Pipeline of seniors housing disrupted

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Pipeline of seniors housing disrupted

The Property Council is deeply concerned that politics, rather than planning considerations, are disrupting the delivery of seniors’ housing in Brisbane.

Today’s decision by Brisbane City Council to reverse its policy of allowing seniors housing developments to be co-located on private sport and recreation land, has been criticised by the retirement living industry.

“All sides of politics acknowledge that we have an ageing demographic and that we will need to provide suitable housing now and into the future,” said Ben Myers, Executive Director – Retirement Living at the Property Council of Australia.

“Prior to the Brisbane City Council incentives for retirement and aged care facilities being released, we were heading towards a significant shortfall for seniors’ accommodation.

“To date the incentives have been successful in creating a pipeline of projects for Brisbane that will assist in housing our ageing demographic.

“Retirement communities can extend people’s ability to live independently by five years on average, and allow for shorter hospital stays and a reduced need for GP visits, as shown in a report by Grant Thornton in 2014.

“This equates to more than $455 million in savings to health care and aged care systems in Queensland per year.

“We know that by 2025, the demand for retirement living accommodation for people aged over 65 is expected to double, to meet the housing needs of Queensland’s ageing population.

“With a significant number of projects proposed for sport and recreation land in Brisbane we are concerned that this pipeline will be significantly impacted,” Mr Myers said.

 

Some stats on Australia’s and Queensland’s ageing population – sourced from 2016 ABS Census:

  • 16 per cent of all Australians are aged 65 and over (up from 14 per cent in 2011)
  • The national increase in the 65 and over age cohort has been 664,0 people in the five years to 2016
  • 65 per cent of all people aged 65 and over live in “major urban areas”
  • 15.3 per cent of all Queenslanders are aged 65 and over (up from 12.4 per cent in 2011)
  • More than 304,000 Greater Brisbane residents are aged 65 and over (13.4% of the city’s total population)

 

Media contact: Andrew Lowcock | M 0447 666 902 | E [email protected]