Senior Living In Post-COVID World

There is a growing need for comfortable, curated-care homes with the pandemic leaving Independent elderly at lurch, struggling for small chores

- Vishav

Sunil Malhotra (name changed), a retired banker, has been living with his wife in his New Delhi bungalow ever since his son moved to Australia two years ago. With the whole nation under lockdown earlier this year, it proved difficult for the old couple to manage most home chores. Since they also needed regular medical checkups due to geriatric issues, living in a bungalow was a handicap. This is the story of a large number of senior citizens who live independently. Since they need some extra care, a real estate segment devoted to their specific needs has been gaining popularity over the last few years.

Moreover, the COVID-19 crisis, which has made many realise the need for assisted-care homes, has increased the demand for this niche segment. However, the supply of such homes is quite limited with only 55 projects by top-12 players. It is no surprise then that Max India’s Antara Senior Living recently announced a ₹300 crore investment in this segment over the next four years. These senior living projects are expected to come up in Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Chennai.

Amit Modi, Director, ABA Corp, and President (Elect), CREDAI Western UP, says the scale of migration of youth to metros and foreign countries for better education and job opportunities is rising. Joint families are already disintegrated into nuclear families, which makes the senior citizens crave for the right social circle. Also, they are vulnerable to crimes and health emergencies.

According to Rajit Mehta, CEO and MD of Antara, the pandemic has disrupted and created a new normal even for the senior care industry as all facilities had to be secured, appropriate interventions for mental health had to be introduced and new ways of engaging had to be thought through.