Kiwis Favour Retirement Villages For Lifestyle And Social Reasons

Kiwis are increasingly looking for atmosphere and facilities in their retirement villages, with cost and location becoming less important. The trend indicates that older New Zealanders - a growing cohort - want to remain active and engaged throughout their retirement. The insights came from Canstar’s survey to find New Zealanders’ favourite retirement village provider, which we are thrilled to say was won by Arvida!

Arvida, which is listed on the NZX, has 35 retirement communities across New Zealand that provide a range of retirement living and aged care to 6,750 over 65s. Arvida’s communities are designed to celebrate their uniqueness but share an overarching mission to make residents’ lives better with everything they do.

Arvida received 5 Stars across key Drivers of Satisfaction including overall satisfaction, atmosphere and facilities.

Jose George, Canstar New Zealand General Manager, said the survey showed how much Kiwis valued retirement villages as a way to continue a healthy, vibrant lifestyle.

“Retirement villages offer so much to older New Zealanders. They have evolved so much, and these days offer a huge range of activities and benefits, along with social benefits. Arvida is clearly meeting its customers’ expectations and providing a truly enjoyable environment. We congratulate the team for their success.”

Arvida’s CEO, Jeremy Nicoll, said: “We are very proud to be awarded the Canstar Blue’s Most Satisfied Customers Retirement Villages Award for 2022. Arvida’s passionate and dedicated team of almost 3,000 places our residents’ wellbeing and happiness at the heart of everything it does, and this award recognises those efforts and is a clear indication our unique approach is working. A big thank you to our Arvida residents and their families for acknowledging us with this awesome achievement.”

At present, there are 842,100 Kiwis over the age of 65, but that number is expected to hit 1 million by 2028 – that’s 20% of the entire population.

Over the past decade, there’s been a 24% rise in the number of retirement villages and a 71% increase in the number of units. And many more are in the pipeline, to provide the residential options required for our ageing population.

Canstar’s research showed more than half of us (54%) say retirement villages are a positive option for older New Zealanders, with that figure rising to 60% among Kiwis in their 60s and a remarkable 88% for Kiwis in their 70s. The figure spikes to 74% for those in the income bracket of $30,000 - $50,000, before dropping off in the higher income brackets.

However, the survey also shows New Zealanders remain concerned about the cost and care levels provided at retirement villages. Nearly a third of us (30%) worry about care levels, although that figure drops to just 20% among the over 70s. Furthermore, more than a quarter (26%) worry about the cost eating into the family inheritance.

For further details please visit the Canstar NZ site here.

For further information about Arvida please visit arvida.co.nz

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