Unlocking home equity can support Canberra s ageing population

Unlocking home equity can support Canberra’s ageing populationA new proposal from the Property Council of Australia, Unlocking home equity for seniors, could save the federal budget billions each year, unlock ‘idling capacity’ in our housing market and ensure older Canberrans can ‘age in place’.New data from Grant Thornton, commissioned by the Property Council, finds that the 184,000 older Australians currently living in retirement villages save the federal budget $2.16 billion a year. The report also finds the number of seniors wanting to live in retirement villages will double by 2025, up to 382,000 nationally. The Property Council of Australia’s ACT Executive Director, Catherine Carter, says that roughly one in ten Canberrans are now 65 years and over – and this is expected to double by 2025. “More older Australians living longer is something to be celebrated but it also presents some challenges, including pressure on the federal health and aged care budgets. Removing the disincentive for pensioners to downsize from their existing homes is a smart solution,” Ms Carter says.PwC has estimated that tightly targeted aged pension reforms, enabling certain pensioners to downsize without a financial penalty, would save the federal government $86 million per annum if those people choose to move to a retirement community.The Property Council advocates a highly targeted adjustment to the age pension means test, exempting a certain amount of home sale proceeds from the means test of full rate age pensioners who are home owners, aged 75 or over, and who purchase a cheaper home within 12 months.”This policy would increase the number of large homes available for families and first home buyers as older Canberrans take up the opportunity to downsize,” Ms Carter explains.”This report reinforces the need for Canberra to get serious about retirement living by adjusting our land release program to accommodate retirement villages, and provide industry incentives to drive development of thoughtfully-located facilities to help older Canberrans age in place.”We must take a long-term view to ensure we create the best places for older Canberrans, unlock idling capacity in our housing market and achieve substantial savings in the health and aged care budgets,” Ms Carter concludes.The Property Council’s Unlocking home equity for seniors policy proposal and key findings from Grant Thornton’s National overview of the retirement village sector report are available at: www.propertyoz.com.au/Article/NewsDetail.aspx?p=16&id=10665Media contact: Catherine Carter, ACT Executive Director, 02 6248 6902 or 0412 330 079