One of Australia's largest property developers has been accused of raising fees and downgrading services at its retirement villages.

Key points: Current and former residents say services decreased and fees went up after Lendlease bought their villages

Current and former residents say services decreased and fees went up after Lendlease bought their villages Many retirees afraid of backlash in their villages for speaking out

Many retirees afraid of backlash in their villages for speaking out Consumer Affairs ministers meet this week and issue of retirement villages will be raised

Lendlease describes itself as "Australia's largest owner, operator and developer of senior living communities".

But current and former residents who have contacted the ABC say that after Lendlease bought their villages, services decreased, rules became more strict, and fees went up.

Most of them would only speak on condition of anonymity, afraid of a backlash in their villages if they spoke out.

One 85-year-old woman, who has been living in a retirement village on the Sunshine Coast since 2003, said services declined after Lendlease took over, but fees kept rising with inflation.

"It just increased every year but we didn't get so many facilities and help," she said.

The resident said when she first moved into the village, it employed a registered nurse as well as carers.

"If you were sick they would come at any time, it was a 24-hour service," she said.

"You could just press your buzzer and it would go straight to them and they would help.

"Now we have to ring triple-0 to get an ambulance."

Lendlease said in a statement that residents are consulted with and ultimately steer the decision on the services offered at a village level and the service fees reflect this.

It said it was always disappointed when its residents felt let down.

It said it had introduced a dedicated residents' hotline to manage issues, and was calling for retirement industry reform, including improved standards and increased transparency.

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Retirement village rules 'too restrictive'

The great-grandmother said there also used to be a full-time maintenance man in the village who would do odd jobs for the residents, but Lendlease stopped hiring him.

"There is what is called Home Assist and you can ring them up and they will do certain things in the house, and they don't charge you for their time, just for any parts, but usually you have wait two or three days to get them to come," she said.

The 85-year-old said she was now forced to do maintenance herself — including climbing up on chairs to replace lightbulbs.

She wants to leave, saying the rules and regulations of the village are too restrictive.

"We are told, 'we can do this' and, 'we can do that', and I would rather have my own house and be independent, more independent," she said.

The woman paid more than $290,000 to buy her lease in the village.

She has asked Lendlease about leaving but would have to pay an exit fee of nearly $85,000, plus $1,000 to cover Lendlease's legal costs.

She would also have to pay for her unit to be refurbished and pay a "general services charge", but said Lendlease did not tell her exactly how much that would be.

"I just can't afford it. I would lose about $100,000 if I left the village," she said.

'All they were worried about was money'

Ferne and Kenneth Fyfe said they had no control while living at a Lendlease retirement village. ( ABC News: Ruby Jones )

One couple who have managed to leave a Lendlease village are Ferne and Kenneth Fyfe.

When their retirement village in Bundaberg was taken over by Lendlease, they say the company imposed too many rules and restrictions.

"We could not hang a pot plant, we couldn't put up anything like a frame to put up plants and things, or anything like that," Ms Fyfe said.

"They had their own gardeners and they came round and chopped down anything they didn't like. I hated it because we had no control.

"It's the first time we'd ever felt like that because we'd always owned our own home and to suddenly find that we couldn't do the things we wanted to do — it was awful."

The Fyfes said Lendlease also increased their general service fee from about $300 a quarter to about $500 a quarter.

"All they were worried about was how much money they could make out of us, I think," Ms Fyfe said.

The Fyfes said they began to grow concerned as they saw how long it was taking some of their neighbours' units to sell.

"One unit in our street took five years to sell," she said.

"I was terrified that we would die and the kids would be left trying to sell the unit, and having all these legal battles with Lendlease and having to pay fees on it.

"That was really really worrying me because none of them were in a position to be able to do that."

The Fyfes found another retirement village nearer to their children in South Australia and sold their Bundaberg unit.

Their original contract said their exit fee would be a percentage of the money they invested at the beginning.

But Lendlease changed that, charging the couple a percentage of the amount the unit sold for.

"We worked out that in the end it cost us just over $100,000 because we had to pay exit fees," Ms Fyfe said.

"Then just to add insult to injury, just as we were about to leave to come down here [to South Australia], we got a bill from Lendlease for their legal fees for the sale and really … that was the last straw."

The Fyfes said their Lendlease unit ended up costing them more than $100,000. ( ABC News: Ruby Jones )

Another couple who live in the Fyfes' former retirement village came to the ABC separately with similar complaints, but they said they could not afford to leave.

Lendlease said in Queensland it had invested $21.5 million since it purchased some villages in 2013 out of receivership.

"This money was spent on improving quality-of-life amenities and to increase saleability and occupancy in the villages," it said.

Minister to raise issue of retirement villages with colleagues

Problems with retirement villages have been raised before.

A 2007 federal parliamentary inquiry into older people and the law recommended the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), together with state and territory Fair Trading offices, form a working party to examine the nature of retirement village contracts, with a view to improving consumer protection provision.

It recommended the working party review all aspects of exit and other fees associated with such contracts, including whether they should be abolished.

That review never happened.

Federal Liberal MP Tim Wilson said there was a case for the ACCC to review retirement village contracts.

"Looking at what best practice should be, to ensure that there are proper protections in place for people who may experience problems as a consequence of going into retirement villages, and making sure people are protected at a vulnerable stage of their life," he said.

The 2007 inquiry also recommended that federal, state and territory consumer affairs ministers consider appointing a statutory supervisor, such as an ombudsman or commissioner, so retirees have someone to investigate and resolve disputes.

There is a meeting of consumer affairs ministers in Melbourne on Thursday and Federal Small Business Minister Michael McCormack said he would raise the issue of retirement villages.

The industry has been under scrutiny since June when a joint Four Corners-Fairfax investigation revealed operator Aveo was stinging retirees with complicated contracts, oppressive rules and crippling fees.

Editor's note August 31, 2017: This story has been updated to correct an error. The original story quoted the Fyfes as saying their general service fee had been increased by Lendlease from $300 a month to $500 a month. The couple actually said their fees had increased from $300 a quarter to $500 a quarter.