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Life 58Capital Back 29⚖ Get independent advice
Richmond Villas
photos: operator / Village Guide
Retirement living · Thames, Thames Coromandel

Richmond Villas

Richmond Villas Limited · Thames township · independent apartments and garden villas with sea and mountain views
Life Score
58
Good
Capital Back
29
the money ↓
See what life here is like — then weigh what it means for your family further down.
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The village

Life here

Nestled in Thames on the Coromandel Peninsula, Richmond Villas offers a warm, socially vibrant retirement lifestyle. Residents choose between modern apartments with panoramic views or north-facing garden villas with garages and private patios. Life here revolves around an active social calendar—from happy hours and line dancing to arts, crafts, and regular outings—creating a genuine sense of belonging in a close-knit community.

Your home

Living options

Homes

Two distinct home types designed for comfort and independence

✓ One and two-bedroom apartments in three-story blocks with sea or mountain views and private balconies
✓ Two-bedroom north-facing garden villas with well-appointed kitchens, open-plan living, private patios, non-slip bathrooms, internal single garages, and some with dens
Living options
A day in the life

What living here is actually like

Richmond Villas cultivates an engaged, active community

Social Life & Activities

A year-round calendar of fun and festivities keeps residents connected and entertained. From fitness and wellness to creative pursuits and social outings, there's always something happening.

✓ Happy hours and bar
✓ Line dancing and choir lessons
✓ Exercise classes
✓ Arts and crafts
✓ Cards, board games, and billiards
✓ Indoor bowls
✓ Shopping trips and social outings
✓ Communal lounges for gathering
Always something on
On your doorstep

Facilities & services

Community Lodge
Indoor swimming pool
Gym
Library
Spa
Games room
Hair Salon
Dining Room
Kitchen Facilities
Communal lounges
Village van
24-hour security camera surveillance
Peace of mind

Care for life, on site

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

Independent
Care and community
Where it is

Setting & neighbourhood

Richmond Villas is located at 82 Richmond Street in Thames, a charming township on the Coromandel Peninsula. The village sits in the heart of the community, offering residents easy access to local amenities while enjoying stunning views towards the sea and surrounding mountain ranges. The setting combines small-town character with modern retirement living.

Interested?

Like the look of Richmond Villas?

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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
29
Capital-unfriendly · #448 of 520
Better than 14% 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
~260 days
median, from 5 recent resales
Fees after you leave
Continue
charged until the unit resells
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 29 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%
260 days across recent resales.
70
Fees stop when you leave Weekly fees on exit — weighted 15%
Fees continue until the unit resells.
0
Interest if repayment is slow Interest on delayed capital — weighted 10%
No interest on delayed repayment.
0
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 3 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

~260 days median

Your capital is repaid once the unit is re-licensed to a new resident. (Operator-stated average: 248 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.
  • 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