Berkeley Living Serviced Apartments was a major focus of the intense spotlight placed on the retirement village sector in September, in particular by Fairfax Media and A Current Affair.
It marketed itself as ‘serviced apartments’ under the Retirement Villages Act.
“Berkeley Living provides the best in affordable, resort lifestyle options to the over 55’s in the bayside suburb of Melbourne”.
“We offer flexible accommodation options with tailored services to suit individual resident needs in their retirement”.
The physical scandal is that care staff were not being paid and even food was not being supplied, it is alleged.
Unlike most retirement villages, the individual apartments are owned by investors (seeking a rental return), not by a single retirement village operator.
Incoming residents ‘purchased’ leases in the development (for around $100,000). The financial scandal is that in approximately 30 cases when they left the community there was no refund of any amount.
The allegations point to the consulting manager Stephen Snowden, who denies any role.
It is apparent that the investors did not receive the lump sum cash either. After the media focus the Health Department and Consumer Affairs Victoria visited the site and now have hit the apartment owners with $500,000 worth of repairs and fines, particularly around fire regulations.
They in turn say they haven’t got that capital and so, as a body corporate, are closing the community effective 30 November when all utilities will have the switch flicked.
Consumer Affairs has moved 12 residents, many elderly and frail, and four still remain, with their fate unknown.
