Low income retirement village residents able to claim rates rebates

Friday, 23 August 2019

A study paid for by the Retirement Villages Association forecasts fast growth for the industry.

Around $2.5 million has been repaid to retirement villages in a rates rebate scheme, but less than half of those eligible have applied for a refund.

Thousands of village residents across the country have become eligible for the rebate this year after decades of being locked out of the scheme which provides relief to low-income pensioners in 1973 when the Rates Rebate Act came into effect.

The act helps those on low incomes who found it hard to find money for rates, but did not include residents of retirement villages, which were not common at the time.

Retirement Villages Association executive director John Collyns said retirement village residents paying rates via the village fee have been missing out.

* More old people choosing village life

* A lack of retirement villages may lead to people being taken advantage of**

'Retirement villages as we know them just didn't exist then. As time progressed they've become a more popular way to live and the omission became more and more inequitable,' he said.

The association believes that between 40 per cent and 50 per cent of village residents live only on a pension, and the rebate will be of particular benefit to them, Collyns said.

Bruce Hewitt, a resident of Summerset in the Orchard retirement village in Hastings, received a full rates rebate from the council.

Some 4275 applications were made to 44 councils for the rebate, around 13 per cent of the 32,200 retirement village units across the country.

Changes came about after MP Ruth Dyson introduced a private members amendment bill, which was passed in January last year. The first payments to village residents began in April this year.

Some 4275 applications were made to 44 councils across the country for the rebate, around 13 per cent of all retirement villages units. (File photo)

Bruce Hewitt, a resident of Summerset in the Orchard, in Hastings, said the rebate was a lot of money for a pensioner. The $660 came as a 'pleasant surprise'.

Hewitt said he was grateful for the assistance he got through the village to apply for the rebate and said it could be daunting for those that didn't have the help he had.

Grey Power national president Mac Welch said there were still a large number of eligible people that had not applied for the newly available rebate. (File photo)

However, he said before learning that he was eligible it had never occurred to him that he might have been missing out.

The association, along with Age Concern and Grey Power had lobbied for at least 15 years for the amendment.

Retirement Villages Association's John Collyns says that despite the rapid growth of village living, until now residents have been denied access to therebate scheme. (File photo)

Collyns said, however, that less than half of those eligible had applied for the rebate.

Grey Power national president, Mac Welch said the rebate could be a lifeline for those living solely on a pension and was surprised that it hadn't been taken up more widely by village residents.

'We've looked quite carefully at this and I've talked to a lot of people and the nearest I can come up with is that some people are not comfortable disclosing their income to a stranger,' he said.

Another Summerset in the Orchard resident, Mike Williams said it was 'dead easy' to apply and residents had been well informed about the change.

'For our generation there are a lot of people that don't like to ask for help,' he said.

Several councils where villages often tend to be older and more 'affordable' had a higher percentage of claimants than the national average.

In Ashburton, 40 per cent of retirement village residents claimed the rebate, 25 per cent in the Far North, 40 per cent in Horowhenua, 29 per cent in Marlborough, 30 per cent in Napier, 47 per cent in the South Waikato District, 31 per cent in New Plymouth, 45 per cent in Thames-Coromandel, and 40 per cent in Upper Hutt City.

Welch suggested for those that hadn't applied, their adult children could help.

'Encourage mum and dad and go with them down to the council office. We might have a better result.'