This is a very strong figure. Imagine, 33% of 200,000 people (66,000) are aged 85 or older, and successfully living independently or with care support in a retirement village home.
This must be a significant statistic for supporting villages as an age-appropriate accommodation solution.
But even more interesting is the fact that older villages attract older residents – something we all know but the graph below confirms it.
Given 70% or more of Australia’s villages are over 20 years of age, it means that closer to 50% of resident are over 80 and trending to 85.
With the Royal Commission asking for more seniors’ accommodation that provides ‘community’, surely retirement villages are doing this.
Why then is occupancy at just 89% across the sector?
Now is the time for the sector to promote its value proposition – strongly. The message will be well received – look at the number of people below the age of 75 who are joining villages.
21% of all residents are aged 65 to 74, meaning one in five people – or 40,000 of the 200,000 people who live in villages. The village value proposition resonated with them!
