flinders institute for housing, urban & regional researchflinders institute for housing, urban...
TRANSCRIPT
Flinders Institute for Housing, Urban & Regional ResearchFlinders Institute for Housing, Urban & Regional Environments
Age Specific Housing: Are we Meeting the Aspirations and Needs
of the Older Population?
Presenter: Dr Debbie Faulkner
Australian Institute of Urban Studies WA
7th October 2009
Flinders Institute for Housing, Urban & Regional ResearchFlinders Institute for Housing, Urban & Regional Environments
Contents
•Factors that mould older Australian’s views and desires•Changing housing careers•Role of housing sector•Research design•Research findings:
Significance of Housing FeaturesImportance of Services and FacilitiesLocation PreferencesComplex Sizes
Concluding thoughts
Flinders Institute for Housing, Urban & Regional ResearchFlinders Institute for Housing, Urban & Regional Environments
•Cumulative lifetime opportunities and experiences
•Present economic, social and personal characteristics
•Ability of current policy settings and market forces to address increasingly diverse needs of older population
•Way older people and society view old age
Factors that mould society’s and older people’s views of their future
Flinders Institute for Housing, Urban & Regional ResearchFlinders Institute for Housing, Urban & Regional Environments
Factors that mould society’s and older people’s views of their future
In the 1970s we had a view of older people as:
“mainly poor, probably with similar outlooks (and indeed appearance) and with limited aspirations for future lifestyles”
(Phillipson 1998, 10)
Flinders Institute for Housing, Urban & Regional ResearchFlinders Institute for Housing, Urban & Regional Environments
History: The Role of the Housing Sector
•Affordable and ‘appropriate’ housing for those with few assets and low income
•Provided by public and community housing and not for profit sector
•Housing very basic – a bedsit or one bedroom accommodation
Flinders Institute for Housing, Urban & Regional ResearchFlinders Institute for Housing, Urban & Regional Environments
Housing Careers in the 21st Century
• A revolution?• Older• Living longer• Working longer?• More wealth/greater
disparity• Greater number of
single person households
• Greater experience of mobility and varied housing experiences
Flinders Institute for Housing, Urban & Regional ResearchFlinders Institute for Housing, Urban & Regional Environments
Needs and preferences of older people in the 21st centuryAgeing viewed very differently from previous generations - influences the way older people view housing and the places they want to live.
Making conscious choices about where to live is not new but as Phillipson (2007, 330) states
‘the idea that substantial groups of older people are able to control and shape their environment is relatively new”.
Reorientates ageing in place policies away from a focus on the individual to the communities in which we all live
Flinders Institute for Housing, Urban & Regional ResearchFlinders Institute for Housing, Urban & Regional Environments
Needs and preferences of older people in the 21st century
The attitudes, values and living strategies of older South Australians are changing:
…we are a different demographic – my peers are approaching retirement with different attitudes and health. We are the first generation willing to look and make plans for the lifestyle we want…we are approaching this in a positive way – this is a chance to approach change in a good way. Housing is just ‘bricks and mortar’ now, it was not in the past.
Participant in focus groups(Beer, Faulkner & Baker 2006)
Flinders Institute for Housing, Urban & Regional ResearchFlinders Institute for Housing, Urban & Regional Environments
Role of Retirement Villages• Boom time for retirement villages• Rapid increase in private and public
for profit corporations. • Focus on the wealthy and less on
those who actually need assistance – • Marketing themselves as over 55
lifestyle resorts.• Location not always appropriate• RV established to cater for those with
few assets/ low income not faired well in the market place
• Account for only 5 per cent of the older population
Flinders Institute for Housing, Urban & Regional ResearchFlinders Institute for Housing, Urban & Regional Environments
The Research
Three Stages of Research
Stage 1: 7 focus groups
Stage 2: survey 1200 households
Stage 3: 8 focus groups; 20 in-depth interviews
•Conducted comprehensive program of research into the housing needs and aspirations of older South Australians aged 55 years and over
•The work extended over the period 2006-2008
Flinders Institute for Housing, Urban & Regional Research
Characteristics of Older South Australians
Surveyed in Stage 2
• Of those retired 75% govt benefits – 31% believed not prepared adequately for retirement
• Of those not retired likely basis of income in retirement be govt pension, super, govt pension+super; few other income/assets
