Retirement village or land-lease community: how they really differ

From the street, a retirement village and a land-lease community can look much alike: neat single-level homes, a clubhouse, a pool or bowling green, and neighbours at a similar stage of life. Both are marketed with words like “lifestyle” and “over-50s”. Underneath, they are quite different arrangements.

A retirement village runs under each state’s Retirement Villages Act. A land-lease community runs under a different law: in Queensland, where they’re called residential parks, the Manufactured Homes (Residential Parks) Act 2003; in NSW, the Residential (Land Lease) Communities Act 2013. The law changes what you buy, what you pay and what happens when you leave.

Neither is better in general. Each suits different people and different budgets. And staying in your own home, perhaps with some help coming in, is a full and respectable answer too. This guide sets out the differences plainly so the choice is easier to weigh.

In a retirement village, most people don’t buy the home outright. They pay an entry payment (called an ingoing contribution in Queensland) for the right to live there under a lease or licence. In the industry’s 2025 census, almost nine in ten villages across Australia used leases or licences, and only a few per cent were strata title, where the home itself is bought. Some villages also rent homes. The type of contract changes your rights when you leave.

In a land-lease community, you buy and own the home, but not the land under it. You sign a site agreement with the operator, which is a lease of the site and the right to use the shared facilities. Because the land isn’t included, the home usually costs less than a similar house nearby.

Stamp duty is different too. In Queensland, there’s no stamp duty on a village lease or licence, and buying a manufactured home in a residential park to live in can be exempt, though the exemption must be claimed. In NSW, there’s no duty on a village lease. Strata homes in a village attract duty in the usual way in both states. For other cases, a solicitor can confirm.

Village residents pay a regular fee for running the village. In Queensland it’s called a general services charge, kept in a separate fund that can only be used for general services, and residents also pay into a maintenance reserve fund. Rises above inflation (CPI) need residents’ agreement, except for things like rates, insurance and award wage rises. In NSW it’s called a recurrent charge. It rises by a formula in the contract or by notice, and rises above inflation that aren’t set by formula need residents’ agreement or a tribunal order.

Land-lease residents pay site fees, called site rent in Queensland, for as long as they live there. In Queensland, yearly rises are capped at CPI or 3.5%, whichever is higher, with limited exceptions for special cost increases that need home owners’ agreement or a tribunal order. In NSW, the site agreement sets either a fixed method, such as CPI or a set percentage, or a notice method with 60 days’ notice, no more than once a year, which can be challenged at the tribunal if excessive. There’s no percentage cap in NSW.

Rent Assistance is one real difference. People on the Age Pension or another eligible payment may get Rent Assistance towards land-lease site fees, because the land isn’t owned. In a village, it depends on the size of the entry payment: above a set amount, residents are treated as homeowners and Rent Assistance usually isn’t paid, and most village entry payments are above it. Services Australia publishes the current amounts.

In most village contracts, an exit fee (also called a deferred management fee or departure fee) builds up over the years of living there, often faster early on, up to a cap. It’s usually paid from the money that comes back. Some villages offer other choices, such as paying some of it up front. Depending on the contract, any rise in the home’s value may be kept, shared or kept by the operator. In Queensland, residents pay to return the home to its move-in condition, fair wear and tear aside. In NSW, residents on contracts since 2000 don’t pay for refurbishment.

In most villages the operator resells the right to live in the home, and the law limits how long the money can take. In Queensland, it’s generally due within 18 months of leaving at the latest, and the operator must buy freehold homes that haven’t sold by then. In NSW, on loan, licence and shorter-lease contracts, the refund is due within 6 months of handing back the home at the latest.

