Retirement living mismatch
The majority of current retirement village dwellings do not match up to consumer preferences, according to a groundbreaking South Australian study.
Most older people are not attracted to the type of housing that is found in large numbers of retirement villages all over Australia.
A groundbreaking two-year study has found that the majority of older people would like to live in small clusters of single-storey houses that have two or three bedrooms and are well connected to the broader community.
Commissioned by South Australian provider ECH and conducted by Flinders University, the study involved over 1200 South Australians aged 50 years and over.
“Older age has until now been considered a time of withdrawal from mainstream society,” said Professor Andrew Beer who led the study.
“The 21st Century reality is at odds with this and the ‘new age’ of older people just won’t wear it. They will insist that their home enables their life, not burden it.
“They reject any notion that aged housing is a container into which older people retreat to live out their later years. They want their retirement home to be just like the home that they have now – a base from which they go out to engage their neighbourhood, their community and the world.”
More than a third of the older South Australians would prefer to live in clusters of ten or fewer dwellings, while 62 per cent would like to live in groups of 20 houses or less.
The study found that the current generation of older people does not have a strong desire for swimming pools and other sporting amenities but the baby boomers will.
Study participants said they wanted to remain close to local neighbourhoods so that they could continue to be connected with friends, family, health care services and public transport.
The report noted that while a number of older people find the prospect of a ‘seachange’ appealing, a much higher proportion are looking to maintain their existing community links.
It also uncovered the need for more flexible financing options for retirees with few assets.
While there is a growing number of 55-64 year-olds who are wealthier than previous generations, there is also a large number of low-income tenants who may be vulnerable.
Apart from any homes they owned, 71 per cent of participants aged 65 to 74 had less than $200,000 worth of assets. And four out of five people aged over 75 reported assets below this threshold.
“This is a critically important time for our industry,” said the CEO of ECH, Rob Hankin. “We need to respond to this research and look at ways we can fix current models to respond to emerging trends.”
“Around five per cent of the general population want to live in bigger villages and have community facilities and currently, about five per cent of older people do live in those villages.
“But the majority want to stay in small clusters in the neighbourhoods where they have lived for the last umpteen years so they can still go to the same hairdresser and the same doctor.”
Participants in the survey also highlighted environmentally sustainable features as a key priority.
ECH is keen to share the findings from the report with the retirement living sector and governments.
