Resident Insights

Insights from Residents


It is important for the Council to understand what residents want. Council members are all residents themselves and actively engage with other residents, including traveling nationwide to hear concerns firsthand, conducting regular surveys, reviewing research, and meeting frequently with stakeholders.


If you want a Council member to visit at your village, click HERE.

 

To ensure more understanding of what residents want, the Council has now appointed research company Talbot Mills to undertake research on Occupation Rights Agreements.

 

To take part in that survey, click HERE

 

Between September 2023 – May 2025, Council members visited over 30 villages of all sizes and types across the country, meeting with over 650 residents. They also collected resident responses through a survey collected in-person and online. The Council has received over 200 responses to surveys. The results from survey data are HERE.

Otago Daily Times - Council reflects reality of residents’ diverse views

2 February 2026
Oversimplifying village residents’ voices won’t deliver fair reform , Carol Shepherd, Spokesperson for the Retirement Villages' Residents' Council There is rarely a single legitimate voice for any large and diverse group of people. Retirement village residents are no exception. More than 50,000 New Zealanders live in retirement villages. They come from different backgrounds, have different financial circumstances, different health needs and very different expectations about ageing. It should surprise no-one that they do not all speak with one voice — nor should they be expected to. Much has been written recently about who represents residents and what residents want. In that debate, it is important to understand who the Retirement Villages’ Residents’ Council is — and, more importantly, what we hear directly from residents themselves. Read full article HERE

Our December Newsletter

10 December 2025
Our December Newsletter is available HERE . You can subscribe by emailing: info@residentscouncil.org.nz with the subject "Subscribe to Newsletter", we will then add you to our database for updates/newsletters.