Tips To Choose A Retirement Home

While housing projects for senior citizens, is a relatively new segment in the Indian property market, an investment can earn home owners handsome returns. We examine the costs and precautions that home seekers need to be aware of

Sitalakshmi Gopalan, a retired school teacher in Delhi, invested in a senior living project in Coimbatore. Although her children continue to stay in Delhi, she was clear that she wanted to stay with people her age and live a leisurely life. Similarly, Jitender Singh and his wife, residents of Pune, whose children worked abroad, sold their property and invested in a senior living project in the city. Gopalan and Singh represent a small segment of buyers, who opt for retirement communities, in a country where the multi-generational ‘joint family’ structure still endures, despite modernization.

Accounting for less than 1% of the $25-billion senior housing industry worldwide, the concept of senior citizen housing, still carries a social stigma in the country. According to a JLL analysis of 135 urban cities and towns in India, with a total population of 223 million and a total of 52 million households, households with seniors stood at 12.8 million (24.6%). Of these, the demand for formal senior living facilities, is estimated to be around 3,00,000 dwelling units.

However, there is a large gap between potential customers and customers who are aware of their requirements, points out Ashwin Kumar Iyer, CEO, Vedaanta Senior Living LLP. “Being a relatively new industry, the concept also needs to go through a steep awareness curve. Typically, the price for high-income senior units is around Rs 50-75 lakhs and above, while it is Rs 25-50 lakhs for mid-income and Rs 10-25 lakhs for low-income,” adds Iyer.