What is a deferred management fee in a retirement village?

In a typical New Zealand retirement-village Occupation Right Agreement (ORA) you hold a licence to occupy, not ownership. When you leave, the operator keeps a deferred management fee — commonly 20–30% of your capital — usually calculated on your original entry price and accruing over the first few years. At Elmbridge Mews there is no ORA and no deferred management fee: you own a fee simple home and keep your equity.

Can I get a mortgage on a fee simple home at Elmbridge Mews?

Yes. Elmbridge Mews homes are sold fee simple — a standard New Zealand residential title — so you can buy with a mortgage in the normal way and the bank registers it against the title like any suburban home. The site uses the term 'fee simple' rather than 'freehold' deliberately, because freehold can suggest a mortgage-free home; these homes are fully mortgageable.

How much more do you keep buying fee simple versus a retirement village?

As an illustrative example, on a home bought for $849,000 and lived in for ten years at 3.5% annual growth, a fee simple owner keeps about $1,160,000 on exit (open-market sale proceeds, capital gain included), while a typical retirement-village ORA returns about $594,000 (entry price back, less a deferred management fee of around 30%, with the capital gain kept by the operator) — a difference of roughly $566,000. Figures vary widely; Elmbridge Mews provides a calculator to set your own assumptions.

Do you keep the capital gain at Elmbridge Mews?

Yes. Elmbridge Mews homes are fee simple — your name is on the title at LINZ. When you sell on the open market, the capital gain is yours. In most village ORAs the operator retains the capital gain, so the resident never receives it.

How is buying fee simple different from a retirement village?

Fee simple means you own the land and the home, the same as buying in any Christchurch suburb. You can sell on the open market, pass it to family and keep the gains, with no licence-to-occupy, no deferred management fee and no exit penalty. The only condition at Elmbridge Mews is a registered age covenant that keeps the community 45-plus.

Our Difference · the numbers

See what you keep.

Owning your home outright versus the same money in a typical retirement-village licence-to-occupy. Move the sliders to your own numbers — the figures are illustrative and every assumption is editable.

These are your numbers — move any slider and the comparison updates live.

Purchase price $849,000

$

Years in your home 10 years

Annual capital growth 3.5%

Illustrative. Long-run Christchurch house-price growth has averaged in this range; set it to your own view.

What you keep — the difference

$0 stays with you and your family over 10 years, owning at Elmbridge Mews versus a licence-to-occupy village.

Own at Elmbridge Mews — you walk away with $0

Typical village (ORA) — you walk away with $0

Of that, $0 is capital gain a typical village keeps — the part most people are surprised by.

Every village is different — costs vary with the type and quality of the village: a standalone unit versus an apartment, and the amenities it provides. The figures here are a typical illustration; open Adjust the assumptions below to match a specific village's disclosure statement.

Adjust the assumptions & see the full breakdown

Village deferred management fee — cap (%)

Years the fee takes to reach its cap

Fee simple resale commission (%)

Fee simple resale legal fee ($)

Village keeps the capital gain

Your home's value when you sell	$0
Capital gain over the period	$0
Village deferred management fee (30% of entry price)	$0
Own at Elmbridge Mews — you keep	$0
Typical village — you keep	$0
The difference	$0

Ongoing weekly costs

Set these to your own numbers. The capital comparison above is the bigger story — this is a secondary view of week-to-week running costs.

Typical village

Village weekly fee $175/wk

$

Village ≈ $175/wk

Own at Elmbridge Mews (fee simple)

Council rates$3,500/yr

$

House insurance$2,500/yr

$

Maintenance$1,500/yr

$

Fee simple ≈ $135/wk ($7,500/yr)

Village fees over 10 years	$0
Fee simple outgoings over 10 years	$0
Difference over the period	$0 less owning fee simple

Illustrative defaults — village fees and fee simple outgoings vary widely. Set each to match a specific village's disclosure and your own rates/insurance.

Deferred management fee structures vary by operator and contract generation — the base (original vs resale price), the accrual schedule, and capital-gains treatment all differ. Adjust the assumptions above to match a specific village's disclosure statement. Sources for the defaults: Retirement Villages Association guidance and operator disclosure statements; long-run regional house-price data. We do not name or compare specific villages.

Download a copy of your comparison to keep — then come and see the homes for yourself.

Book a show-home visit

Indicative only. Not financial advice. Figures are illustrative and depend on the specific contract, village and market conditions. Seek independent legal and financial advice before making a decision.

A worked example

The difference, in round numbers.

Take a home bought for $849,000 and lived in for ten years, assuming 3.5% annual capital growth. All figures are illustrative — move the sliders above to set your own.

Fee simple — what you keep on exit: about $1,160,000. Your open-market sale proceeds after agent commission and legal costs, capital gain included.
A typical retirement-village ORA — what you keep: about $594,000. Your entry price back, less a deferred management fee of around 30%, with the capital gain retained by the operator.
The difference: roughly $566,000 stays with you and your family.

Week to week the two are closer than people expect — a typical village fee of around $175 per week versus roughly $144 per week in council rates, house insurance and maintenance on a fee simple home. The ownership gap above is where the real difference sits, not in the weekly outgoings.

Illustrative only, not financial advice or an offer. Deferred management fees, growth rates, village fees and ownership outgoings vary widely — set each figure to a specific village's disclosure and your own costs in the calculator above.

The mechanics

What a retirement village really costs you.

Most people don't see the financial mechanics until the small print.

You don't own anything

Under a standard Occupation Right Agreement you buy a licence to occupy, not the home. Your name doesn't go on the title — the operator's does.

The operator keeps a deferred management fee

Commonly 20–30% of your capital, taken when you leave — usually calculated on your original entry price and accrued over the first few years, whether you stay one year or twenty.

In most contracts, the operator keeps the capital gain

You get your entry price back (minus the fee). The growth in the property's value over the years you lived there goes to the operator, not to you or your family.

At Elmbridge Mews, none of that applies

Fee simple — you own the land and the home, sell on the open market, keep the capital gain, and pass it to your family. The only condition is a registered age covenant that keeps the community 45-plus. See our difference →