An event fee is a charge made by a landlord on the occurrence of
a specified event, for instance, if a tenant sells its lease.
Regular readers may remember that the Law Commission has been
looking at
event fees.
Why do retirement homes use event fees?
Retirement complexes often rely on a financial model which
charges event fees when resident dies (or moves out) and sells
their retirement home to an incoming tenant. This allows tenants to
pay a reduced price when they move in so that they have more cash
for themselves and for the retirement complex to recoup its costs
when the tenant dies or moves on. There was concern in the
government that this practice was open to abuse.
