The report card has been prepared together with leading national urban consultancy Urbis and has made the following key findings:
- 67 per cent of development applications for retirement villages take more than 12 months to receive a determination, while 23 per cent take more than two years.
- WA ranks last on the national leaderboard with a score of 42.7/100.
- Construction costs in WA are some of the highest in Australia and more difficult to pass on in this market due to a lower willingness by customers to pay the prices required.
- Retirement villages are not
- Retirement living – which is not defined in planning schemes in WA – is unable to compete with other land uses due to higher upfront costs and complexities in design and built form requirements leading to lower financial returns for operators.
- There is a distinct lack of understanding of the retirement housing product with 70 per cent of operators believing assessor understanding is poor or very poor.
- The report recommends the establishment of minimum land allocations for retirement communities and providing additional floor space and height bonuses for all states.
Comments attributable to RLC Executive Director Daniel Gannon:
“Given we are in a race to house the nation, governments at all levels need to ensure planning systems are ‘retirement ready’. Sadly, this report shows WA isn’t ready.
“We now know that 67 per cent of retirement village development applications take more than 365 days to complete assessment, while 23 per cent take more than 730 days.
“Given WA’s over-75s cohort will increase by 92 per cent over the next decade and a half and retirement villages are effectively operating at full capacity, this is alarming and unacceptable.
“Like the rest of the country, WA is ageing, housing supply is in deficit and the aged care sector is breaking under the weight of increasing demand.
“Governments are crying out for more housing supply while at the same time holding it back. You can’t make this stuff up.
“WA has the weakest development pipeline for retirement villages on mainland Australia, with construction costs in the state some of the highest in the nation.
“It also has an ongoing reform process to its Retirement Villages Act, which has been dragging on for years and has the potential to introduce more hurdles that drive investors out of the sector at the worst possible time.
“More red tape and complexity in legislation and planning systems won’t help build the homes that older West Australians need, but they can dampen supply very easily.
“Given the proven benefits that age-friendly communities deliver for older Australians, governments should be throwing the kitchen sink at approving more of them – and fast.”
Comments attributable to Urbis Associate Director, Kylie Newcombe:
“Retirement living plays a crucial role in providing age-friendly housing, enabling older residents to remain integral parts of their communities.
“Planning is a critical enabler for delivering the housing that the retirement living sector provides for older Australians. However, a significant 70 per cent of the industry feels let down by the system, citing that authorities have a ‘poor’ understanding of retirement living.
“As our ageing population continues to grow, it’s more important than ever that retirement living is addressed in strategic plans and policies by state and local governments.
“A promising starting point could be setting explicit targets for retirement living, backed by a consistent set of controls and design guidance for application across the state.”
