Model retirement village rules

Village rules may be made relating to the use, enjoyment, control and management of a retirement village, under the Retirement Villages Act 1999.

The rules may relate to (but are not limited to) any or all of the following:

• persons other than residents or employees of the village living in the village
• visitors, including overnight or short-stay guests
• the making of noise
• the parking of motor vehicles
• the disposal of rubbish
• the keeping of pets
• gardening and landscaping
• the use and operation of services or facilities (including restrictions on their use).

To provide assistance and guidance for retirement village operators and residents, NSW Fair Trading has prepared model rules for retirement villages and residents committees.

As retirement villages are not obliged to have village rules, none of the model rules are mandatory.

An operator may make village rules before the village is constructed or before there are any residents. If village rules are to be adopted or changed in an existing village, a meeting of the residents must be held. The residents’ consent, by special resolution, is required to adopt village rules or make any changes to existing rules.

Download the Model rules for retirement villages (Word size: 54kb)

The Retirement Villages Act enables residents to establish a residents committee to represent the interests of residents and facilitate communication between residents and the operator.

Residents committees are free to determine their own procedures. However, there are procedures set out in the legislation relating to meetings and consent of residents that resident committee members need to be familiar with.

Download the Model rules for retirement villages’ residents committees (Word size: 134kb)