New retirees entering the property market are increasingly looking for options that support both their desire to continue living independently, and their potential future needs for healthcare.
Property and Investment / Hybrid Model
COMMUNITY, HEALTHCARE, AND
LUXURY LIVING
New retirees entering the property market are increasingly looking for options that support both their desire to continue living independently, and their potential future needs for healthcare.
The Somerset
The Somerset
Retirement villages can provide residents with an invaluable sense of community, along with the necessary practicalities such as 24-hour security, high-speed internet, and cleaning services. On-site healthcare, however, is available at only a few establishments.
People now live longer than previously, which means that a new set of health issues is emerging in the senior population. Frail care is not something many new retirees need to think about immediately, but because more and more families live at a distance or commit to small-scale urban living that cannot accommodate seniors, it is an important factor to consider when choosing a lifestyle retirement option.
A 2017 property report placed two Cape Peninsula Organisation for the Aged( CPOA) retirement villages among the top 10 South African retirement estates, based on factors such as design, space, maintenance, activities and facilities. Among CPOA’ s most attractive features is easily its on-site healthcare centres.
CEO Michael Zipp says that this is one of CPOA ' s core competencies:‘ Whether or not residents need the care centre upon moving in, they know that there are always emergency response services available day or night, and that is obviously a big advantage.’
CPOA
manages 26 villages with a total of 2,300 residents. Twenty of its villages are available to middle and higher income groups for life right, sectional title or long-term rental options. This income subsidises the remaining six homes, which are welfare establishments.
Each CPOA village offers a different lifestyle. For example, Quadrant Gardens in Claremont, which CPOA is developing in partnership with Corevest( Pty) Ltd, will be an upmarket urban retirement complex that will cater for seniors who enjoy the urban lifestyle of the area, and want to remain close to familiar medical service providers and surrounding attractions.
‘ New retirees are accustomed to having amenities close by, and enjoy going to the movies or the gym, and many also want to remain economically active to some extent,’ says Zipp.‘ And because land in Cape Town is very expensive, this means that apartment-style retirement living is becoming more popular.’ Quadrant Gardens will offer assisted care packages, and its care centre will be able to accommodate residents who need 24-hour care.
When complete, the Somerset Lifestyle & Retirement Village, one of the estates ranked among South Africa’ s top 10, will have a 20-bed care centre, and 270 units for independent living. These will be a mix of houses, cottages and apartments. Some seniors want to leave more money in their estates, and others prefer more money available to them for the duration of
30 | www. estate-living. co. za