Chatsford

A day in the life

What living here is actually like

Life at Chatsford revolves around choice and community.

40+ Weekly Activities & World-Class Amenities

From happy hours and movie nights to walking tours, quiz afternoons, and musical groups, there's always something to enjoy. The grounds offer peaceful gardens, pleasant walkways, and communal spaces perfect for entertaining friends.

✓ 20-metre indoor heated pool

✓ Full-size bowling green

✓ Mini golf course

✓ Fully equipped gymnasium with spa and sauna

✓ Pétanque court

✓ Communal BBQ area

✓ Happy hours, movie nights, walking tours, quiz afternoons

✓ Musical groups

✓ 40+ weekly activities

Now the practical part

The money — what comes back to your family

You've seen why you'd love it. This is the part most families only discover at the exit statement — so we put it in plain sight. Every figure is from the village's own filed Disclosure Statement.

Capital Back score

Above average · #113 of 520

Better than 78% of NZ villages — yet the market median is just 46. The sector is tough.

Deferred fee

~$10k on a $200k unit, over 5 years

Your share of capital gain

operator keeps 100% of any uplift

Time to get capital back

~88 days

median, from 35 recent resales

Fees after you leave

Continue

charged until the unit resells

If you live here for

7 years

Your estate receives

Operator keeps (deferred fee)$200,000

Share of your $200,000 back0%

Before you sign, get independent eyes on the contract.An ORA-review lawyer or independent financial adviser — never paid by any operator — checks what it really means for your family.

⚖ Get independent advice →

How the 55 is built

Nothing hidden — every component

The Capital Back score is a transparent weighting of five filed terms — you can see exactly where this village wins and loses.

Move-in fee you don't get back Deferred Management Fee — weighted 30%

5% deferred fee — lower is better.

Share of capital growth Capital gain to resident — weighted 15%

0% — the operator keeps any resale uplift.

Speed your capital returns Median resale time — weighted 30%

88 days across recent resales.

Fees stop when you leave Weekly fees on exit — weighted 15%

Fees continue until the unit resells.

Interest if repayment is slow Interest on delayed capital — weighted 10%

No interest on delayed repayment.

The filed terms, in plain English

What the Disclosure Statement actually says

Every operator uses different words for the same thing — we normalise them so you can compare like with like.

Deferred Management Fee

5% of $200,000 = ~$10,000

Accrues over your first 5 years, charged on the entry price.

Market: median 30%; only 16% of villages charge under 25%.

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Capital gain

0% to the resident

Any increase in the licence value at resale is kept entirely by the operator.

Market: just 8% of NZ villages share any capital gain.

⏱

How fast your capital comes back

~88 days median

Your capital is repaid once the unit is re-licensed to a new resident. (Operator-stated average: 75 days.)

Market: median 154 days; 21 villages still average over a year.

Fees & interest on exit

Watch this

Weekly fees continue until the unit resells.

Market: 220 of 520 villages keep charging weekly fees after you've gone.

Before you sign the ORA

The reckoning usually arrives too late

You're buying a licence to occupy, not the home — you can't sell, rent or borrow against it.
Roughly $10,000 is gone in deferred fees within 5 years, whatever the unit later sells for.
Your family carries the risk of how long resale takes — and the operator's ability to pay.
None of this is hidden — it's all in the Disclosure Statement most people sign without reading.

Have someone independent read it first

We'll connect you with a retirement-village review lawyer or independent financial adviser — no operator pays to be here.

Request an ORA review → Talk to a financial adviser

Life here

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