Last Saturday Adele Ferguson wrote in The Age and Sydney Morning Herald:
“Embattled Aveo retirement village giant and peak lobby group the Retirement Living Council have spent the past few days talking up the popularity of retirement villages and talking down allegations raised in a joint media investigation by Fairfax Media and ABC’s Four Corners”.
“In a statement to the ASX it quotes an ‘independent industry’ survey purporting to show 98% of residents would make the same choice to live in a retirement village if they had their time over”.
“While some residents are undoubtedly happy in the villages, it is questionable how any survey can get the sort of lofty heights of 98% satisfaction”.
“Nowhere do they mention how old the survey is, the number of people surveyed, how it was conducted, who paid for it and who actually did it”.
This morning we provided Ms Ferguson with a 10-page answer to these questions, led by the fact that the 98% satisfaction result comes from our 2013 McCrindle Baynes Village Census. See the key result above.
Census Question 37 (out of 46 questions) asked “Would you make the same decision to move into this village again”?
Two charts are presented – the first delivers the results for the full 4,933 village residents that completed the Census across 236 villages and 23 operators. 4% of these residents answered “No, not at all – I would not make the decision to move into a village again”. 96% would make the same decision to move into a village.
The second chart extracts the 1,012 people who moved into a village in the past 24 months – the ‘recent movers’ – who are judged better aware or can better recall the reasons they chose to join the village. 2% of these residents said “No”, they would not move into a village again. 98% said they would make the same decision again.
To read the full response to Fairfax, including additional research on financial models, contracts and happiness with operators, click HERE.
Email us at amandad@docomemondaymedia.com.au if you are interested in participating in the next McCrindle Baynes Village Census which will be in the field in October.