Retirement Housing Solution
The Federal Government should include retirement communities in its aim to build 1.2 million new homes by 2029, according to the Retirement Living Council (RLC).
The RLC has made a submission ahead of the Federal Government’s May Budget, which says the move would save up to $1 billion a year by delaying entry into taxpayer funded aged care.
RLC Executive Director, Daniel Gannon, says given the number of people aged over 75 is set to increase from 2 million to 3.4 million by 2040, more supply was needed for this type of living.
“Between now and 2030, the retirement industry requires 67,000 homes to be built to meet existing levels of demand from older Australians. Of this amount, only 18,000 are currently planned,” he says.
The RLC’s Better Housing for Better Health report says Australia needs to rethink how it can turn “inefficient use of space” into freed up housing stock.
Almost three quarters of those over 75 were living in dwellings with one or more bedrooms spare, representing over 1.4m older Australians in oversized under-utilised homes.
