Leasehold

All villas/apartments within our villages are held by way of a long-term lease granted by Living Choice or a wholly owned subsidiary (Living Choice is a public unlisted company). However, if you are still in occupation after the term of the lease, there is a clause in the lease that allows continuation of your residence right. New Living Choice leases are lifetime leases of 99 years.

The lease is registered with Land & Property Information (NSW) or the Department of Environment & Resource Management (Qld) to ensure the commitment of the operator to the village residents.

The major advantage for a resident in a Leasehold Title retirement village is that the operator has a long-term financial interest in the continuing success of the village. The operator is therefore obliged to achieve and maintain high standards in the provision of facilities and services to maximise the reputation of the village and ensure the resident’s and operator’s equity is maintained.

The operator of a leasehold village is the party bound to provide the services, facilities and maintenance. In a Strata Title village, the body corporate must enter into a service agreement with a management company for the maintenance and the provision of services. Problems can arise when the interests of the body corporate and the village are in conflict. You’ll have none of these problems under our arrangement.

The rights and obligations of residents are clearly set out in the lease, and cannot be changed without your consent. Strata Title residents are subject to the whims of the body corporate at the time, who may impose regulations or abrogate rights from time to time, which may be done with or without your consent.

Continuity of management is ensured by leasehold. However residents of a leasehold village need not be concerned with management issues and village infrastructure if they do not wish. A reason for entering a retirement village may be the desire for less involvement in domestic management.

Living Choice provides residents with a right to choose their agent of choice when it comes time to sell. A resident can use a licensed real estate agent of their choice or appoint LCA Sales Pty Ltd to ‘sell’ his or her residence right. The advantage of appointing LCA Sales is the company's intimate knowledge of the village, its workings and the documentation, and the fact that Living Choice supports a professional sales team working for LCA Sales Pty Ltd to specifically promote the sale of residents' homes.

A considerable saving on stamp duty is also achieved under a leasehold arrangement. No stamp duty is payable on leases in New South Wales and Queensland. By comparison, a unit costing $500,000 would attract stamp duty of about $18,000 under Strata Title in New South Wales and about $7000 in Queensland.

Generally, leasehold documentation is simpler than Strata Title. Security of tenure is guaranteed by registration of the leasehold interest at Land & Property Information (NSW) or the Department of Environment and Resource Management (Qld).

All in all, Leasehold Title is much more simple to apply and understand in comparison to other forms of tenure. The costs associated with Leasehold Title are less, which are reflected in the low management costs payable in the residents’ recurrent charges.