One major outcome of the Four Corners and Fairfax Media’s exposé of the retirement village sector last year was the acceleration of private operators introducing choice of contracts, from no Deferred Management Fee (DMF) with a loaded up-front fee, to part DMF and full DMF.

Not-for-profits such as Uniting have been offering this choice for some years whilst some operators are now fixing monthly fees for the lifetime of new residents as well, following the New Zealand model.

Interestingly, Lendlease reports that while they offer four contract choices, the traditional DMF contract is ultimately chosen by 80% of new residents.

Stockland also has trialled non-DMF villages under its Aspire brand, with two test villages launched, one in Sydney and one in Perth. This product would have been developed before the media reporting but is a strategic answer to potential concerns about the DMF. They have announced they are going to roll out more Aspire villages.