SA Affordable Housing July / August 2017 // Issue: 65 | Page 6

NEWS
Transforming SA’s retirement
housing landscape
The demand for retirement villages has increased substantially
in recent years. According to a mid-2015 report released by
Statistics South Africa (Stats SA), those aged 60 years or more
make up 8% of the total South African population.
Images by Musa Group
A retirement village in Hermanus.
I
n addition, according to the Global Retirement Index
compiled by Natixis Global Asset Management, the
primary ranking concerns for retirees are healthcare,
security and material well-being. South Africa, having
scored a mere 34% globally in the index, leaves much to
be desired as the ideal country for retirement. This has
resulted in the rapid growth of retirement village
developments, stemming from people acquiring a more
pressing desire to secure their plans, ensuring they have
well-prepared themselves and their families for
superannuation.
Retire24 was established to act as a holding company for
new retirement accommodation and related real estate
projects sourced and managed by C’est La Vie Property
Developments and marketed by Nellie Van Staden
Properties, in conjunction with local estate agencies where
applicable.
The Musa Group’s housing division, Skyward Housing,
has taken up shareholding in Retire24 alongside the
founders and management and intends to continue
providing new equity and debt funding to Retire24 for
future projects on a case by case basis. This partnership fits
well into Musa Group and Skyward’s vision of providing a
full spectrum of real estate development services by
leveraging the years of experience of C’est La Vie and their
well-developed retirement accommodation model.
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JULY - AUGUST 2017
AFFORDABLE
SA HOUSING
The Retire24 retirement village.
This new partnership ultimately aims to bring the South
African retirement accommodation offering in line with
successful and proven models of first world countries,
while offering retirees peace of mind that Retire24 is
backed by strong corporate stakeholders.
The parties discussed forging a long-term funding and
investment partnership, with the Retire24 team mandated
to specifically develop retirement accommodation that
provides long term annuity income to its investors. Focus is
placed on the Life Right model (a model widely used in the
US, Australia and the UK) and rental stock portfolios.
The life right model provides a unique solution to
retirees as retirement accommodation becomes more
affordable under this method and provides security of
tenure to the occupant for the remainder of their lives. The
developer also permanently stays involved in the life right
scheme, therefore ensuring that properties are well
maintained and managed going forward. Life rights are
governed by the Housing Development Scheme for Retired
Persons Act no.65 of 1988, so provides extra legal
protection for its retired occupants.
Alternatively, rental stock, for a medium term profitable
solution, works by developers renting out retirement
properties to the open market, typically on an annual lease
basis. This model generates monthly annuity income and
capital growth which is realised upon exit.