Major changes to the mandatory Asset Management Plan, the bane of life for all village managers, are planned by the NSW Government.
Fair Trading wants stakeholders to have a say on the proposed changes.
“The updates aim to improve transparency for residents and reduce unnecessary administrative work for operators,” states the department. The Weekly SOURCE reported in November last year Fair Trading Commissioner Natasha Mann told the NSW Property Council’s annual retirement forum it was changing the Asset Management Plan.
“We have heard that the current requirements have resulted in substantial financial costs, administrative burden for operators, and we have heard from some people that those costs are then passed on to residents. We've had resident advocates indicating that the information residents are given under the existing requirements can be overly complex and can be difficult to understand. That obviously is not what the intent of the of the obligation is,” she said at the forum.
“So, we really need in this regulatory review process to look at how we make that better.”
The key changes to the Regulation include:
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reducing the amount of information operators must record on the retirement villages asset register,
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requiring operators to prepare a 1-year capital maintenance report as part of the annual budget process, instead of a 3-year report, and
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requiring operators to record the ‘remaining effective life’ of capital items instead of ‘effective life’.
The proposed Regulation also seeks to clarify the laws and improve how they operate. It is seeking to ensure key information is disclosed in a form that is easier to understand and accessible.
Changes are described in detail in the Regulatory Impact Statement – Proposed Retirement Villages Regulation 2025 and Retirement Villages Regulation 2025 public consultation draft.
Have your say by 12 March 2025.
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