The Future of Senior Housing
New Zealand is tracking towards a diminishing working age population and an expanding senior community. Over half of that group are property owners but there is a significant minority who are renting, and have limited funds. And this proportion is growing.
In the central areas of Auckland Kainga Ora has taken over the legacy council’s pensioner flats. Holding onto these has been a great thing, as it allows people to age in place, where they are part of community networks. However, we don’t have enough of it, and Kainga Ora are not building much in this area. They are limiting their role as a landlord too, contracting community housing providers to operate and maintain some of their new builds.
Recently, Kainga Ora came to a local board workshop in Waitemata to note they were pausing work indefinitely on already consented rebuilds on Surrey Crescent and the Great North Road. This is a lost opportunity, as it would have vastly increased the number of affordable units, close to recreational opportunities and public transport links. I asked them to pass on the sites to community housing providers (maybe Haumaru Housing) or developers like Simplicity Living that might put up quality, secure tenure affordable homes that appeal to key workers, families and seniors. They are considering it.
Community Housing Providers have been promised $150m funding to deliver about 1500 new homes across the country over three years. This is not sufficient funding to meet the need. The current social housing register is over 20,000. I have asked Haumaru Housing whether they might consider sites in the city centre. They are certainly looking to grow, but still await funding.
City centres can be great places to retire. If you can no longer drive, being able to walk to the shops, services, community centres and theatres is a boon. My grandmother loved living on Lorne St. She raved about the library, the Academy Cinema and the lantern festival. She loved being in an intergenerational space. If she got lost she knew she could always ask a young person to help her find her way!
Opportunities to age in place matters and so are options to downsize once the kids leave home. Shifting in your sixties or seventies is easier than in your eighties or nineties. 70% of people with dementia live at home. It is easier if you live in a place you know. It is, perhaps, an easier design shift to make apartment buildings accessible for all than houses.
Supporting seniors goes beyond housing. Older people have more health issues in general. This can mean significant costs for hospitals and primary care. An innovation developed in a Scotland retirement home was a weekly in-depth check-in with residents, covering all sorts of aspects of life. These chats helped staff address diverse issues from depression to food poverty to the practicalities of accessing money after the death of a spouse. The result was significant improvement in health and quality of life, with the helpful side effect of diverting people away from the health system.
Loneliness and isolation can be avoided. Providing cheap or free spaces to connect, play, reminisce and do interesting stuff is essential. Seniors can and do play a hugely valuable role with regards citizen science, childcare, volunteering, and environmental work. Auckland aspires to be an age-friendly city. There is so much that can be done but as for other demographics, it is hard to do all you want if you don’t have safe, secure housing. This is something we must grapple with.