About the Village

Villas and townhouses will be sold under Occupation Right Agreement, sometimes referred to as Occupation Licence. It is important that anyone intending to purchase a villa in the Arrowtown Lifestyle Village fully understands the nature of the ownership of their home. This is covered in much more legal detail in the Occupation Right Agreement (ORA), but to summarise:

• When you buy a villa in Arrowtown Lifestyle Village, you sign an ORA.
• This gives you the right to live in your villa and enjoy the use of all the village facilities.
• The title to the land and building remains with the Arrowtown Lifestyle Village.
• The ORA does not carry any entitlement to capital gain when you move out and the villa is resold.

The ORA is the most common form of occupation and ownership in retirement villages in New Zealand. All villages are governed by the Retirement Villages Act 2003 and its regulations. The Act requires the appointment of a Statutory Supervisor whose role it is to protect the rights of the village residents, particularly so in the event of the village operator failing to honour its obligations under the Retirement Villages Act.

There is a lot of legal documentation around an ORA, all designed to protect you as a resident. It is important you ask your lawyer to review this and address any queries – most lawyers are familiar with this type of contract as it is typical in the retirement village industry. If your lawyer is not, please get him/her to contact us, and we can put them in touch with other lawyers who can run through it with them.

There are three types of payments that you will make to Arrowtown Lifestyle Village:

1. The Entry Price – this is the amount you pay for your villa.

2. The Weekly Fee – this fee is charged for each villa and covers your share of all the village costs – in effect similar to a body corporate charge. This includes:

• Rates
• Access to all community facilities
• Maintenance of your villa, including window cleaning
• Building insurance
• 24 hour emergency call response system
• Landscaping and garden maintenance, outside your villa and throughout the village
• Village management and operational expenses
• Maintenance and upkeep of the common facilities within the village.

3. Additional Services – as your needs change, you may wish to get more assistance and take up the offer of village-provided services delivered to your villa e.g. assistance with housekeeping, laundry, general living or meals. There will be a charge for these sorts of services. This can be discussed further with our Village Manager.

The only other costs you will have will be your normal personal living expenses e.g. food, power, gas, phone and internet, TV/Sky provider, and contents insurance. In our experience, many of these costs are lower than when you live in your own home e.g. power costs are lower as your home is new and very well insulated, and petrol costs are often lower as our residents enjoy more of the activities within the village.

The weekly will fee be fixed for the duration of time you spend in your villa or townhouse(unless you choose to pay for additional services such as care or housekeeping). Each year the weekly fee will be set for new residents who move in during that year. Residents of early stages will have a lower weekly fee than those who move into the village later. The Sales Manager can advise the current weekly fee.

When you leave the village, there are no hidden costs or additional “extras” that will surprise you.  The exit payment is a percentage of your original purchase price, calculated on a monthly basis at 7.5% per year for 4 years, to a maximum of 30%.

The Occupation Right Agreement can only be issued in the names of the resident/residents occupying the dwelling.  However, the funds used to purchase your villa can come from a Family Trust.  In this case, a separate Deed will be drawn up between the parties involved to legally identify where the funds came from, and where they are later to be distributed when your villa is sold.

Once you move in, we encourage you to enjoy your garden, and if you want to keep your fingers green we are more than happy for you to do this.

We have a wonderful landscape architect who plans each villa and townhouse garden, from an extensive range of hardy plants that thrive in the Arrowtown climate. Because we are responsible for maintaining the gardens around your villa or townhouse, we ask that you speak to us about any changes you would like to make to ensure they will be suitable. Depending on the extent of the changes, there may be additional costs for labour, plans and consultation with the landscape architect.

We understand the integral part pets can play in your family, so a small domestic animal is welcome to join you in your new villa, providing it is an adult animal suitable for village life and unlikely to disrupt neighbours. Unfortunately, pets are unsuitable for the townhouses. We would be pleased to discuss our pet policy with you.

No. The Occupation Rights Agreement can only be issued in the names of the resident/residents occupying the dwelling. To protect the village and other residents, your villa or townhouse cannot be rented out or occupied by others. Part of moving into a village is the peace of mind which comes from knowing who your neighbours are, and having confidence that the village will remain a pleasant and peaceful place to be.

Your personal security is also protected with strategically placed emergency call buttons in each villa that are monitored 24 hours a day.

The first step is to complete an Expression of Interest form for the village by making contact with our Sales Manager. Please call 03 442 1050 to arrange a meeting to discuss your requirements.

In terms of paying for a villa or townhouse, once you have reserved your home, a refundable $2,500 deposit will be payable. The balance isn’t due until the Settlement Date, which is once the villa or townhouse is completed and ready for occupation.

This will depend on the status of the villa you are purchasing i.e. it may already be complete or it may be under construction. We recommend listing your house with an agent three months prior to the expected settlement date for your villa. Our Sales Manager will discuss this with you in detail.