Urgent action needed on retirement housing

Streamlined planning can boost retirement housing supply, says Retirement Living Council.

The Retirement Living Council is calling on governments to streamline planning systems to increase housing supply amid a worrying decline in confidence in age-friendly construction activities.

The latest Procore/Property Council Survey shows that confidence in retirement construction activity has plummeted to its lowest level since December 2022, with capital growth expectations also experiencing a downturn in the September quarter.

RLC executive director Daniel Gannon highlighted that, despite the survey indicating housing supply and affordability as the most critical issues for federal and state governments, excessive red tape is stifling development enthusiasm.

Daniel Gannon

“We know that 67 per cent of retirement village development applications take more than 365 days to complete assessment, while 23 per cent take more than 730 days,” Mr Gannon said.

“This is alarming and unacceptable, with governments crying out for more housing supply on one hand, while seemingly holding it back at the same time.”

Mr Gannon noted that the survey reflected a strong sentiment for construction activity within the retirement living industry compared to other sectors, outperforming residential, office, industrial and retail combined.

“While the latest report plots a confidence downturn for a sector that already faces hurdles when it comes to developing new communities, the retirement industry still remains a beacon of positivity compared to other markets,” he said.

With the number of Australians over the age of 75 projected to increase by 85 per cent by 2040, Mr Gannon emphasised the importance of retirement villages in addressing the associated challenges related to housing and health.

“Retirement village residents are 20 per cent less likely to require hospitalisation after only nine months living in one of these communities, which leads to 14,000 avoided annual hospitalisations across Australia,” he said. “Compared to people in the broader community, residents are also 41 per cent happier, 15 per cent more physically active, five times more socially active, twice as likely to catch up with family or friends and have reduced levels of depression and loneliness.”

These communities are minimising interactions older Australians have with GPs and hospitals, thereby delaying entry into taxpayer-funded aged care and saving the government $945 million annually as a result.

In response to the current situation, the RLC has put forward several policy recommendations. These include:

  • establishing minimum land allocations for the development of retirement communities in under-supplied areas
  • offering significant zoning or development bonuses to incentivise the development of retirement villages
  • encouraging state governments to set clear policies for increasing age-friendly developments through specific targets in strategic regional and metropolitan plans
  • planning authorities should work with industry to identify high-need locations and ageing hot spots.

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Tags: daniel gannon, housing, retirement living council,

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