Retirement Villages: Residents' Housing Costs and Living Circumstances

Abstract

As the retirement village sector has grown, it has also become increasingly diversified, offering services ranging from fully independent housing to nursing home care. In the context of policy change and debate about government financial support for aged care and accommodation, it is important to understand how retirement villages fit in to the wider picture. The Department of Social Security commissioned this study at the end of 1996, partly because there were some questions about whether policies on eligibility for Rent Assistance among retirement village residents had kept up with changes in the level and distribution of residents' housing costs, but also to provide an up-to-date information base for wider consultations about policy in this area.