Lifetime Villas Limited

"I'd love to help my parents into their new home"

Our aging population - Safe, Warm and Connected?

Statistics New Zealand forecasts that New Zealand's population is likely to hit 6 million in the next 50 years, up from 4.7 million now. They also forecast that the number of people aged 65+ is likely to triple from 650,000 now to 1.8 million. As the NZ Building Act requires that construction has to have a minimum life of 50 years it seems logical that we should be turning our attention to constructing large numbers of homes to meet the needs of the aging population.

An increase in the overall population of 1.3 million will require 481,000 new homes at an average of 2.7 people per dwelling. Over 50 years this will require approximately 9500 homes per year. Over that period the number of people in homes aged 65+ increases by over 190% to 27% of the population.

Since October 2011 the construction industry in NZ has been building at an average rate of 1800 homes per month or 21,600 per year.

In order to keep up with the projected demand we need to construct 5800 homes for people over the age of 65 every year for the next 50 years.

Over the period since October 2010 retirement village units have been built at an average of 1300 per year - leaving a shortfall of 4500 retirement style homes per year.

We are not the only ones who believe that there is a real and compelling need to create specifically designed homes in the community that meet the needs of our aging population as an alternative to retirement village communities.

These homes will need to be significantly better than the average home being built in NZ today. The type, features and quality of construction has not changed significantly in the last 20 years.

Its time to "move on".

The automotive industry is a good example of continuous development and improvement - your transport is most likely your second biggest purchase after your home but what a difference there is in how the industry treats you as a customer!

Whether you consider automobiles, airplanes, buses, bicycles, or trains; as technology has advanced, they have all made significant improvements. Each of these modes of transport has continued an ongoing process of development to ensure that they are safer to use, are more energy efficient and respond to your requirements. Most people now demand that their means of transport is the best available to them.

We have now brought the same emphasis on continuous improvement to the development and construction of housing for all ages in New Zealand. Our LifetimeVillas incorporate a range of off the shelf standard features and options that ensure that even the "base model" is significantly more aligned to satisfying your requirements than the average home being built in NZ today.

Safety in the home can generally be directly linked to how easy is it to live in and how the day to day needs of the user have been incorporated. Internationally this focus is known as universal design (and in NZ the Lifemark represents these principles too). Our homes have considered how you live, the way you interact with the features in the home and by design ensure that the features and components will assist you in your daily lives.

Efficiency covers a wide spectrum. We have chosen to focus on the use of energy in the home as a means to create lower cost housing - at build time and over its life cycle. The balance between size and specification is critical. The larger the home the more it will cost to build and operate. We provide solar photo-voltaic panels (PV) to provide energy to the home (affordable storage is not far away - it could be in your car soon!), but providing energy is only the start. How you contain it within the building is important too (orientation, glazing and insulation are critical) so we recommend using structural insulated panel (SIP) systems and insulated floors. The fittings and appliances in the building can also have a major effect on the long term running costs; so LED lighting, efficient (inverter) appliances and high efficiency heat pumps are provided.

Thirdly to ensure that the home works for you over time it needs to respond to your needs. This can be accomplished by using a range of technologies that can be introduced and scaled to suit as your needs change. Our base specification includes all of the pre wiring to ensure that you are ready to connect, with a range of easy upgrades to tailor your home for your future requirements.

So for a home that finally catches up to the 21st century look no further than a LifetimeVilla by the Procerto Group.