Ivan Gillis

India

Overview or Retirement Homes

Retirement homes give senior citizens a healthy and peaceful environment, where they can simply unwind themselves and live those golden years again.

These homes are privately owned rental accommodations for seniors who are able to manage and pay for their own care. Generally, retirement homes are designed for seniors who need minimal to moderate support with their daily living activities. The settings of these homes enable residents to live as independently as possible, while providing certain services and social activities. Most retirement homes offer meals, housekeeping, laundry, and recreational and social programs. These homes can be an appropriate option for people who do not require 24-hour nursing care. One can live a healthy life with regular exercise, meditation, and healthy food in retirement homes.

With the increase in the spending power, the demand for retirement homes is expectedly on the rise. The financially secured senior citizens want to spend their last years in luxury, with all the amenities they were used to during their working years, and with the added comfort of having medical and other care services at hand.

'Retirement Homes' are also vacation homes for some. As many of these cater to the needs of retirees whose children live outside India. In recent years, several senior Indian immigrants from the US and UK have purchased villas and apartments in India. Some of them have already transferred their residence to India, and some others treat these much like vacation homes, with yearly trips for extended stays in India. Developers are also looking at a big non-resident Indian (NRI) retirement market and building homes for the high-income couples working abroad in the US, Canada, Europe and even the Middle East who will retire in the next 3 to 5 years. This is a big opportunity. There are couples working abroad who would want to spend 3 to 6 months in a year in India. Retirement homes could target them as well.

Though the concept is very western, many Indian developers are also coming up with Retirement Homes. Some property developers from Pune have introduced the concept of "Apartments for the old". They have constructed apartments that will suit the requirements of old people - the interior design and the amenities are built in a manner that will suit their needs. These Retirement Homes offer several advantages like:

The elderly can spend time with people of the same age. This helps them bond better and make lasting friendships with people they can relate to.

They can conduct activities, which they can enjoy together - like playing games and going on a picnic.

Medical facilities are offered for its residents. This is especially useful if the individual has no family to fall back on.

Anyone can apply to a retirement home. You do not need to provide medical evidence that you need a minimum level of care. The retirement home, however, may assess your needs to ensure that it can provide you with appropriate support, or that you do not need more support than it can provide

Besides these amenities, builders feel that it is important to develop these homes away from the crowded city life. Also, the prices of metros are beyond the reach of senior citizens. Some developers like Covai Property Center feel Coimbatore is a promising option for development of retirement homes. Mr. A. Sridharan, Managing Director of the company has said that Coimbatore has a strong case for becoming a favored destination of the retirees because of salubrious climate, excellent medical facilities, proximity to famous religious and tourism centers and the availability of direct flights to important international destinations

Some residents of these retirement homes say that they have chosen to live there by choice and not because of any compulsion. They need their own space like younger generation. It's time for retirees to live life king size.

S Kaur Sawhney writes on behalf of Allcheckdeals.com, which is India2s first and only online brokerage for Residential Real Estate and Property. It provide services to customers starting from property selection by all developers, site visit, booking, documentation, home-loan and after-sales service