Monday 26 August 2024
MEDIA RELEASE
365-day assessment timeframe for most ACT retirement villages
A new report card reveals two thirds of retirement village development applications in the ACT take more than 365 days to be assessed, despite the state’s ageing population and housing supply crisis.
The Retirement Living Council (RLC) has released its national planning report card – called Retirement ready – which ranks state-based planning systems and recommends a suite of practical reforms.
The report card has been prepared together with leading national urban consultancy Urbis and has made the following key findings:
- 67 per cent of development applications for retirement villages take more than 12 months to receive a determination, while 23 per cent take more than two years.
- The ACT ranks third on the national leaderboard with a score of 50.9/100, trailing SA and NSW, but ahead of VIC, QLD, TAS and WA.
- The introduction of a developer licensing scheme requiring all property developers in the ACT to have licenses for building works is a major concern for industry.
In addition to key recommendations for all states – including the establishment of minimum land allocations for retirement communities and providing additional floor space and height bonuses – the report puts forward two recommendations to make the ACT’s planning system ‘retirement ready’ to provide more age-friendly housing supply for its ageing population:
- Develop a strong education program to explain how the new Territory Plan, Design Guides and technical specifications work and how they relate to retirement villages.
- Provide additional resources to the National Capital Design Review Panel and appropriate levels of support staff such that bookings for prescribed development receive an effective and efficient response.
Comments attributable to RLC Executive Director Daniel Gannon:
“We are in a race to house the nation, which means governments at all levels need to ensure they are ‘retirement ready’.
“We now 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.
“Given the ACT’s over-75s cohort will increase by 87 per cent over the next decade and a half and retirement villages are effectively operating at full capacity, this is alarming and unacceptable.
“Like the rest of the country, the ACT is ageing, housing supply is in deficit and the aged care sector is breaking under the weight of increasing demand.
“Governments are crying out for more housing supply while at the same time holding it back. You can’t make this stuff up.
“The implementation of developer licensing scheme in the ACT is a major concern for the retirement living sector, given it will simply be introducing more regulation into an already highly regulated sector.
“Operators already complete works to a safe and high standard in fulfilling their obligations to maintain quality villages, and as ongoing owners this quality safeguard measure would not serve the same purpose as it does for developers that build, sell and move on.
“More red tape and complexity won’t help build the homes that older Australians need, but they can dampen supply very easily.
“Given the proven benefits that age-friendly communities deliver for older Australians, governments should be throwing the kitchen sink at approving more of them – and fast.”
Comments attributable to Urbis Associate Director, Kylie Newcombe:
“Retirement living plays a crucial role in providing age-friendly housing, enabling older residents to remain integral parts of their communities.
“Planning is a critical enabler for delivering the housing that the retirement living sector provides for older Australians. However, a significant 70 per cent of the industry feels let down by the system, citing that authorities have a ‘poor’ understanding of retirement living.
“As our ageing population continues to grow, it’s more important than ever that retirement living is addressed in strategic plans and policies by state and local governments.
“A promising starting point could be setting explicit targets for retirement living, backed by a consistent set of controls and design guidance for application across the state.”
ENDS
Media contact: Joe Schwab | 0402 687 890 | [email protected]