Retirement village contracts, complaints system need reform: Minister Poto Williams

A Government minister wants a better complaints system so residents can air grievances and clearer contracts in the fast-growing multibillion-dollar retirement village sector.

Poto Williams, Associate Minister of Housing (Public Housing), says these aspects should be changed.

"There are some changes the industry could start to make themselves around strengthening the complaints processes and reviewing contracts to ensure residents are fairly treated," Williams told the Herald.

It was up to owner/operators of New Zealand's dozens of villages to act because the Government had "no immediate plans" to reform the law, she said.

Williams was commenting before the release of a report on submissions on a call for major changes in a whitepaper from the Commission For Financial Capability.

The commission received 3000 submissions when it said many aspects of villages should change to make it fairer for residents and beneficiaries of family estates.

Villages can keep charging weekly fees for months after residents die. They are not forced to repay a family estate or beneficiaries the money paid for a unit or bed once their relative has died. Nor are there any specific time constraints on these two aspects, which comes as a shock to some families, grieving after a relative's death.

Williams says the industry should move further to self-regulate.

Around June or July, Retirement Commissioner Jane Wrightson will release a report on the views of operators, residents, the industry and stakeholders including lawyers and statutory supervisors.<