documents.

Village comparison document

You must provide a completed village comparison document (Form 3) (DOC, 262KB) to a prospective resident within 7 days of their initial request. The Village comparison document includes the following general information about the retirement village accommodation and costs:

• operator and management details
• age limits
• accommodation, facilities and services
• accommodation types
• access and design
• parking for residents and visitors
• planning and development
• facilities onsite at the village
• services
• security and emergency systems
• costs and financial management
• ongoing costs
• exit fees – when you leave the village
• re-instatement and renovation of the unit
• capital gain or losses
• exit entitlement
• financial management of the village
• financial management of the body corporate
• insurance
• living in the village
• visitors
• village by-laws and village rules
• resident input
• accreditation
• waiting list.

Prospective costs document

You must provide a completed prospective costs document (PCD) (Form 4) (DOC, 245KB) to a resident within 7 days when they request information about a specific unit in the retirement village.

This document must include:

• name, address and details of scheme operator
• type of unit and tenure of the unit
• car parking
• unit layout and access design features
• fixtures, fittings and furnishings
• encumbrances or endorsements on the village land
• ingoing contribution and other entry costs
• ongoing costs
• exit fee, reinstatement of unit and other exit costs- when you leave
• exit entitlement
• estimated resident exit entitlement when resident exits after 1, 2, 5 and 10 years of residence.

Residence contract

Before a resident signs a residence contract, you must have already supplied them with a VCD and a PCD and the village by-laws. You must give the resident a copy of the signed contract.

The residence contract must include:

• the start and end dates of the cooling-off period
• your right to withdraw the contract before the cooling-off period ends
• the ingoing contribution amount
• the exit fee payable under the contract
• the resident's exit entitlement
• the services charges, the amounts payable and when they are due
• the insurance for the retirement village, and insurance for which the resident is responsible
• any conditions on living in the village that the resident needs to be aware of and agree to
• the resident's right to resell their right to reside in the unit
• the resident's entitlement to audited and unaudited financial statements for the village
• the dispute resolution process
• the operator's and resident's rights to terminate the contract
• the funds the scheme operator is required to keep
• the retirement village facilities and land
• whether the operator and resident are to share in any capital gain or loss, and how it is to be shared
• any other matters prescribed by regulation.

The Retirement Villages Regulation 2018 may prescribe a term that must be included in a residence contract (a required term) or that must not be included in a residence contract (a prohibited term).

Penalties apply to operators who enter into residence contracts that are not in the approved form, do not include required terms or include prohibited terms.

Precontractual disclosure waiver

You must provide a VCD and PCD to a prospective resident at least 21 days before entering into a residence contract. The resident may choose to waive their disclosure time by filling out a precontractual disclosure waiver (Form 5) (PDF, 186KB). A prospective resident can only waive the precontractual disclosure period if they have received legal advice from a Queensland Lawyer. A Queensland lawyer is any qualified lawyer legally entitled to practise in Queensland.

Changes to documents

The VCD must be up to date and comply with the requirements of the Retirement Villages Act 1999. If there is a change, other than a minor change, in the PCD information or the VCD, you must inform the resident 21 days before the resident enters into the residence contract.

Cooling-off period

There is a 14-day cooling-off period, after both parties have signed the contract, should the resident change their mind. If the resident withdraws from the contract during the cooling-off period, you must immediately refund any ingoing contribution that has been paid.

If the cooling-off period's end date changes due to another contract or event, you must tell the resident, in writing, within 14 days of the resident signing the other contract or the event occurring.

Also consider...

• Read the Retirement Villages Act 1999.
• Complete the Retirement Villages – Application for registration as a retirement village scheme (Form 2) (PDF, 393KB) to register a retirement villages scheme.