Villages can help resolve national housing crisis
Governments are slowly recognising retirement living can be a solution to both housing and ageing population issues.
When Australians enter a retirement village, they are doing so for a variety of reasons. More often than not they’re interested in the significant benefits retirement communities afford in terms of health, happiness, and the opportunity to forge new and broader social connections compared to living independently.
Currently, there are around 250,000 Australians living in 2500 retirement villages nationwide and when I speak to Keyton residents the number one thing they tell me is it’s the best decision they’ve made in their life and they wish they had made it earlier.
They’re more active and busier than they’ve ever been and have a group of friends who look after them and they feel safe and secure.
Yet despite the many positive stories coming out of retirement living communities they’re expensive to build and the cost is growing exponentially. Moreover, in many of the areas where there is a demand for retirement communities that cost to build is almost prohibitive.
Bearing this in mind, there’s going to be a group of local government areas in need of retirement communities where it doesn’t financially stack up for retirement living operators to develop a village.
It’s a problem we’d love to find a solution for, as there are investors keen on developing villages but they also need to see a return on their investment.
While there’s no silver bullet to solving this conundrum, there is some potential for the retirement living sector to expand while also assisting government at all levels to alleviate the nation’s housing shortage.
For starters, the federal government last year announced its target of building 1.2 million new homes by 2029. The start date for this scheme was July 1 this year.
It’s an ambitious target but the federal government has provided an incentive to work quickly by committing $3.5 billion in payments to state, territory and local governments to support the delivery of new homes towards the National Housing Accord’s 1.2 million new homes target. The inclusion of retirement village units in the National Housing Accord’s target is an extra incentive for state governments as most villages average around 100 units. For state and local governments looking to maximise their share of the Commonwealth’s largesse, a development of over 100 units translates into a solid investment from the government.
Importantly, retirement communities provide a lot more community facilities than most residential developments, which is an attraction to state and local governments.
Moreover, research released last year by the Retirement Living Council highlighted that retirement village residents are 41 per cent happier, 19 per cent less likely to require hospitalisation after only nine months, 15 per cent more physically active, five times more socially active, and have reduced levels of depression and loneliness.
Creating communities where people can age in place while living healthier, more connected lives helps governments save money as the nation’s population ages by reducing demand for health services and delaying entry into aged care.
Taking this into account, the government needs to recognise retirement living is an available solution to the housing and ageing population challenges Australia is facing; and they are slowly coming around to this idea. There are a few more things they could do such as enabling us to get through planning a lot faster than what has historically been the case.
Finally, they could provide some concessions around designating land for retirement living, only because when the sector competes with residential developers, the highest density residential developers usually come out on top.
The upshot of this would be the creation of more diverse local communities featuring a broader mix of dwellings that includes residential, retirement living and social housing.
Nathan Cockerill is Chief Executive Officer of Keyton
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Community living provides healthier outcomes for longer
Research shows people living in a retirement village are happier and more physically active, and it translates into better health outcomes with reduced levels of depression and loneliness.
Social connections and vibrancy of village ensure an enjoyable life
The facilities in the larger villages such as the pools and community centres help drive social connection. the challenge for retirement villages is maintaining that connection.