Plain English
Glossary
The words you’ll see on this site and in village contracts, explained simply. The official term is in brackets, so you’ll recognise it.
- Baseline
- Pin one village as your baseline and the others are shown as differences from it, such as “about $18,000 less over 8 years”.
- Capital fund contribution
- A contribution some villages take when you leave, for long-term repairs and replacements around the village.
- Each month, all in
- Everything you pay over your stay (the price to move in, every monthly fee and the leaving charges) minus what you get back when you leave, spread evenly over the months you live there.
- Exit fee
- An amount the village keeps from your move-in price when you leave. It usually grows each year you stay, up to a limit (sometimes called a deferred management fee, or DMF).
- Full cost, including both
- The money you pay plus what your money could have earned elsewhere. This is the fairest way to compare villages with very different move-in prices.
- Homeowner or non-homeowner (Age Pension)
- Centrelink treats you as a homeowner if your move-in price is above a set limit. Your move-in price then isn’t counted in the assets test, but Rent Assistance isn’t paid on the fees.
- Housing with eligibility rules
- Lower-cost places with entry rules, for example for people on lower incomes. You may need to meet income or asset limits. They’re left out of results unless you choose to include them.
- How long you might stay
- Costs depend a lot on how long you live there, because the exit fee grows each year. We assume about 8 years for one person and 11 for a couple. You can change it.
- Land lease community
- You buy your home but rent the land it sits on, paying a weekly site fee. Different laws apply, and the money works differently from a retirement village.
- Money you pay
- The money that actually leaves your pocket: the price to move in, entry fees, monthly fees and leaving charges, minus what you get back.
- Monthly fee
- The regular fee for running the village: gardens, staff, insurance and upkeep (the contract may call it the general services charge or recurrent charge). We show it per month, and add council rates or water where you pay them on top.
- Price position
- Villages often publish a range of prices. We start with the lowest, so you see what entry looks like; you can switch to the middle or highest price.
- Price to move in
- What you pay to move in (your contract may call it the ingoing contribution, entry payment or loan). Most of it usually comes back when you leave, less the exit fee and other leaving charges.
- Reinstatement
- Returning the unit to the condition it was in when you moved in, allowing for fair wear. Some contracts make you pay for this when you leave.
- Renovation when you leave
- Updating the unit before it’s sold to the next resident. State laws limit when you can be asked to share the cost.
- Rent Assistance
- An extra Centrelink payment to help with rent or similar fees. In a village it can usually only be paid if you’re treated as a non-homeowner, or in a land lease community.
- Waiting to be paid out
- After you leave, it can take months to get your money back, usually until the next resident moves in. The law in each state sets a latest date.
- What you get back
- The money paid to you when you leave: your move-in price, less the exit fee and other leaving charges, plus your share of any rise in the unit’s value if your contract gives you one.
- What your money could have earned elsewhere
- While your move-in money is in the village, it can’t earn interest elsewhere. This is what it might have earned at the rate you choose (sometimes called forgone return or opportunity cost). It isn’t a bill, but it is a real cost of choosing a village, so we show it separately.
- Where a figure comes from
- Every figure is labelled with its source: the village’s own documents, a government register, the village website or a for-sale listing. Official documents are the firmest.