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Fact: 75% of Australia’s Baby Boomers see themselves in full or part-time paid employment after the age of 65.
The article “The Reality of Encore Racing: Why the Word ‘Retired’ Should Be Retired” discussed the changes emanating from this fact from a marketing perspective and the impact on our looming labor shortage.
Of all the industries affected by the huge shift away from the decades-long trend toward early retirement, housing is under the most intense focus. And developers of age-restricted retirement communities will be the first and most expensive victims.
The solution to Boomers’ rejection of the various guises of the retirement town concept is not as simple as changing one of many new names for the same housing option, apparently coined to confuse: active adult, lifestyle town, etc.
The vast majority of today’s Baby Boomers are strongly committed to aging in place, continuing to live in the conventional housing of their choice, within a diverse community that meets their cultural and recreational needs.
And your housing choice is being driven by your life stage, including employment status and affinities, not your biological age.
The boomer age cohort spans roughly 20 years, but in most other characteristics they are even more diverse, particularly in the areas of family types and responsibilities, and aspects of their life stage that dictate their choice of housing options. .
Boomers in their fifties can be empty-nest grandparents, parents with children finishing college or just starting elementary school, stepparents within a blended family, or parents of a young second family. They might also agree to house returning adult children, an elderly parent, or both. Think of television “Packed to the rafters.”
Numerically, everything from a single-person household to multi-generational double digits.
In round numbers, Australian Boomers make up 25% of our population, but hold 50% of the nation’s purchasing power and 75% of financial assets, much of it caused by an extended period of rising prices of housing and unprecedented levels of actual and potential inheritance.
Boomers are a mixed bag, but if any generalization is true, they are high earners, high spenders, and love to own property: their primary residence, vacation homes, and rental investments.
The term often used to describe the new reality is “work retirement,” which seems to be an oxymoron, but applies to the 75% of Boomers who intend to remain in paid employment, or a form of work for own account, beyond 65 years. This period of work retirement will often include cycles of work, combined with breaks for recreation. Both impact housing requirements: everything from high-speed internet to home offices to a sewing room/study/library that converts to a guest room.
The conundrum of reduction
Boomers see themselves as the financial, social and emotional epicenter of their extended families and therefore demand housing that provides the space requirements for that role. That includes the number of private bedrooms and bathrooms to accommodate adult children and/or elderly parents for extended periods and grandchildren’s sleepovers.
Family gatherings for special occasions or regular Sunday lunches dictate spacious and flexible dining rooms; and with an eye to future physical capabilities, wide wheelchair-friendly doors and hallways, and reinforced bathroom walls if handrails are needed.
That adds up to a demanding shopping list, but that’s Boomers for you!
Location must be close to other family homes, within walkable communities
Definitely single level with easy access
· Space for two cars and the necessary equipment for sports and leisure.
And in a reduced floor plan, with a smaller, low-maintenance garden and outdoor entertaining areas.
Plus many of the luxuries Boomers couldn’t afford in their previous family home: granite countertops, top-of-the-line appliances, separate showers and vanities, built-in vacuum systems, and a priority on security.
And finally, if they are built in groups, not too many, and with the opportunity to express the individuality of the Boomer.
Market Boomer affinities.
The most obvious examples to date of homes being marketed to Boomer affinities,
they are golf communities created within important urbanizations.
However, creative home developers will explore other possibilities:
· In or near colleges to cater to the many Boomers who now have time to pursue a degree and are drawn to the intellectual stimulation of that environment and multi-generational community.
· Reproduce the development of the golf community with other sports, hobbies or interests (tennis, sailing, bowling, horses, dogs) perhaps on a smaller scale and in combination.
In the US, we have already seen Affinity Housing for seniors living like modern cowboys in ranch developments, and numerous communities developed for gay and lesbian seniors.
Shared living arrangements
More than 20% of Boomer households included only one person. Some suburbs of our capital cities appear to be made up almost entirely of large houses occupied by single, predominantly female older residents.
At a time of deteriorating housing affordability statistics for all age groups, almost a third of Australia’s older people are “survivors”, which occurs when the rooms in a house outnumber the occupants by more than one.
The most attractive answer to these statistics, from the point of view of economics and the standard of living of the elderly and the profit potential of housing developers, is the concept of Shared Living Arrangements.
To clarify our definition, this is not urban consolidation, the other necessary alternative of cutting down underutilized portions of large parcels to build downsized residences (but please, no “granny flats”). Nor is it about elderly parents moving in with their adult children, or vice versa.
Shared Living Arrangements involve the proposal of seniors, couples, and singles, sharing space and costs in modified conventional housing.
For the practical-minded, this achieves better utilization of housing resources and brings compatible physical abilities and life experiences together, while providing companionship for those who would otherwise be lonely.
The more adventurous will form their own mini-community of socially compatible “family” members of both genders, pooling financial resources to purchase, modify, or build a house comprising luxurious private suites, formula, will create a highly profitable housing niche. and recreation amenities in common areas. Perhaps the deal extends to sharing cleaning and maintenance services, a personal chef or personal trainer, even a mobile masseuse or hairdresser.
This concept is not without its legal challenges in documenting the many “what ifs” and title scenarios, but the developer who is first to market with a financially and socially acceptable formula will create a highly profitable housing niche.