Bengaluru: Senior housing developers and operators, which build and manage residential communities for those aged 55 and above, are looking to ramp up operations by acquiring land, expanding into new cities, and adding premium services as demand for such homes rises.
The senior living segment in India has seen mixed success in the past, and has remained under-penetrated. That is fast changing, though, with operators riding a strong demand, and developers too, entering the space.
Bengaluru-based Manasum Senior Living, which has four operational projects in the city and one in Goa, has entered Chennai, Mysuru, Tirupati, Mangaluru, and Pune. It will be launching the first senior living project in GIFT City, Gujarat, and plans to sign projects in Gurugram, Hyderabad and Mumbai soon.
“There is huge demand for senior living homes in both the metros and beyond, and the supply is still very low. A larger number of people has started accepting the model, leading to rapid expansion and scale by most firms. Today, every developer plans to get into this space, and a few of them are partnering with operators,” said Kushal Ramesh, co-founder, Manasum Senior Living.
Senior living firms either develop and operate the projects, or they tie up with developers, and help the latter in design, sales and operations.
India's senior population—those aged 60 years and above—is growing fast and is set to constitute an estimated 17% of the world’s elderly population by 2050. Between 2000 and 2024, the country’s senior count doubled from 73 million to 159 million. This is forecast to rise to 195 million by 2030, and 348 million by 2050, according to the UN World Population Prospects 2022 report.
There are currently around 22,000 senior housing units in the organized sector, valued at around $2-3 billion.
Bengaluru-based Primus Senior Living has launched 3,500 homes in the last decade, and has a massive pipeline of 4,000 homes that will be launched in phases in the coming months. It is operational in Chennai, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Kolkata, and will launch new projects in Hyderabad, Pune and National Capital Region (NCR).
“Compared to the demand of four lakh units, the supply is just over 20,000 units, so the opportunity is huge. However, it is important to understand that this is not a pure real estate play. Senior living operates at an intersection of a hotel, hospital and real estate,” said Adarsh Narahari, founder and managing director of Primus Senior Living.
In the past four years, Delhi-based Ashiana Housing has seen a 30% year-on-year growth in sales. It has over 3,000 homes under development, and another 4,000-5,000 homes in the launch pipeline. From Navi Mumbai to Bengaluru, the company is eyeing new cities and locations.
A recent report by property advisory JLL and the Association of Senior Living India (ASLI) highlighted the potential of the senior living sector, projecting a 300% growth to reach $7.7 billion by 2030.
However, the market penetration of 1.3% for senior living facilities in India indicates a vast untapped potential compared to over 6% in the US and Australia.
Projects get larger, more premium
The premiumisation trend in mainstream residential projects has caught on with senior living projects as well.
Earlier this month, Ashiana Housing inked its largest-ever land deal for a senior living project—a 22-acre land parcel in Pune, with an estimated revenue potential of ₹1,800 crore.
“Our project sizes are getting larger and more premium. Price is not a constraint for consumers and they are asking for better, premium homes. Our projects are also offering superior quality amenities in projects, with bars, cafes, clubs,” said Ankur Gupta, joint managing director of Ashiana Housing.
The company currently sells senior living homes at ₹65 lakh, going up to ₹2 crore. For the new inventory that will be launched in the months to come, homes will be priced at up to ₹3-4 crore.
“In Chennai, for instance, we are launching high-end villas,” Gupta added.
India’s largest real estate firm DLF Ltd is gearing up to launch its first senior living project in Gurugram, where homes will be priced upwards of ₹12 crore each, as per property consultants.
Several senior living firms, including Ashiana Housing and Manasum, are also looking to enter the Gurugram market, driven by rising demand for such homes.
Interestingly, the Haryana government has revised its Retirement Housing Policy, increasing the permissible floor area ratio (FAR) from 2.25 to 3, which basically means developers can now build more homes and facilities on a piece of land.
Manasum currently sells one-bedroom homes for ₹50 lakh and two-bedroom units for ₹75 lakh. Its new launches will see a higher pricing band of ₹80 lakh and ₹1.2-1.3 crore for one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments, respectively, Ramesh said. In its GIFT City senior living project, the penthouses will be priced at ₹4 crore.
Bengaluru-based Shriram Properties has tied up with an operator for its first senior living project, in Chennai. Earlier this year, developer Brigade Group partnered with Primus Senior Living for three such projects with a gross development value of ₹750 crore.