Retirement sector warns state policy risks retiree housing crisis

Melbourne’s high-rise homes might be an increasingly important part of the city’s retirement plan. Victoria’s wait list for retirement village residences has ballooned out to almost 600, even as retirees carve out their own space to spend their golden years in high-rise havens. But the retirement living development sector has warned state government policies and regulatory changes are risking the state’s future housing supply as well as potentially the health of older Victorians. It comes as the architects and experts behind the city’s apartment towers have revealed developers are working to turn them into forever homes for downsizers, with some even suggesting we might start to see more scenarios where retirees stay put and bring live-in help to them, like in the Kelsey Grammar TV show Frasier. RELATED: Exposed: Aus group cashing in on $100m home hack Victorian retirement villages banned from hidden fees and costs Vic auction ban now law: what you must know Waitlist data from the latest PwC and Retirement Living Council Census shows older Melburnians are desperate for more space, with 334 on a waiting list for a two-bedroom residence in retirement villages, accounting for 57 per c...