Chris Baynes

It may not be obvious but retirement living and land lease operators have received a ‘win’ in new aged care announcements

When Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced “historic aged care reforms” on 12 September there was no mention of retirement villages or land lease communities. However, behind the new Aged Care Act and in particular co-contribution, that will be...

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Chris Baynes

24 Sep 2024

Opinion

Ryman implosion – bad things a long time coming?

The finance veteran of the Australian retirement village sector is Jim Hazel, and he never misses the opportunity to say that bad things happen; good times do come to an end. They have come to an end for Ryman Healthcare over the past six weeks...

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Chris Baynes

03 Sep 2024

Opinion

False expectations and false hopes – Neil Smith reminded us that residents are to be respected

On Sunday night Neil Smith passed away at the age of 90. It is the end of an era for me. Neil (pictured right above) was the first resident of a retirement village that I ever met. In June 2006 we were launching villages. com. au and our print...

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Chris Baynes

27 Aug 2024

Opinion

ABC 7.30 Report opened a window of opportunity for village operators

Last night’s 7.30 Report on ABC TV gave us a glimpse into the future of retirement villages (and land lease) when no home care and aged care beds are available, and it was grim. Last week I spoke of the fact that it is now a 12+ month wait to get...

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Ian Horswill

20 Aug 2024

Opinion

This is important for land lease and village operators

The next two weeks will decide if the retirement village sector’s big care strategy, to rely on home care delivered into the village, is built on sand. The strategy requires village residents to be assessed and awarded home care packages, and...

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Chris Baynes

13 Aug 2024

Opinion

Facts not fiction: why sectors must invest in independent research

The fallout from the Adele Ferguson / ABC media pile on targeting Victoria’s largest land lease operator, Lifestyle Communities, continues with its share price maintaining its downward drift. In three weeks it has shrunk from $12.56 to $8.53...

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Chris Baynes

06 Aug 2024

Opinion

Where is Labor’s respect for aged care and older, frail Australians? Missing, or it never existed

‘Quality aged care’ was one of Labor’s core electoral platforms. But it’s been eight months since the Taskforce handed in its report. We can only conclude that Labor’s political machine is holding the aged care reins for political purposes.

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Caroline Egan

01 Aug 2024

Opinion

False expectations and false hope: can villages deliver on the low care value proposition?

Village operators openly and willingly tell us that retirement villages are now the new ‘low care’. But after weeks of discussion with residents (pictured below), operators and key care providers, we have come to the conclusion that the...

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Chris Baynes

16 Jul 2024

Opinion

Hotels the next market challenge for the retirement sector – Four Seasons Residences to open in Melbourne

Now check out this Four Seasons video promoting their Private Residences and their web site

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Chris Baynes

09 Jul 2024

Opinion

Peter Nilsson’s Life Membership award also a trigger for village leadership reflection

The Retirement Living Council’s sell out conference last week may be a future line in the sand for the retirement village sector. The mood was optimistic across the close to 700 delegates at The Star Gold Coast. Tony Randello, President of the RLC...

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Chris Baynes

02 Jul 2024

Opinion

How often in your career do you experience a gold rush that fundamentally changes the dynamics of an industry? Think land lease

In this issue of The SOURCE we cover the fact that relatively little known Brisbane investment group GreenFort has decided to jump into the land lease sector with $800 million to establish a new operator called Liven Communities (backed also by Hong...

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Chris Baynes

25 Jun 2024

Opinion

Richard de Haast is a pragmatist. Do we need more of him?

Richard de Haast is a lateral thinker with a track record. We do need more of him. Sitting behind Richard in the photo above is Scalabrini’s 1980s decommissioned aged care home on the absolute waterfront of Sydney Harbour in Drummoyne. He is...

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Chris Baynes

18 Jun 2024

Opinion

Big business is now corporatising LLCs with the goal of $8.5B+ in development revenue. Is this good?

Younger retirement accommodation is being corporatised. Is this a good thing? Can the corporates build genuine ‘community’? Do we care? Younger retirement accommodation to us is land lease; the average age of entry is 60+. They are seeking...

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Chris Baynes

11 Jun 2024