More housing for over 55s proposed for Brown Hill

Ballarat Lifestyle Village will soon launch into its third stage of development, which will build 61 units, the original application sought to build 33 during this stage.

The village is located at 263 Scott Parade in Brown Hill, which recently became Ballarat's booming suburb with housing prices surging to a median of $705,000 for the first quarter for 2024.

These "cabins", as they are referred to in the planning documents, are all two-bedrooms of slightly different sizes.

The development has land ready, which is zoned general residential, and the majority of the new builds would be built west of the site towards the main accessway off Scott Parade.

As of May 2024, there were four units available with a starting price of $399,000.

Ballarat Lifestyle Village is permanent housing for over 55-year-olds.

A population analysis of census data showed a steady increase in the number of people over the age of 55 in the Ballarat local government area from 2006 to 2021.

There are about 31 senior citizens per 100 Ballarat people, compared to 25 out of 100 people 17 years ago.

Over the next 15 years, almost one quarter of Ballarat's population will be over 60 years of age, according to a report about council's Ageing Well in Ballarat Strategy, published in 2022.

Housing had also been a key issue in Ballarat, as it has Australia wide, and to tackle this and ensure development of Ballarat will encompass housing stock relevant to its residents, the City of Ballarat is developing a housing strategy with the aim to have 29,000 houses built in less than two decades.

This is to house the growing population of Ballarat, estimated to increase by 55,000 over 18 years. Ballarat's growth rate for population is approximately two per cent annually.

Ideally, having more housing stock will see more relief when it comes to housing prices and rent accessibility and increases.

Having 96 two-bedroom cabins at the village, could mean more couples or singles in retirement age might move from their family homes, or continue the trend of people from Melbourne seeking a tree change in Ballarat.