Commerce Commission investigating retirement villages
The Commerce Commission is launching an investigation into potential breaches of the Fair Trading Act by retirement villages.
The probe comes after a series of complaints, including from Consumer NZ and village residents, about what they claim are unfair contract clauses which can leave retirees significantly out of pocket.
A commission spokesperson on Wednesday confirmed it had received complaints relating to the industry and was beginning an investigation into whether there were any potential issues under the act.
I despise the retirement village industry.
It’s not just the business tactics that would make your average South American Drug Cartel blush, it’s the whole concept of shipping our elders off to a retirement village so they aren’t cluttering our family lifestyle.
I’ve always found the way we treat them as sickening, like they are a drag on our ability to consume so let’s remove them altogether.
We have to radically clamp down on the deplorable practices of these corporate retirement wankers who have enjoyed a deregulated industry for too long while actually finding affordable social housing for our elderly.
But it goes deeper than that because it also demands a different approach from us to our elderly relatives.
We have an obligation to look after them to keep them in our social field and include them in our family lives.
Moving mum and dad off to a corporate babysitter who doesn’t give a shit about them is a cold way to live a life.
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The industry largely exists because of the hard to ignore boomer population bubble, codgers living longer, and the medicalisation of aging. Plus, todays individualism leads to ‘me me me’ abandonment of family members in some cultures and ethnicities.
The industry strategy is to mercilessly rip older people.
Consumer is looking into the LTO rort (License to occupy). Occupants live in a glorified low security prison complex–hotel to put it more politely–that they do not own! They pay for the right to live there only–along with maintenance charges and monthly fees. All possible state and personal retirement funds are sucked into Ryman, Bupa or whoever’s shareholder coffers. And when people inevitably depart via death, the operators exercise a retention fee of typically around 30%. So any beneficiaries of wills are going to be rather disappointed perhaps that they shovelled mum and dad off to one of those lovely lifestyle retirements.
Most people go into these places willingly knowing the costs and pitfalls .For the children they value the security and peace of mind .For many aged people it is a haven from the worries of property maintenance and a chance to make new friends. The villages are growing so must be doing something right .
Be aware that many “boomers”, after a life of independence, don’t like to be reliant on the children. They still want independence. Now the retirement home industry is not the best but it fills a need for the independent “boomer”. That is if the children still actually live in new Zealand.
Another issue is the tiny shoe boxes that the state (for climate change reasons) calls medium and high density living. There is simply no room to cater for, possibly four, aging parents plus bring up a family. Those three story “townhouses” dont come with lifts to cater for those unable to climb the internal Mt Everest.
So regulate the sector, no worries. But don’t castigate those who have lived independently, to want to continue to do so and not be a burden on their children and grand children.
Days of a granny flat or tiny home in the backyard are gone. Hands up those who can accommodate their elderly in their current home?
On the street instead?
House prices have plummeted while the ORA entry cost for retirement villages have gone up – substantially.
Retirement Villages are fast becoming gated, private communities for the wealthy minority of retired people.
Increasingly an inequitable situation which, if it continues, they will become less secure places to live out one’s dotage.
I call them the gulag. I know of old people, male and female who have been coerced even bullied into the gulag by their avaricious offspring. On the other hand I’ve come across plenty of old singles and couples whose children have grown up, got qualified and gone overseas, married, settled and will never return. Can’t say I blame them. The parents see them and grandchildren perhaps for a few weeks every two years. Then health and other difficulties see the lonely elderly shuffling off to the gulag.
These pens for the elderly are full of cliques and gossip. Some oldies stay inside most of the time with the blinds down or curtains drawn.
Probably some people actually manage to enjoy their final days in this sort of institutional living. A close friend showed me the swimming pool one day. The only swimmer was an old gent cavorting rather oddly with his young grand daughter, but my friend and others try to get out and attend U3A groups and classes, walking groups etc.
The Covid years were very hard on the inmates. I know of instances which were truly appalling.
Some enterprising genuine investigative journalist needs to to a thorough report on all of this.
The subject is related to the history of the erosion of the idea of home buying and the acceptance of the idea of renting.
To be fair, a lot of older seniors need constant babysitting when prone to wander off and get lost with varying degrees of dementia, or bed ridden needing everything done for them. How can family babysit them when they have to be at work all day. It’s just not always practical unless someone is otherwise unemployed or perhaps works from home.
Agree 100% Martyn.
The retirement industry is abhorrent and allows to rip off elderly people who want peaceful last years.
The elderly should be able to buy and sell their retirements units on the open market and not be tied into a retirement home taking the profits in a monopoly situation.
In addition, too many abuses from staff on the elderly – preying on them. For example doctors/psychologists/lawyers/professionals are not allowed to develop other relationships with their patients because they are vulnerable but it seems nurses and supports staff are allowed to enter into relationships with the elderly and that abuse of a vulnerable person is ok!
It should not be allowed for anyone who looks after an elderly person to then get into a financial or other non professional relationship with them.
Time that laws that protect everyone are tightened up to protect the elderly from relationships and financial and other abuse that should not be allowed which are already in place for professionals but apparently not nursing/support/other staff etc for elderly!
We already have lawyers asking their jailed clients for loans! Standards are slipping everywhere in NZ!
Government have ignored the elderly and failed to protect them from people for example marrying their nurse/support worker at 80! If a doctor did it, they would be struck off – people are allowed to manipulate and defraud the elderly – while other vulnerable people are protected.
Although not that well, in many cases. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/immigration-marriage-and-dowry-scams-on-the-rise-says-charity/P7JVDQUH2Z6HWJHQNFEJGZ6MII/?c_id=1&objectid=12123831
NZ now seems to be a paradise for scammers both corporate and individuals flocking here to fleece others.
People are also living much longer, sometimes longer than they may want to, thanks to medical technology and the powerful pharmaceutical industry. Quality of life doesn’t necessarily improve with age; the dislocation of being uprooted, can also be a major stressor.
There are really good situations kinda like flatting for the elderly that they can afford on their pensions. In these cases 4-5 elderly residents live together in a room/ensuite and a support staff gives them dinner and does the cleaning. That is a really nice, low cost solution.
It feels like retirement villages sell them a luxury dream lifestyle that they can’t afford and is about making a profit not a long term affordable solution for more and more elderly that will not retire with enough money.
There is also another effect where younger people are not getting an inheritance that used to help people renting get on the property ladder in NZ or pay off their mortgages. That money is now going off shore to retirement shareholders, while current NZ taxpayers then have to subsidise more poorer NZer’s who just can’t get ahead.
Legalised crime.
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