This week’s discussion is around retirement village residents’ concerns over Budget increases.
The NSW Retirement Village Residents Association (RVRA) reports that the number of calls to its Members Enquiry Support line are increasing after many NSW retirement villages held their annual Budget Meetings during April/May.
The large rise in the annual variation of the CPI (Sydney All Groups) to 4.4% for the year ending 31 March 2022 took many by surprise, and it was not a pleasant surprise! Recurrent charges rose astronomically and Budget costs blew out.
Some villages are reporting that negotiations before the meeting failed and the residents voted to reject the Proposed Budget.
What happens if residents reject the Budget?
The RVRA tells The Donaldson Sisters that it is in everyone’s interests to resolve any issues before the budget meeting, so that the Proposed Budget is one that residents can consent to.
Otherwise, the issues have to be negotiated afterwards and then another meeting has to be held, or disagreements may even have to be taken to the Tribunal (the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal or NCAT).
After the Proposed Budget has been rejected, the Residents Committee (RC) or a resident elected by residents if there is no RC (Act Sch 1(4)) must advise Management in writing of the residents’ decision, and specify the items that were rejected (s 114 (4)).
If Management is not advised regarding the proposed recurrent charges or Annual Budget, then residents are taken to have refused consent (s 107 (3), 114(5)). Further negotiation is urgently needed. If no agreement can be reached, then Management can apply to the Tribunal (NCAT) for a ruling.
The Tribunal deals with these matters with as little formality as possible. Each party pays its own legal expenses if needed and the Tribunal only awards costs under special circumstances. The RVRA website provides links for finding out more details regarding Retirement Village legislation.
In addition, members can access Information Sheets including one, IS35, which outlines the functions of both the NSW Office of Fair Trading and NCAT.
Is it worth the time and energy to take a dispute to the Tribunal? If the dispute goes to the Tribunal, what happens in the interim? To find out more, check out the RVRA’s monthly Members’ Bulletin for June.
Learn more about the RVRA HERE.
