Regional Towns Take Growth Into Their Own Hands as Downsizing Options Dwindle
BALLARAT, VICTORIAโค – Facing a critical shortage of suitable housing for older residents, several regional Australian communities are taking the unprecedented stepโฃ of becoming property โขdevelopers themselves, building homes specifically designed for those โฃlookingโ to โdownsize. The move comes as a growingโข numberโ ofโค seniors find โthemselves unable to remainโข inโฃ family โhomes โthat have become โฃtoo large to โขmanage, yet are โคmet withโ virtually no appropriate alternatives in their desired locations.
The lack of downsizing options is exacerbating โbroader housing pressures in regional areas, already strained by โขpopulationโฃ growth and limited infrastructure. While national attention focuses on affordability โฃchallenges for young people, โคexperts warn that the needs of older Australians โareโค being overlooked, creatingโ a systemic mismatch across the entire housing lifecycle.
“Theโฃ onyl time older people โขever get โฃtalked about in โคterms of housing isโ retirement living or moving into aged care,” says gerontologist Victoria Cornell,โ who recently studied overseas housing models for seniors. “Iโข think it’s about 8 per cent of over-65s who live in retirement villages and about 4 per cent โlive โขin residentialโ care. In terms of genuine things that help older people move, or even recognize older peopleโ in the housing system,โ they are just absent.”
The trend โof communities self-developing is emerging in towns โคlike Hepburn Springs and kyneton, where local councils andโค community groups are spearheadingโค projects to build โฃsmaller, low-maintenance homes.These initiatives aim to keep older residents withinโ their communities, close to support networks and essential services.
Dr. Liz Allen, a researcher โฃfocused on housing and demographic trends, believes the current debate is counterproductive.”Australians โฃare at war with each otherโ in an intergenerational sense and that undermines our future, it โคactually doesn’tโข help the cause,” she says. “We’ve got a whole-of-system housing mismatchโ and at each โขstage of the life cycle,we have a โproblem. This is notโข just โa young person problem – don’tโ be fooled into thinking that. โคWe have disconnected ourโข humanity from housing.”
The situation highlights a broader national issue:โ Australia’s ageing population โand the failure of current housing policy to adequately โaddress the diverse needs of its citizens. As baby boomers age, the demand for downsizing options willโฃ onlyโ intensify, โขplacing furtherโ pressureโ on regional communities to find innovativeโ solutions.
(09/11/2025): An earlier version of โthis story made reference to a ‘spare bedroom tax of sorts’ being floated byโฃ Cotality.โ The research firm โhas never proposed such a tax.