In a land-lease community, you sell your own home, usually where it sits, at a price you set. The buyer signs a site agreement with the operator, and site fees usually keep running until the home sells. In Queensland, the law bans the park owner charging fees connected with selling, other than a capped commission if they sell it for you under a signed selling authority. Homes the park supplied can join a buyback scheme if they don’t sell. In NSW, the operator can’t insist on being the agent, and must not unreasonably refuse a buyer. Some NSW agreements include a “sharing arrangement”, such as a share of the sale price or gain, or deferred site fees. A rent-only option must be offered, and sharing arrangements made since 25 September 2024 can’t include a fixed exit fee. Older agreements may still have exit fees.

Villages more often have help close by. Many have a manager on site at set times, an emergency call system, and extra services such as meals or cleaning for a fee. In Queensland, the Village Comparison Document says when the manager is available, what safety and emergency equipment is kept, and what home care the operator can provide.

Land-lease communities generally don’t provide care or staff to help residents. Some have a manager on site and some offer an emergency call service. Residents look after themselves, the same as in a house.

In both, people can generally get government-funded help at home through Support at Home or the Commonwealth Home Support Programme, the same way they could in their own house. Neither is aged care. Some villages sit next to an aged care home, but it runs under a separate law, the Aged Care Act 2024, with its own assessment, contract and fees. It doesn’t guarantee a place, and in Queensland the operator must state that it can’t reserve aged care places for residents. If a move to aged care comes, the village exit terms still apply.

Each law requires set documents before signing, and a cooling-off period after.

• Queensland villages: a Village Comparison Document, and a Prospective Costs Document for the chosen home, at least 21 days before signing (shorter only with a waiver and a Queensland lawyer’s advice). 14 days’ cooling-off after signing.
• Queensland residential parks: a park comparison document, a home owners information document and the proposed site agreement, at least 21 days before signing (as little as 7 with a waiver and a lawyer’s advice). 7 days’ cooling-off, or 28 days if the documents were late.
• NSW villages: a general inquiry document early on, and a disclosure statement and the contract at least 14 days before signing. 7 business days’ cooling-off, which ends if you move in, then a 90-day settling-in period.
• NSW land-lease communities: a disclosure statement at least 14 days before signing. 14 days’ cooling-off, which ends if you move in or place a home on the site.

These are broad patterns, not rules. Plenty of people don’t fit them, and the right answer depends on health, money, family and what matters most.

• A village may suit someone who wants help close by, a manager on site, an emergency call system and services they can add as needs change.
• A village may suit someone happy to pay less up front in exchange for an exit fee later.
• Land lease may suit someone who is well, looks after themselves, and wants to own their home and sell it themselves.
• Land lease may suit someone on the Age Pension who may get Rent Assistance towards site fees.
• Either may not suit someone who needs a lot of care now. Help at home, or an aged care home, may fit better.
• Staying put may suit someone whose home still works for them, with help coming in when needed.

A plain summary. Contracts and communities vary, so the official documents for each place are what count.

• What you buy. Village: usually the right to live there under a lease or licence; sometimes strata. Land lease: the home, on rented land.
• Entry cost. Village: an entry payment, often below a nearby house. Land lease: the home’s price, often below a nearby house.
• Ongoing cost. Village: general services charge (Qld) or recurrent charge (NSW). Land lease: site rent (Qld) or site fees (NSW).
• Fee rises. Village: Qld above CPI needs residents’ agreement, with exceptions; NSW by formula or notice. Land lease: Qld capped at CPI or 3.5%; NSW set by the agreement, no cap.
• Rent Assistance. Village: usually not, unless the entry payment was small. Land lease: often yes, for people on eligible payments.
• Leaving costs. Village: usually an exit fee, plus other agreed costs. Land lease: Qld no sale fees except a capped commission; NSW depends on the agreement.
• Selling. Village: usually the operator resells, with legal time limits on paying you. Land lease: you sell, and fees run until it sells.
• Care. Village: often help close by and extra services. Land lease: generally none. Neither is aged care.
• The law. Village: Retirement Villages Act 1999 (Qld or NSW). Land lease: Manufactured Homes (Residential Parks) Act 2003 (Qld) or Residential (Land Lease) Communities Act 2013 (NSW).