6Meaning of retirement village

1. In this Act, but subject to subsections (2) to (6), retirement village means the part of any property, building, or other premises that contains 2 or more residential units that provide, or are intended to provide, residential accommodation together with services or facilities, or both, predominantly for persons in their retirement, or persons in their retirement and their spouses or partners, or both, and for which the residents pay, or agree to pay, a capital sum as consideration and regardless of whether—

2. a resident's right of occupation of any residential unit is provided by way of freehold or leasehold title, crosslease title, unit title, lease, licence to occupy, residential tenancy, or other form of assurance, for life or any other term; or
3. the form of the consideration for that right is a lump sum payment or deduction, or a contribution or a payment in kind of any form, a periodic payment or deduction, or any combination of such payments or deductions, whether made before, during, or after occupancy; or
4. the consideration is actually paid or agreed to be paid by a particular resident or particular residents or on behalf of that resident or those residents, or by another person for the benefit of that resident or those residents; or
5. the resident makes an additional payment or periodical payment (for example, a service fee) for any services or facilities or access to such services or facilities; or
6. the services or facilities, or both, are provided by the owner of the property, building, or other premises, or by any other person under an arrangement with the operator of the village.

7. A retirement village includes any common areas and facilities to which residents of the retirement village have access under their occupation right agreements.

8. Despite subsections (1) and (2), if 1 or more of the residential units referred to in subsection (1) are located in a rest home or hospital care institution, the only parts of that rest home or hospital care institution that comprise, or are included in, the retirement village are—

9. the residential unit or units themselves; and
10. the common areas and facilities within the rest home or hospital care institution (if any) to which the resident or residents of the unit or units have access only by reason of their occupation right agreement.

11. For the avoidance of doubt, the following are not retirement villages for the purposes of this Act:

12. owner-occupied residential units registered under the Unit Titles Act 2010 or owner-occupied cross-lease residential units that in either case do not provide services or facilities to their occupants beyond those commonly provided by—
    1. similar residential units that are not intended to provide accommodation predominantly for retired people and their spouses or partners; or
    2. residential units occupied under tenancies to which the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 applies:
13. boarding houses, guest houses, or hostels:
14. halls of residence associated with educational institutions.

15. Whether or not a property or building is, or any other premises are, a retirement village must be determined according to the nature, substance, and economic effect of the operation of the property, building, or premises and other facts, and independently of its or their form or description in any document.

16. For the avoidance of doubt,—

17. a property, building, or other premises does not cease to be a retirement village by reason only that persons in their retirement cease to predominate amongst residents of the village:
18. a retirement village does not include any land or building that is under development as a retirement village, or as part of a retirement village, that is not occupied by any resident.

19. This section must be read in conjunction with section 103 (which authorises the making of regulations declaring specified property, buildings, or other premises, or property, buildings, or other premises of a specified class, to be or not to be a retirement village for the purposes of this Act).