Industry Calls for Seniors Housing Targets to Turbocharge Property Industry

The next State government needs to introduce retirement living housing targets for Councils to plan for increased housing supply, or WA will face a seniors housing crisis.

The warning, from the Property Council of Australia, comes as WA struggles to house an ever-growing seniors’ population, with official forecasts predicting that 22% of Perth and Peel’s population will be aged 65 or over by 2051.

“WA has a wave of older people who currently have limited affordable housing options available to them,” Property Council WA retirement living committee Chair ML MacDonald said.

“Currently, villages have to be built in outer suburbs due to the difficulties in acquiring enough land for housing and communal facilities. These villages are often located where there is limited public transport and local infrastructure for older people and this results in social isolation.  Higher travel costs make it more difficult for seniors to maintain their independence and to attend to daily activities such as food shopping and medical appointments,” she said.

“Currently retirement living developers and operators have to compete with commercial residential developers at price levels that do not account for communal and social areas associated with Retirement Villages – so maximizing density is what commercial developers are chasing and this drives up the price of the land – often out of reach for a retirement development,” she said.

 “Given the ever-growing seniors population, local governments should target areas which are close to services, transport and shopping hubs, for retirement living,” Ms MacDonald said.