Roadmap for retirement homes

S C Dhall 

With the  increase in the number of senior citizens, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has prepared  Model Guidelines for Development and Regulations of Retirement Homes.

These guidelines are aimed at promoting the quality of life for the elderly people of the country and ensure protection of their rights. Implementation of these guidelines will address core property related issues of senior citizens.  

From approximately 7.6 crore in 2001, the number of senior citizens in India  increased to 10.4 crore in 2011. The population of senior citizens is expected to grow to 173 million by 2025 — more than double in a little over one decade. This will further increase to about 240 million by 2050. The population share of senior citizens will increase to 19 per cent in 2050 from 8 per cent in 2015 and it is expected that by the end of the century, senior citizens will constitute nearly 34 per cent of the total population of the country. A resident of retirement homes will be any person who is 60 years of age and above.

The model guidelines address the special needs and protect the rights of senior citizens and retirees  who aspire to spend their retired life independently in a secure environment in retirement homes.  The implementation of these guidelines will boost investment in the retirement home segment, lead to employment generation in service sector industries associated with these homes.

A regulated and organised habitation system will also bring in more investment in this special category  where demand is expected to grow steadily. The model guidelines  prescribe the model tripartite agreement. It also suggested standards and norms for building design, green building principles, lifts and staircases, corridors, services standards and living environment to be provided to senior citizens in retirement homes along with the basic amenities; medical and fitness, safety and security.

  Highlights

Retirement homes should be aligned with the principles, guidelines, norms, etc., as prescribed in National Building Code (NBC), model building bylaws and harmonised guidelines and space standards for barrier free built environment for persons with disability and elderly persons. These include:

• Elderly friendly built environment should have facilities like lifts with audio and visual signage and signalling systems, wheelchair accessibility, mandatory ramps, design of spaces to enable barrier free movement, anti-skid tiles in bathrooms and stairs, elderly friendly design of door-knobs, hand rails and furniture, kitchens with gas leak detection systems, power back-up facilities in corridors, lobby, lifts and apartments.
• Compliance with green building principles as provided in model building bylaws and use of non-polluting and renewable energy should be there in retirement homes. These habitations should also have provision of common basic services like 24x7 water and electricity supply, maintenance of proper hygiene, indoor and outdoor recreation facilities, helpdesk, transportation assistance, yoga and fitness facilities and care giving facilities.
• Provision of basic medical, safety and security services like 24x7 on-site ambulance service, mandatory tie-up with emergency facilities with the nearest hospitals and pharmacy, medical emergency room, regular medical check-up of residents, emergency alarm systems, trained and skilled security personnel, CCTV cameras in common areas, prior police verification of all the personnel deployed in the retirement homes.
• Retirement home apartments can only be sold after registration under the respective Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act (RERA) of the states/UTs. To protect the rights of the residents a list of 'basic rights of the allottee/resident of a retirement home' has been stipulated.