The Retirement Living Council (RLC) has released its national planning report card - called Retirement ready - which ranks state-based planning systems and recommends a suite of practical reforms.
The report card has been prepared together with leading national planning agency Urbis and has made the following key findings:
- 67 per cent of development applications for retirement village take more than 12 months to receive a determination, while 23 per cent take more than two years.
- Queensland ranks fifth on the national leaderboard with a score of 43.2 points out of 100, trailing SA, NSW, the ACT, and VIC but ahead of TAS and WA.
- Queensland had previously been commended for their progressive policies to incentivise the facilitation of retirement villages, particularly in the Brisbane City Council region, however many of these policies have now concluded or are no longer effective.
In addition to key recommendations for all states - including the establishment of minimum land allocations for retirement communities and providing additional floor space and height bonuses - the report puts forward two recommendations to make Queensland's planning system 'retirement ready' to provide more age-friendly housing supply for its ageing population.
- Reintroduce and broaden use of Brisbane City Council-style incentives. Wider recognition that building heights and built form should be relaxed for providing retirement facility housing.
- Councils to consider extending those incentives to church owned land for retirement facility developments.
Comments attributable to RLC Executive Director, Daniel Gannon
"We are in a race to house the nation. Governments at all levels need to ensure they are 'retirement ready'.
"We now know that 67 per cent of retirement village development applications take more than 365 days to complete assessment, while 23 per cent take more than 730 days.
"Given Queensland's over-75s cohort will increase by 83 per cent over the next decade and a half and retirement villages are effectively operating at full capacity, this is alarming and unacceptable.
"Like the rest of the country, Queensland is ageing, housing supply is in deficit and the aged care sector is breaking under the weight of increasing demand.
"Unfortunately, inconsistency across councils was the only consistent feedback received while compiling this report card, with operators indicating vastly different experiences depending on which council you were in and who was assessing your application on the day.
"Governments are crying out for more housing supply while at the same time holding it back. You can't make this stuff up.
"More red tape and complexity in planning systems won't help build the homes that older Queenslanders need, but they can dampen supply very easily.
"Given the proven benefits that age-friendly communities deliver for older Queenslanders, governments should be throwing the kitchen sink at approving more of them - and fast."
Comments attributable to Urbis Associate Director, Kylie Newcombe:
"Retirement living plays a crucial role in providing age-friendly housing, enabling older residents to remain integral parts of their communities.
"Planning is a critical enabler for delivering the housing that the retirement living sector provides for older Australians. However, a significant 70 per cent of the industry feels let down by the system, citing that authorities have a 'poor' understanding of retirement living.
"As our ageing population continues to grow, it's more important than ever that retirement living is addressed in strategic plans and policies by state and local governments.
"A promising starting point could be setting explicit targets for retirement living, backed by a consistent set of controls and design guidance for application across the state."
