In a move that is highly relevant for upcoming Christmas family discussions, retirement living operators are increasingly allowing adult children and other carers to live alongside residents.
During November, Downsizing.com.au published the story of IRT’s proposed new retirement village at Towradgi south of Sydney, which will include dwelling garages which can be converted to live-in carer accommodation.
The carer’s accommodation will have its own front door and access to a bathroom, and would share a kitchen with the main dwelling. It will be the first adaptable live-in carers’ accommodation at any IRT retirement village.
This village is currently waiting for planning approval.
Queensland-based retirement village operator Aura recently published the story of Kimberley Richards, who is the primary carer for her mother Jan at The Avenue at Maroochydore.
“Mum spent 18 months in aged care in high care after suffering a stroke,” Kimberley said.
“But when Covid first hit in 2020, I decided to take Mum out and she lived with me. I was working from home and could spend more time on her therapy and she started to improve.
“But where we were living there were two flights of stairs so I decided to look for a better option that would be more manageable for Mum and enable her to be involved in a community of people and able to participate in activities.
“The Avenue came highly recommended to me by a friend in the industry.
“I didn’t realise I could live here with Mum as her carer. I am so grateful for the option for us at The Avenue. We have only recently moved in but I have already seen positive changes in Mum. She is really happy here and ready to make friends and get involved.”
Aura Holdings has a policy that is open to having a carer live with a resident in their apartment within the company’s southeast Queensland retirement villages.
“We are very open to this form of arrangement and will consider it on a case-by-case basis,’’ Aura Holdings’ director Mark Taylor says.
“At times it might only need to be short-term while a resident recovers from illness or surgery. We want to be flexible to the needs of all our residents to ensure they have the quality of life they deserve while living in our communities.
“A resident’s carer, more often a family member, can move into one of our communities on a licence to occupy under the terms of the resident’s lease. The carer will be welcome to stay for as long as the resident they support resides in one of our villages.’’
Downsizing.com.au understands that national retirement living operator, Lendlease, also assess proposals for live-in carers on a case-by-case basis.
Meanwhile land lease community operator Hampshire Villages is building new duplex homes at its Pelican Shores community at Leopold near Geelong south-west of Melbourne, to allow family and friends to live alongside each other.
A Hampshire spokeswoman said one duplex was purchased by a mother and daughter, with a further duplex available for sale for $280,000.
“The daughter works on the Spirit of Tasmania and will stay in one of the duplexes when the ship docks in Geelong in the New Year,” the spokeswoman said.
