Understanding how retirement living pricing works

Just like in housing, some retirement living locations are more or less expensive than others.  Understand what makes these differences a reality.

Less expensive retirement living options: Are they really out there?

Every time we utter the words retirement living in our community we seem to get barraged with a batch of comments about how people fear they can’t afford it.  So this week, we’ve taken a look at the cost of living in a retirement village in various corners of the country and explore what makes a traditional style of retirement village more affordable or more expensive to live in.

Villages are not by their nature an expensive way to live.  They are however a place where the services available are greater than those you would have living in your own home, so of course, the cost comparison to living in a house in the suburbs is different. You have to consider, when you enter a village, not only the cost of buying your property in the Village, but also what the weekly service charge might be, and then what the cost at the end is calculated on, known as the deferred management fee.

We spoke to AVEO, who were able to point out to us that the cost of buying into an independent living unit in a Village can start as low as $90,000 and, much like housing, can be priced at over $1m too.  And, just like in everyday real estate, the variance in cost is usually dependent on the village location, style of accommodation available and services on offer in the Village.

“It all comes down to the services and products offered in the Village,” said Sandy Spencer, the Queensland North Territory Sales Manager at AVEO.  “The Villages with a lower buy-in prices are usually designed with specific types of accommodation to make them more affordable.  They will offer One Bedroom Studios, One Bedroom Apartments and One Bedroom Plus Study Apartments in their Independent Living Units.  After that it all comes down to what services are offered in the Village and how many extra services you choose to access.”

To give you an interesting insight, we obtained a snapshot into three different villages and what the costs and inclusions are…

Lower Cost

Bridgeman Downs Independent living – unit 20

1 bedroom plus study, front and rear garden.

$199,000

General Service Charges: $62.65 per week

Includes:

Building, Grounds and Garden maintenance

Full time village staff

24 hour emergency service

Use of all village facilities

Transport – Village bus

Complete weekly planner of resident activities

Exercise classes

Social groups

Craft groups

Music groups

Catered events

Access to Hair salon

Heated Pool & Gym

Access to discount meals, commercial kitchen operating daily

Access to further care as required

Resident’s own responsibility:

Telephone

Utilities

Contents insurance

Mid-Priced

Albany Creek Independent living unit C35 – 2 bed 1 bath

$330,000

General service charges: $112.38 pw

Includes:

Building, Grounds and Garden maintenance

Full time village staff

24 hour emergency service

Use of all village facilities

Transport – Village bus

Complete weekly planner of resident activities

Exercise classes

Social groups

Craft groups

Music groups

Catered events

Access to Hair salon

Heated Pool & Gym

Access to discount meals, commercial kitchen operating daily

Access to further care as required

Resident’s own responsibility:

Telephone

Utilities

Contents insurance

Higher Priced

Clayfield independent living unit E504 – 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom

$799,000

General service charges: $189.38pw

Includes:

24 hour emergency service

Full time Village staff

Premier Clayfield location, uninterrupted City and River views

On site Concierge – Transport, bookings, information and personal assistance

Transport – Village bus

Building, grounds and garden maintenance

Complete weekly planner of resident activities

Exercise classes

Social groups

Craft groups

Music groups

Catered events

Access to Hair salon

Heated indoor Pool & Gym

Cinema, Library and multiple premier heritage lounge and common areas

Access to meals

Access to further care as required

Resident’s own responsibility: 

Telephone

Utilities

Contents insurance

This article is sponsored by Aveo retirement villages. For more information on your lifestyle options take a look at the Aveo website or call 13 28 36. Please note this article was written independently by the Starts at 60 team.