Aging population requires appropriate housing

New Zealand aged care facilities “woefully unprepared” for baby boom generation retirement.

Since the early 1980s, the population aged 65-plus in New Zealand has doubled to 635,200 and is likely to double again by 2040, according to Statistics NZ. While a growing number of these elderly New Zealanders are working beyond the age of 65, there is a growing concern that there are not nearly enough aged care facilities to accommodate the increasing demand.

“We are woefully unprepared for what is to come in this country, and the world, in relation to this,” said Aegis Projects director Alexander Foster in his address to the New Zealand Health Design Conference in Auckland in September. “Within about 40 years, over half of the population will be over the age of 45.”

There are currently about 24,000 retirement village units around the country. While they continue to account for a significant portion of dwellings – in September this year, 97 of the 157 apartments consented were retirement village units – it is estimated that 30,000 more will be required to keep up with demand in the next few years.

These units, in which residents live alone, make up just one aspect of aged care. Full-time beds in aged care facilities are also lacking – currently, there are an estimated 33,000 around the country, with 20,000 more needed by 2026.

The need for specialised dementia units will most likely also increase, with an estimated 7,200 more needed in the next 13 years.

Foster’s forecast provided the basis for many of the themes speakers covered at the conference, which attracted 130 delegates from New Zealand and overseas. Highlighting the expected boom due to the need for, and construction of, aged care facilities in New Zealand, Foster said it was expected this would translate into $7.5 bn of investment in retirement villages in the coming years, and about $2.5 bn in aged care facilities.