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February 11, 2019

Selecting Best Seniors Housing Option Key to Success

Selecting the best option to fit a seniors’ housing development on a site is the most important decision when planning a new project.  With so many options available in Western Australia making the right decision early can make or break the project.

A site for a new project will have various physical and demographic attributes that would suit a particular form of housing for seniors.

The process starts with a good understanding of the housing options available.  Apart from home ownership and renting, which most people are familiar with, there are five specialist housing options for seniors in WA with their own covering legislation.

  1. Traditional retirement villages for retirees over 55, which are managed and administrated by a village operator and covered by the Retirement Villages Act;
  2. Residential parks for over 45’s commonly labelled ‘lifestyle villages’ with privately owned or rented transportable homes on leased land, covered by the Residential Parks (Long-stay Tenants) Act;
  3. Strata schemes in private estates for over 55’s with individually owned or leased strata homes, covered by the Strata Titles Act or Community Titles Act;
  4. Licenced lodging houses and private boarding arrangements covered by common law contracts; and
  5. Residential aged-care facilities including nursing homes with around the clock care services, covered by the Commonwealth Aged Care Act.

The Seniors Housing Advisory Centre’s Seniors Housing Guide has more information about each housing option, the respective legal frameworks and the form of housing that is available.

At KPA Architects we see raft of key industry trends in the provision of seniors’ housing in WA.

  • Co-locating retirement village and aged-care facilities to provide greater long-term peace of mind for residents. As this form of development becomes more popular new facilities will also look to co-locate with other land uses like child-care and schools. This is evident in our Bethanie Gwelup development with Bethanie Group.
  • Vertical villages to suit locations with limited land area and integrate with other uses like retail and private apartments. We are seeing this trend overseas, such as the Kampung Admiralty in Singapore by renowned Woha Architects.
  • Strata schemes for over 55’s designed to provide more independent and private living options. New developments are also often located adjacent to aged-care facilities. Developers are looking to the recent reforms to WA’s recent strata laws to plan new strata communities with a greater mix of shared amenities. This is evident in our Bethanie Gwelup development with Bethanie Group, where access to courtyards and the hairdresser salon are shared by both the Retirement Apartments and Aged Care Facility.

New retirement and aged-care developments are also looking to become local hubs for the delivery of home-care services like the provision of meals, laundry and general medical needs for seniors living independently in neighbouring suburbs.