WA Retirement Village Rates Concession

Retirement Village Residents Can Get a Rebate

If you live in a retirement village, park home estate, or lifestyle community in Western Australia and hold a qualifying concession card, you may be entitled to a rates concession. The key requirement is a long-term lease agreement exceeding five years and a contractual obligation to pay the underlying council rates or water charges passed through by the village operator.

This covers most retirement village contracts where residents pay a share of the property's rates as part of their outgoings. The concession is not applied directly to a resident's personal account — instead, the administrative authority calculates the rebate and applies it against the bulk rates issued to the village operator, who is then required to pass the exact financial benefit through to the eligible resident.

How to Apply

You apply through the same Water Corporation Common Registration Service as any other ratepayer — online at watercorporation.com.au/concessions, by phone on 1300 659 951, or in person at your local council. You need your concession card, your lease contract (showing a term over five years), and evidence that you are responsible for paying the rates charges.

The village operator may already have a process for facilitating these applications. Ask your village manager whether concession registrations are handled centrally or whether you need to apply individually.

The Deferral Exclusion

This is the critical difference for retirement village residents: deferral is not available. Under section 43 of the Rates and Charges (Rebates and Deferments) Act 1992, rate deferral requires freehold title ownership. Leasehold residents — regardless of their card tier — cannot defer rates, ESL, or water charges.

This applies even to Tier 1 cardholders (Pensioner Concession Card, State Concession Card, or WASC+CSHC). You receive the rebate percentage, but you must pay the rebated balance by the due date.

Strata Title Owners

Standard residential strata lots with individual rate assessments are treated differently from retirement village leases. If you own a strata lot outright (freehold strata), you qualify for both the rebate and deferral on your individual rates assessment — the same as any other freehold owner.

Common property service charges levied through the strata body corporate are not directly rebated. Only the charges that appear on your individual rate notice qualify for the concession.

Park Homes and Lifestyle Villages

The five-year lease threshold applies here too. If your park home agreement is shorter than five years, it does not meet the long-term lease requirement for the pass-through rebate on rates. Check your contract term and talk to the Water Corporation about your specific arrangement.

For Seniors Housing Advisory Centre guidance on your housing arrangement, call 1300 30 40 54 (free, independent information from Consumer Protection WA).

Our WA Rates Concessions Guide includes a co-ownership and tenure matrix covering every housing type in Western Australia.

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