Work needed to improve forms for retirements villages

Disclosure statements for retirement villages need to be simplified to make them more useful for intending residents, Building and Construction Minister Maurice Williamson says.

Mr Williamson's comments follow a three-month consultation period on the style and content of disclosure statements for retirement villages.

"Disclosure statements should provide the information intending residents need to decide whether they move into a retirement village," he says.

"Currently they carry a lot of complex information and many are similar to a legal document in appearance and content. That can be confusing and doesn't help intending residents to make informed decisions."

Mr Williamson says the fastest way to effect change is through education and assisting retirement village operators to improve the presentation of their disclosure statements.

"Intending residents and their advocates clearly want the information provided in disclosure statements, but they want it to be in a form that is easy to understand," he says.

"I have asked the Department of Building and Housing to work with operators to improve the structure and presentation of their disclosure statements."

Mr Williamson says he has not ruled out a law change on the requirements of the Retirement Villages Act but first wants to assess the impact of better information and support for operators. 

For more information, including a summary of the 128 submissions received on retirement village disclosure statements, visit: www.dbh.govt.nz/retirement-villages-summary-of-submissions