Retirement villages and aged care

Lane Neave advises retirement village and aged care operators, developers, funders and investors across New Zealand. Our team brings together specialist property, corporate and regulatory expertise to support clients operating in one of the country’s most highly regulated and capital-intensive sectors.

We work with clients throughout the full lifecycle of retirement village and aged care projects – from site acquisition and development through to operation, compliance, investment and exit – providing commercially focused advice grounded in a strong understanding of sector-specific risk and regulation.

Our Expertise

Establishment, development and structuring
We advise on the acquisition, development and disposal of retirement village and aged care assets, including land acquisition, subdivisions, development structures and construction arrangements.

Our team supports clients through registration under the Retirement Villages Act 2003 and advises on regulatory requirements at each stage of development.

Resident documentation, settlements and regulatory compliance
We prepare, review and update Occupation Right Agreements, Disclosure Statements and Admission Agreements, and provide ongoing advice on compliance with the Retirement Villages Act, the Residential Care and Disability Support Services Act 2018 and related aged care legislation.

We support operators with the settlement of Occupation Right Agreements, resident exits and transfers in the ordinary course of village operations, as well as statutory supervisor engagement and responding to regulatory change.

Funding, investment and transactions
We advise funders and investors on due diligence, structuring, and security arrangements for retirement village and aged care investments.

Our experience includes mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, portfolio transactions, refinancing and succession planning for significant asset holdings.

Operational and risk management support
We provide ongoing legal support to operators on the day-to-day operation of retirement villages and aged care facilities, including employment, health and safety, privacy and dispute resolution matters.

Our Approach

We act as trusted advisers to our clients, delivering clear, plain-language advice informed by deep sector knowledge and strong commercial judgment.

Our integrated capability allows us to provide seamless support across complex projects and transactions, helping clients operate with confidence in a regulated and evolving environment while maintaining compliance and resident confidence.