'Housing mkt for elderly may jump 6-fold'

The market size of housing for senior living could jump six fold to $7.7 billion by 2030 on rising demand of homes for elderly, according to a survey report by industry chamber PHDCCI.

“In India, there are about 10,000 units across senior housing properties with a market size of $1.26 billion,” PHDCCI said in its report ‘Senior Housing: A Sunrise Sector in India’ released today.

According to the survey, developers felt that the size of the sector is estimated to rise up to $7.7 billion by 2030 from $1.26 billion in 2016 helped by conducive framework.

Senior housing has been defined as a mix of real estate, hospitality and care with high-quality housing and nursing care facilities for senior citizens.

India has 120 million seniors which is almost equal to entire population of some countries, Association of Senior Living India (ASLI) Founder and Chairman M H Dalal said.

The share of elderly population in India’s total population has increased from 5.6% in 1961 to 8.6% in 2011 and is estimated to reach to 10.7% in 2021, 12.4% in 2026 and 23.6% in 2050, PHDCCI said in a statement.

To boost supply, real estate developers which are into senior housing sought support from the government in areas like land availability, tax incentives, easy availability of finance, skill development and subsidies.

DLF CEO Rajeev Talwar said it is necessary to recognise that senior citizens are a valuable resource for the country.

He stressed on creating an environment that provides them with equal opportunities, protects their rights and enable their full participation in society.

Ajay Dua, former commerce secretary, emphasised on affordability of senior housing and said the government should promote senior housing sector to meet demand.

Ankur Gupta, Joint Managing Director, Ashiana Housing, said there is a need to better understand the senior living in India and it should be taken seriously.

The government should lay more emphasis on senior housing in terms of land availability throughout the country and make senior housing attractive for developers by giving some kind of benefits on GST or RERA, Gupta said.