• Value of Assets (other than home) – 41% assets < $50k (55-64 -23.3%); + 15%< $100k (55-64 – 10%)
• 60% considered value of home to be < $400k
Flinders Institute for Housing, Urban & Regional Research
Movement into Retirement Village Accommodation
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
lessthan 55
55-59 60-64 65-69 70-74 75-79 80-84 85 yearsandover
Age
Pe
r C
en
t
Retirement VillageResidents
Non Retirement VillageResidents
Flinders Institute for Housing, Urban & Regional ResearchFlinders Institute for Housing, Urban & Regional Environments
Features Taken Into Account When Choosing a Home
Feature of Housing
RV residents
Non RV residents
Feature of Housing
RV residents
Non RV residents
Low Maintenance
87.4 93.1 Energy Efficiency
66.3 94.6
Personal Security
85.3 90.5 Private Garden 62.1 67.4
Privacy 85.3 89.5 Accessibility 60.0 93.2
Internal Layout
82.1 84.5 Environmentally Friendly Features
51.6 90.5
Garage 73.7 67.4 Access to Technology
48.4 59.7
No of Bedrooms
72.6 71.5 Pets Allowed 31.6 51.4
Storage Space
70.5 81.2 Space for Caravan
9.5 10.2
Flinders Institute for Housing, Urban & Regional ResearchFlinders Institute for Housing, Urban & Regional Environments
Use of and Importance of Services and Facilities at Retirement Villages
Facilities and Services RV Residents Non RV Residents
Maintenance Services 93 95
Health Care Services 73 89
Accessing Ancillary Health Services 19 85
Community Hall 77 84
Library 62 82
Dining Room / Restaurant 83 78
Organised Community Activities 76 76
Swimming Pool 46 56
Sporting Facilities 44 45
Flinders Institute for Housing, Urban & Regional ResearchFlinders Institute for Housing, Urban & Regional Environments
Location
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
To
Liv
e C
lose t
o
Fam
ily
To
Liv
e C
lose t
o
Fri
en
ds
To
Liv
e C
lose t
o
a R
esid
en
tial
Facilit
y
Seasid
e L
ocati
on
Co
un
try L
ocati
on
To
be C
loser
to
the C
ity
To
Rem
ain
in
Fam
ilia
r
Neig
hb
ou
rho
od
s
To
Liv
e C
lose t
o
Pu
blic T
ran
sp
ort
To
Liv
e C
lose t
o
Sh
op
s a
nd
Serv
ices
Factor
Ag
e
Retirement Village Residents
Non Retirement Village Residents
Flinders Institute for Housing, Urban & Regional ResearchFlinders Institute for Housing, Urban & Regional Environments
Community Based ResidentsMovement into Retirement Village
AccommodationPreferred Retirement Complex Sizes
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
greater than 100 units
50-99 units
20-49 units
10-19 units
less than 10 units
Don't know
Siz
e of
Com
plex
Per Cent
Flinders Institute for Housing, Urban & Regional ResearchFlinders Institute for Housing, Urban & Regional Environments
Older People’s Housing Aspirations and Expectations
The Dwelling•Smaller but spacious
•Minimum 2 bedrooms
•Single storey, detached
•Secure
•Located in small cluster
The Location•Close to shops
•Close to public transport
•Remain in familiar neighbourhood
•Close to family/friends
Services and facilities
Maintenance services health care services dining room
Community hall/centre Library org community activities
Flinders Institute for Housing, Urban & Regional ResearchFlinders Institute for Housing, Urban & Regional Environments
Concluding Comments
•At present Australia has few housing options for older population
•Expectations and aspirations of older people are changing: evolve with society’s changing aspirations, needs and expectations\
•Current provision of housing often is a poor fit with needs and aspirations voiced by older Australians
•Housing needs to be located throughout metropolitan and regional areas so that people have the opportunity to move to purpose built aged housing that is part of their neighbourhood
•Many older South Australians are willing to sell their home in order to secure purpose built aged housing.
•Those aged 55-64 have greater assets than earlier generations had at the same stage in their life cycle. This is likely to translate into greater purchasing power in the housing market
Flinders Institute for Housing, Urban & Regional ResearchFlinders Institute for Housing, Urban & Regional Environments
Concluding Comments
•Offer a tenure arrangement that is close to Torrens title - existing tenure arrangements are often a deterrent as they are difficult to comprehend and are seen to have unknowable costs.
•Older people want the opportunity to live well and independently even if they have modest assets
•Is a high level of risk confronting many older Australians as hold very modest assets and this will be the case for many of the baby boomers
•Need more affordable housing options – increasing pressure to be placed on private rental market and not for profit sector as public housing declines
•Providing appropriate and affordable housing is one way we can deliver a better quality of life and social inclusion to all older people.
Flinders Institute for Housing, Urban & Regional ResearchFlinders Institute for Housing, Urban & Regional Environments
Summary Report available from ECH Inc
www.ech.asn.au
FIHURE www.flinders.edu.au/fihure