Older retirement villages the future care solution?

The Royal Commission into Aged Care has argued firmly that older Australians should be supported to stay in their own homes as long as possible – and retirement village operators are stepping up to provide an alternative to the family home.

Centennial Living launched in mid-2019 to offer a new assisted living model of care. Since then, the group has acquired seven mature retirement villages in Melbourne and is looking to expand in NSW, Victoria and South Australia.

All of its villages are aged 20 years and up – but CEO Derek McMillan (pictured right)  says these older villages provide the ideal location to provide care and support into the home.

Village units better designed for ageing in place

While newer villages may have all the ‘bells and whistles’, he says mature village homes are still likely to be more livable than the family home that the person is moving from.

Villages also offer the benefits of community facilities and connection to other people – benefits that have nothing to do with the unit that people are buying.

Importantly, villages are not aged care – and everyone who lives in one has chosen to move there and the vast majority are happy.

Research by our sister group DCM Research has shown that resident satisfaction in villages is at record levels following the COVID pandemic.

“To me, this makes it a great platform for an evolving offering to fill the service void that aged care cannot,” Derek says.

Serviced apartments have a lower price point

The price is also another key factor. An aged care bed can cost $500,000 – and higher – in metropolitan areas, while serviced apartments are generally priced well below this figure.

Add in the fact that the average age of retirement village residents is now 75 – with a third aged over 85 – and it simply makes sense for villages to fill the gap between low and higher care options.

With up to 2,000 villages across Australia, there’s one in every neighbourhood too.