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The Tides
photos: operator / Village Guide
Retirement living · Mangawhai Heads, Kaipara

The Tides

Metlifecare Retirement Villages Limited · Mangawhai Heads · brand-new coastal villas · independent living
Life Score
51
Good
Capital Back
32
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

The Tides is Mangawhai's first retirement village, set in one of Northland's most sought-after coastal towns. Designed as an all-villa community, it combines modern architecture with the relaxed Mangawhai lifestyle—close to beaches, cafés, local shops, and the golf course. Here, effortless living meets connection and calm, just 90 minutes from Auckland.

Your home

Living options

Villas

Brand-new, architecturally designed villas built for beach living. Each home features modern kitchens, quality appliances, warm natural finishes, double-glazing, ensuite bathrooms, underfloor heating, and seamless indoor-outdoor living with patios.

✓ Two-bedroom villas from $870,000
✓ Two-bedroom plus study villas
✓ Three-bedroom villas from $1,275,000
✓ 1.5–2 bathrooms
✓ Single garage
✓ Open-plan lounge & dining
✓ Energy-efficient appliances
Living options
A day in the life

What living here is actually like

The Tides is designed as a connected community with future shared spaces and village amenities.

Life by the Coast

Residents enjoy a lifestyle that feels like a natural extension of the Mangawhai community. With everything close at hand—local markets, beaches, golf course, boutiques, and everyday essentials—life here is effortlessly convenient and welcoming.

✓ Communal lounge (future stage)
✓ Indoor swimming pool (future stage)
✓ Gym (future stage)
✓ Café (future stage)
✓ Arts and crafts (future stage)
✓ Exercise classes (future stage)
✓ Movie nights (future stage)
✓ Card and board games (future stage)
✓ Bingo (future stage)
✓ Organised entertainment (future stage)
Always something on
On your doorstep

Facilities & services

Communal lounge
Indoor swimming pool
Gym
Café
Arts and crafts studio
Exercise classes
Movie nights
Card and board games
Bingo
Organised entertainment
Village van
24-hour emergency call system
Security patrols
Peace of mind

Care for life, on site

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

Independent
✓ Care home (future stage)
Care and community
Where it is

Setting & neighbourhood

The Tides is located in Mangawhai Heads, one of Northland's most sought-after coastal towns. The village sits in harmony with native kanuka and estuary surrounds, offering a fresh, modern lifestyle by the sea. Residents enjoy proximity to local cafés, shops, the golf course, beaches, and markets, with everything conveniently close by. The location is approximately 90 minutes from Auckland.

Interested?

Like the look of The Tides?

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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
32
Capital-unfriendly · #426 of 520
Better than 18% 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
—
not enough resales disclosed
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 32 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
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%
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.
✓

Fees & interest on exit

Resident-friendly

Weekly fees stop when you vacate.

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