High-Cost Hampering Penetration And Availability Of Senior Living To The Masses, Read Key Findings Of ASLI's Report

Association Of Senior Living India’s (ASLI’s) Ageing Fest held on 14th November 2024 released various findings from their report “Elevating the Golden Years”. The event was hosted to tell people about various measures being taken for senior citizens in various sectors such as health and housing etc. It also revealed where the Indian ecosystem stands on the introduction of Senior Living to its citizens and whether the citizens are financially prepared or not.

Rajit Mehta Chairman, ASLI & MD & CEO of Antara Senior Living began the event with his speech that introduced how senior citizens’ perspectives and needs have changed especially regarding life after retirement. He said, their findings showed that seniors no longer want to live a lonely life but want to welcome a more active and positive lifestyle in retirement along with better care for themselves including both mental care and physical care, a better social life and a sense of community during retired life and personalised care for themselves as well as their spouse. He concluded the welcome speech by saying how financing and mitigation of the financing to this large a population are the major problems thus creating unaffordability of basic geriatric healthcare services where there are 0.7 hospital beds per 1,000 elderly. 

In his keynote address Mr. Amit Yadav, Secretary, Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment elaborated on government initiatives like “Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act” for senior citizens’s protection, inclusion of seniors and super seniors in “Ayushman Bharat Insurance Scheme,” addressing both physical and mental aspects of health as well as many pension schemes offered to seniors for their financial security.  Yadav also elaborated on various ways the ministry has tried to protect the elderly of the country which is through policies and legislations.

Dr Samantak Das, Chief Economist and Head – Research & REIS, India, JLL, then elaborated on the key findings of the report and whether India is really ready for senior living. He started by breaking the senior living industry into three parts Real Estate which is represented by independent living, hospitality with assisted living and finally healthcare associated with Skilled Nursing  Care. He said, “ Where the report touches all three mentioned aspects of the senior living community a lion’s share of the report is presented through findings in the Independent Living area.”

Here Are The Key Findings of The Report Elevating the Golden Years on Senior Living Opportunities in India's Evolving Market.

• The Longitudinal Ageing Study of India (LASI) indicates that 26.7% of urban elderly reside alone, with only their spouse, or with others, highlighting the urgent need for specialized senior living solutions.

• The rising awareness and acceptance of senior living solutions present a unique opportunity for developers and investors to develop quality-driven solutions in this market penetration of only 1.3%.

• India's senior living population is expected to increase significantly, reaching 346 million by 2050, making it a potential global leader in senior living solutions, and setting new standards for ageing populations.

• India's senior living sector has grown significantly over the past decade, with over 20,000 specialized units established. Independent living facilities dominate, accounting for 85% of the inventory. Developers are expanding their portfolios with senior-friendly housing options to meet the ageing population's diverse needs.

• Southern India is experiencing a significant senior living boom, accounting for 60% of the national market share, largely due to lower fertility and mortality rates.

Major Concerns Of The Sector

Where there is always hope and a positive side of the development, these are always concerns and those concerns become obstacles difficult to concur. When asked about what major concerns he found out while carrying out the research Dr. Samantak Das mentioned the following.

Penetration To Mass

The first major concern expressed by Dr Das is the penetration and availability of senior living to the masses due to unaffordability as the ticket size is 70-75 lakhs which is quite high for the normal public but remains to the top earners. The entire issue of penetration is a problem of affordability as people are not able to afford senior living and it is still looked at as a high-ticket expense.

Mitigation of Affordability

As Senior living is highly costly and it is rightly so, it is difficult to make it affordable for all. Mitigating affordability is a pressing issue according to Dr. Das. Reverse mortgage was a good option which did not pan out well in the Indian market as the banks themselves were not pushing the concept for seniors. It created a lack of financial support thus restricting them from being able to afford a proper house in their old age.

Could Senior Living end up just as an Elite Trend?

“Senior living in my opinion is right now an elite option, the way we are looking at it and the way the supply is coming,” Dr. Das remarked. He further said that the issue is the operational expense and not the capital expense. The people cannot afford it due to the high operational costs of senior living but capital is being put into it by the developers. The real challenge is to make it affordable and then mitigate that affordability to people make it accessible to all and eliminate financial difficulties.