Te Ture, Waeture me ngā Tikanga Act, Regulations & Codes

The Retirement Villages Act 2003 and associated Codes and Regulations are inter-dependent, meaning an understanding of some provisions in one document requires reference to a number of other provisions in other documents too.

This Act codifies retirement village law in New Zealand. Every registered retirement village must comply with it.

The Act makes provision for:

• Registration of retirement villages

• Occupation right agreements between operators and residents

• The Code of Residents' Rights

• A complaints facility

• A disputes resolution process

• A code of practice

The Act also defines the role of the:

• Retirement Commissioner

• Statutory supervisors

• Registrar of Retirement Villages

Prescribe what must be included in key disclosure documents, occupation right agreements, registration requirements and deed of supervision arrangements with statutory supervisors. They complement Parts 2 and 3 of the Act.

Set out dispute panel appointment and hearing processes, and complement Part 4 of the Act.

Establish fees payable for registering a village and filing annual returns.

Amend the general regulations dealing with preparation, auditing and provision of financial statements for retirement villages and operators in line with the Financial reporting Act 2013.

This Code establishes minimum operating standards and procedures operators must comply with, including some occupation right agreement terms and different types of policies an operator must have. Schedule 5 of the Act sets out matters that must be included in the Code of Practice and given effect to in any occupation right agreement. The Code has been varied twice since first coming into effect. 

Read about the variations that came into force on 14 October 2013 and 1 April 2017 here.

This Code is part of the Act contained in Schedule 4. The Code is however identified as a separate document across the industry. It summarises basic rights given to every resident. Find out more here.