Addressing concerns about seniors’ housing

A report that found Western Australia’s housing sector is failing seniors has relevance for the rest of Australia. 

The Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre report says the current rate of dwelling completion in the state is failing to meet overall demand and, in particular, is not delivering housing types that are suitable for seniors who want to downsize. 

As is the case across Australia, WA cities and towns are dominated by homes bigger than the occupants need. There are 1.45 million spare bedrooms across the state, and many of them are not used for other purposes. 

The report identifies two major issues:

• Failure to use current housing stock efficiently 

• Inadequate diversity of housing stock suitable for people who don’t need four-bedroom houses. 

The report recommends cutting stamp duty to reduce barriers to downsizing and boosting funding for social housing. 

Nearly half of all houses in WA have four or more bedrooms , yet there is rising demand for smaller dwellings and rental properties. 

The report estimated that of the 1.45 million spare rooms in Western Australia, as many as 675,000 could be unused.

The report recommends promoting diversity by prioritising more housing design options, particularly affordable ones, through government incentives, planning reforms for infill development and reducing transaction costs for efficient use of existing houses. 

NSA’s Better Housing campaign offers innovative solutions to the housing needs raised in the Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre report, plus more. It forms a key plank of our continuing advocacy to governments. 

Many of the recommendations have the simple strategy of government providing cost-effective incentives and removing tax and financial barriers, especially for pensioners. 

The national rental shortage is severely affecting seniors in need. National Seniors believes this can partly be addressed, while at the same time making stand-alone houses with vacant bedrooms more efficient, 

Age Pensioners could rent out their spare bedrooms, and top up their income, by removing rental income from the Age Pension income test. 

An information campaign educating older people about home sharing is needed. Also, the government should investigate whether a Capital Gains Tax exemption would encourage home sharing. 

Some older Australians who live in larger homes do so to avoid a hit to their pension.  

While the Federal Government has changed rules to exempt sale proceeds from the pension means test for two years and allow seniors to contribute some sale proceeds into superannuation, National Seniors believes a portion of sale proceeds should be exempt from the Age Pension means test for Home Care Package recipients aged 80-plus. This would make it easier for people needing to downsize to make the change without fear of being financially worse off. 

Government stamp duty is another disincentive to seniors downsizing. We believe Pensioner Concession Card and Commonwealth Seniors Health Card holders in all states and territories should be eligible for stamp duty concessions (as is available in Tasmania, Victoria and the ACT). 

Another disincentive to downsizing is the lack of smaller housing options that are cost-effective and age friendly.  

As the Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre report found, the building industry is inadequately catering to increasing demand for such dwellings, preferencing four-plus bedroom, stand-alone houses. 

Many seniors who are interested in downsizing want to remain in their existing localities, close to services, family, and friends. However, our own research found suitable housing to downsize into was generally not available and could be expensive. 

More suitable housing could be built to meet this demand if all state governments supported “accessible housing” design standards, which have been included in the National Construction Code. While many have, New South Wales has refused to accept this change to make all new housing age-friendly.

Age friendly rental housing is also needed. We're pushing for the creation of a capital grants scheme that incorporates universal design principles. This will reduce older renters’ risk of hospitalisation, or premature entry into residential care. 

The Victorian government is strengthening protections for Victorians living in land lease communities, where residents buy the home and rent the land it sits on. 

This follows an ABC News investigation into the accusations of unethical conduct by a village owner, including charging dead people rent, misleading marketing, and questionable fees when residents come to sell their home. 

Residents of one village have lodged a claim in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal over fees they believe are excessive and in breach of the law.