The sheer ineptitude of planning boffins and State Government leaders around the country is clear with a new Government-funded report stating one in four retirees in Australia are now living alone.
The 20th Annual Statistical Report of the HILDA Survey, managed by the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research at the University of Melbourne, found the proportion of retired people living alone has risen from 20% in 2003 to 24% in 2023.
This is more than double the national average, with only about 10.8% of all Australians living alone in 2023. It is alarming and simply wrong.
Feeling distressed as a result of unfulfilling relationships (loneliness) increases the likelihood of premature death by 26%, while social isolation increases the risk of an early death by 29%.
Villages offers a solution to loneliness – but few new units are being built
Incentives to encourage the retirees living alone to sell would be of great benefit to retirement village operators providing they have a unit to sell.
Retirement village residents, even those living alone, are never alone. The activity when you step outside your front door is part of the sector’s overall value proposition. As is having neighbours of similar age group, and interests, with quality Management onsite focused on your wellbeing.
Executive feedback from across the sector is retirement villages are fully occupied. This means a person living in a family home – alone – is unlikely to find a retirement village that meets their needs nearby. Furthermore, there aren’t enough units being built to keep the penetration rates at the 12% of over 75s as reported by the Retirement Living Council (RLC).
In February this year, the RLC's Executive Director Daniel Gannon emphasised that between now and 2030, 67,000 retirement homes are needed to meet current demand from older Australians – yet only 18,000 are planned.
Devil in the planning reform detail
We know this, and we saw it coming. For more than a decade the retirement living industry has been meeting all levels of Government to educate them on the ‘silver tsunami’ fast approaching.
Yet, planning reforms to incentivise senior housing have been non-existent, which is why it is pleasing to report in today’s newsletter, the Retirement Living Council has managed to convince the South Australian Government to declare the development of retirement villages co-located with aged care facilities as “essential infrastructure”.
In NSW, the Government announced the NSW Planning System Reforms Bill 2025 which is designed to make the planning system quicker and simpler to navigate.
It looks potentially promising for seniors housing operators, until you get to the fine print. Yvette Carr, Director at Ethos Urban, said reform of Local Environmental Plans and State Environmental Planning Policies is still needed – and the devil is in the detail still to be released.
These green shoots of planning reform will take time to have any material impact. We estimate five-to-seven years to bring a project out of the ground.
Until then, one in four of senior Australians are living alone. Think about that.
