A way of life that makes excellent financial sense

Naturally, when you are considering your next move - and probably down-sizing from a larger property - you want to be sure that the figures add up, and that you are making a sound long term financial decision.

So here, we briefly explain the cost of Audley living. Please don't hesitate to contact us, though, if you would like more detailed information on anything we mention below. Alternatively, you might like to read the attached article on the cost of delay which details the real experiences of a lady who bought and sold her property at Willicombe Park.

Protecting your biggest asset

The first and most important point to make about the financial implications of moving to an Audley retirement village is that, of course, you continue to own your home; retaining what is probably your most valuable asset, so that you can pass it on to your children, one day.

Audley properties are sold on a leasehold basis, which means you are able to enjoy the benefits of property ownership without many of the associated burdens, as we'll explain in a moment.

Making your finances simple

Broadly, our aim at Audley is to make life as simple and stress-free as possible for you - financially and in every other way. To that end, our charges and fees work as follows:

Your monthly management fee

Every month, you will receive a single invoice that covers all the ongoing costs of maintaining the exterior of your home, your Audley village and all the services provided (including your membership of the Audley Club). Find out more here.

The long term maintenance charge

What happens if your Audley retirement village needs major structural repairs at some time in the future? No need to worry, because the cost will covered by our long term maintenance charge - which is only payable if and when you come to sell your Audley home. Find out more here.

Reselling your Audley home

If you ever decide to sell your Audley home, you can be sure we will do everything in our power to help you achieve a quick sale at the best possible price, in return for a modest sales administration fee and commission. Find out more here.

Your monthly management fee

A single payment that covers almost everything

When you move to an Audley village, it’s usually because you’ve made a conscious decision to trade in all those home maintenance chores like ‘having to do the garden’ for a slightly easier way of life. At Audley, we make it easy for you to relax and enjoy yourself, while we do all the hard work, taking care of your investment. Everything from maintaining the exterior of your home to arranging your buildings insurance, from keeping the village clean and well-maintained to providing discreet but effective security.

All this - and more, as you can see below - is covered by your monthly management fee.

What's included?

Your monthly management fee will cover:

• Buildings insurance – for your property
• External maintenance of your property
• Professional garden and ground maintenance
• Regular clearing of roadways and footpaths
• Servicing of lifts
• Servicing of CCTV, emergency call system, intruder and smoke alarms
• Night Porter/security service
• First line homecarers and call line service 24 hours a day, seven days a week
• Night time removal of your refuse
• Window cleaning
• Preferential rates for food and beverage in restaurant/bar bistro
• Fully serviced guest suite at advantageous price
• Free inter-property telephone calls
• On site General Manager and Head of Care with supporting teams

What isn't included?

Water bills are not included in the monthly management fee. And you'll also continue to be responsible for your council tax, television licence and home contents insurance.

How much is the monthly management fee?

The monthly fee payable varies a little from one Audley village to another, depending on local factors. If you’d like exact details on a specific Audley village, please get in touch.

One other important thing for you to note: Audley residents have our firm undertaking that their monthly management fee will only increase once per year, in line with the Retail Prices Index. So you can be secure in the knowledge that there are no large and unexpected price rises lying in wait for you.

The long term maintenance charge

Your guarantee against future financial shocks

Your monthly management fee covers all the regular ongoing costs of running and maintaining your Audley retirement village. But what if, at some point in the future, expensive structural repairs or improvements became necessary?

It's a question that certainly needs to be considered, since very large sums could be involved. Resurfacing roadways, for example, could cost hundreds of thousands of pounds; re-roofing all properties might run into millions.

To relieve you of any worries on this point, we use a long term maintenance charge to build up a 'sinking fund' sufficient enough to cover the cost of any works required. So when you move in, you'll know that we will never come knocking on your door asking for further contributions to help meet unexpected costs. It protects your investment and gives you that extra peace of mind.

A 'charge' that costs nothing until you sell

How much will this valuable peace of mind cost you? Not a penny, until you come to sell your home. You pay the long term maintenance charge by contributing a small percentage of the sale price before you receive the proceeds. For an illustrative example of how this works please click here.

Reselling your Audley home

A smooth and easy sale at the best possible price

When the time comes to sell your home, you can leave everything to us, secure in the knowledge that we will do whatever is necessary to achieve a smooth, stress-free sale at the best possible price.

Marketing your home

By instructing us to market your home, you give yourself an important advantage. Because, unlike any conventional estate agent, we have a large database of people who have expressed an interest in our retirement villages, and long waiting-lists of those ready and eager to buy an Audley home.

So finding suitable prospective buyers should present no problem. And once buyers are interested, we will do everything you would normally expect an estate agent to do, such as arranging and conducting appointments to view your property.

Explaining the Audley concept

However our sales process is a great deal more complex than that. As you may remember from your own experience, the concept of Audley retirement village living is not always easy to grasp immediately. It may seem a bit ‘too good to be true’. Or people may have doubts about whether they would fit in.

So we leave nothing to chance. When we sell your home, we will explain everything to prospective buyers in exactly the same level of detail as we did when you moved in. That includes:

• Conducting a full tour of the village
• Detailed explanation of our services and offerings including the club facilities and associated activities
• Full explanation of the homecare care services available
• Assessments of prospective purchasers health and well-being
• Agreement and provision of appropriate homecare packages – where applicable
• Full explanation of the terms of the lease
• Assistance from our staff with packing, removals, utility transfers, an so on

Selling through Audley

When it comes to selling your property, the total charge is just 3% of the sale price achieved. This is made up as follows:

• A selling fee of 1% - covering our marketing costs, and payable only if the eventual purchaser buys as a direct result of our efforts
• A sales administration fee of 2% - which covers the comprehensive sales and explanation process described above.

Selling through an estate agent

Alternatively, you are welcome to instruct a local estate agent to sell your home. The company concerned will negotiate their own selling fee with you direct.

However, please note, you will still be required to pay our sales administration fee of 2%; since our staff will still be involved in introducing prospective buyers to the village, explaining the Audley retirement living concept, and making any necessary care arrangements.

At any point during the sale process, should you wish to switch from us to an agent, you are entirely free to do so.