“We’re not going away.”
That was the message at a recent public meeting held at Bupa Tararu, to discuss the ongoing ministerial review of the Retirement Villages Act 2003.
Brian Peat, the president of the Retirement Villages Residents Association of New Zealand (RVR), spoke at the March 27 meeting about the government’s proposed changes, which includes a repayment timeframe that the association said is “too slow, too flexible for operators, and mainly aimed at future residents”.
Brian encouraged the crowd of 50 retirees to continue lobbying for changes to the Act.
The review of the Act, which contains legislation overseeing the relationships between retirement village operators and their residents, began in 2023. At the time, the government received over 11,000 public submissions on the subject.
A cabinet paper issued in December, 2025, outlined the proposed changes for the Act.
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Development said it expected a bill with the proposed changes will be introduced to Parliament in mid-2026, with an opportunity for public submissions once it reaches a select committee.
While the RVR had a number of concerns about the proposed changes, it is focused on what it considers to be the largest issue: the timeframe for repayment of a resident’s capital once they vacate the village.
The proposed changes would see village operators required to repay capital within 12 months; currently the legislation does not mandate a timeframe for repayment.
Brian said the RVR wants to see this reduced to a maximum of three or four months.
He said the amended timeframe also needed to apply to existing residents.
“This is a major, major issue for us to address,” he said.
“That 12-month timeframe for repayment is completely unacceptable. And there’s more than 56,000 people that live in retirement villages at the moment. They will not see the benefit of this change if it goes through the current process.”
The RVR also wants to see the bill passed into law as soon as possible, Brian said, and he noted concerns that there could be delays in the legal process due to the upcoming elections later this year.
“The House rises on the seventh of August, and so the select committee has to have met and approved the processes by the end of July,” Brian said.
“So we sincerely hope it will happen, but we will just have to wait and see.”
A media release from the Retirement Villages Association (RVA), which represents the village operators, also called the government’s proposed changes “flawed”, but said the 12-month repayment period would burden operators.
“As it currently stands, the mandatory repayment period will, for some operators, push up costs for residents, slow down new development and the delivery of new care beds, and may force the closure of smaller regional and charitable villages,” the release said.
“That’s because the way the retirement village model works means funds are committed to debt repayment, infrastructure and services, not sitting idle… Forcing operators to repay residents or their estates before new funds come in will make the model more expensive and less sustainable.”
However, the RVA said it welcomed other proposed changes, such as clarity around chattels and a simplified complaints scheme.
Meanwhile, the RVR is preparing to ramp up lobbying efforts.
Residents at the meeting were provided with a “harassment pack” containing a freepost letter form addressed to Parliament, and suggested wording on what to write.
Brian said he had already handed out similar forms at more than 400 retirement villages across the country.
“I make no apologies for the demands we’re asking for in the review of this Act… you need that fairness and you need that protection because it’s not there now,” he told the crowd.
“Really, we have to focus on the repayment timeframe… we have to focus on the aspect that it must apply to existing residents.
“And we must see the review happen within 12 months. That’s all we’re really asking for.”
