Lansdowne Park
photos: operator / Village Guide
Retirement living · Lansdowne, Masterton

Lansdowne Park

Lansdowne Developments Limited · Masterton · elevated hilltop setting with lake and mountain views · independent villas + serviced apartments + rest home & hospital care
Life Score
51
Good
Capital Back
60
the money ↓
See what life here is like — then weigh what it means for your family further down.
The village

Life here

Lansdowne Park sits proudly on Lansdowne Hill in Masterton's Wairarapa, offering what residents call the best retirement lifestyle in the region. With beautiful gardens, a spectacular lake, and views across to the Tararua Ranges, it's a setting that encourages individuality and connection. The Landing—a vibrant community hub with library, kitchen, bar, and multi-use spaces—sits beside the lake, while The Shed workshop lets creative residents make and build. Whether you're watching sunsets at the lookout, joining the residents' choir, or enjoying weekly croquet and petanque tournaments, life here is active, social, and genuinely warm.

Your home

Living options

Accommodation Options

Choose from architecturally designed independent villas, serviced apartments with daily assistance, or care rooms for higher support needs. All homes feature double glazing, full insulation, energy-efficient heat pumps, and internal access garages.

69 two and three-bedroom villas from $650,000
Serviced apartments with daily assistance
Care rooms (standard and premium options)
Double-glazed, fully insulated homes
Energy-efficient heat pump heating
Monitored medical and smoke alarms
Internal access garages
Living options
A day in the life

What living here is actually like

Lansdowne Park is famous for its active, engaging community life.

Activities & Community

The Landing serves as the heart of the village, hosting regular activities chosen and facilitated by the residents' committee. Water aerobics in the heated mineral pool, pilates and danzability classes keep residents fit. The community has its own choir, and weekly croquet and petanque tournaments are held in the grounds. Social gatherings, happy hours, and resident dinners are regular features.

Heated mineral swimming pool with water aerobics
Gym and exercise equipment
Pilates and danzability classes
Residents' bar and happy hours
Library and lounge with large screen TV
Table tennis and pool table
Croquet and petanque tournaments
Residents' workshop (The Shed)
Community choir
Hair salon
Van outings and activities
BBQ and entertaining areas
Piano
Cycling without age programme
Always something on
On your doorstep

Facilities & services

Community centre
Heated swimming pool
Spa pool
Gym and exercise equipment
Library
Residents' bar
Residents' kitchen
Residents' workshop (The Shed)
Hair salon
Table tennis
Pool table
Piano
Croquet lawn
Petanque court
BBQ and entertaining areas
Lounge with large screen TV
Medical alarm systems
Peace of mind

Care for life, on site

If your health changes, you won't have to leave the place you know. Lansdowne Park offers these levels of care on site:

IndependentServicedRest homeHospital
✓ Person-centred care · Holistic health and wellbeing support · Medical alarm monitoring · Respite care
Care and community
Where it is

Setting & neighbourhood

Lansdowne Park is located on Lansdowne Hill in Masterton, Wairarapa, with an elevated position offering spectacular views of the Tararua Ranges and a scenic lake. The village is handy to Masterton Golf Club and just five minutes from town, making it convenient for shopping and services. The Masterton Trails nearby offer walking opportunities to Murray Block Reserve. The setting combines rural beauty with easy access to town amenities, creating an ideal balance for active retirees.

Interested?

Like the look of Lansdowne Park?

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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
60
Above average · #45 of 520
Better than 91% of NZ villages — yet the market median is just 46. The sector is tough.
Deferred fee
30%
charged on your entry price
Your share of capital gain
0%
operator keeps 100% of any uplift
Time to get capital back
~119 days
median, from 17 recent resales
Fees after you leave
Stop
good — many villages keep charging
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 60 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%
30% deferred fee — lower is better.
25
Share of capital growth Capital gain to resident — weighted 15%
0% — the operator keeps any resale uplift.
0
Speed your capital returns Median resale time — weighted 30%
119 days across recent resales.
91
Fees stop when you leave Weekly fees on exit — weighted 15%
Charges end on vacancy.
100
Interest if repayment is slow Interest on delayed capital — weighted 10%
Interest is payable if capital is returned late.
100
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

30%

Accrues over your first 4 years, charged on the entry price.

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

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

~119 days median

Your capital is repaid once the unit is re-licensed to a new resident. (Operator-stated average: 150 days.)

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

Fees & interest on exit

Resident-friendly

Weekly fees stop when you vacate, and interest is payable if your capital is returned late.

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.
  • A large deferred fee is gone within a few 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