The Weekly SOURCE looks back at the past 12 months in the community living sector.
With its momentum hampered by high interest rates, the retirement living sector in October came under attack from the ABC, aided and abetted by Centre Alliance Federal MP Rebekha Sharkie and the Housing Aged Action Group.
The national broadcaster also walloped Lifestyle Communities in July with unproven allegations and as its share value plunged over 50% in YTD, co-founder and Managing Director James Kelly announced his retirement and people cancelled their home purchases.
Billions more dollars have also been invested into the over 55s land lease lifestyle communities with one CEO jumping from being the pioneer of land lease to lifting the profile of seniors’ rental communities.
See Ian Horswill’s recap of the year below.
May
- A first look at the Care Hub at RetireAustralia’s The Verge Retirement Village at Burleigh on the Gold Coast, which opened the following month, was the most talked about innovation in retirement living.
- Jim Hazel was inducted into the Property Council of Australia’s Property Hall of Fame at a gala dinner at the Great Hall in Parliament House in Canberra.
- Cameron Taylor, who resigned as CEO of Eureka Group Holdings in July 2023, is the new CEO of Sundale, the Sunshine Coast-based Not For Profit organisation which has been without a CEO since February.
- With construction costs soaring, Third.i said it needs 36 extra apartments from City of Newcastle to make Merewether village, a joint venture between ThirdAge and Merewether Golf Club, commercially viable.
- New WA land lease entrant Everland Communities, which is part of Yolk Property Group, said its first community Arbour Margaret River would see residents from the LLC sharing community facilities with their adjacent masterplanned community.
- The Queensland Government passed the Manufactured Homes (Residential Parks) Amendment Bill 2024, providing significant protections across 203 residential land lease communities. Park owners are given 12 months to instigate the wide-ranging changes.