Australia’s third-largest village operator Stockland is currently building two villages in Sydney and Perth where residents pay all their costs upfront, but own the home and land and keep any capital gains when they sell – unlike the traditional village model where you ‘rent’ your home from the operator.
Under its ‘Aspire’ model, residents will still be charged the maintenance fees you would pay in a village, but would be able to sell the property whenever they liked with no exit fees (known as the Deferred Management Fee).
At their Sydney village, the houses will be priced at $650,000 to $840,000 – on par with what you would pay for the average house.
But residents will have access to the same community facilities that you would have in a village, including a clubhouse, heated pool and gym and entertainment areas.
Of course, this model will not suit everyone.
One of the main attractions of village life is that you can pay a smaller fee to enter the village and then have money in the bank to enjoy your retirement. You then pay a larger departure fee when you leave the village – covering your ‘rent’ for your time there.
The typical retirement village unit is also between 65 and 70 per cent less than the average house price – making it an affordable alternative for would-be downsizers.
But with predictions we will need another 100,000 homes in the next 20 years, one thing’s for sure – we will need more options like this.
You can find more retirement living options at villages.com.au.
