Working Queenslanders are flocking to over 50’s lifestyle communities, with the advantages of freeing up equity from the family home, resort-style living and a thriving social life acting as some of the major drawcards to transition smoothly into retirement.

Community owner and operator Ingenia Lifestyle has reported a spike in the number of purchases from working buyers, with one their Chambers Pines community alone reporting 15 recent purchases, all from buyers who are still actively working.

Chambers Pines Project Sales Manager Lynda Ruddell said the increase in interest from this demographic has made it clear that Ingenia Lifestyle communities are not just sought after for retirement, but also for vibrant community living.

“Many of our residents are in their 50s and although our community has typically been home to retirees, we’ve seen a noticeable increase in enquiries from a younger demographic who are still working,” Ms Ruddell said.

“It’s a great opportunity for younger buyers looking ahead to their retirement while retaining their independence, and our residents are really a social bunch— there’s no shortage of fun.”

Deb Welch and her partner Chris Frehmann, some of the youngest women in the community, are both still working but were looking to downsize to find an easy solution to transition comfortably into their future retirement.

“We’re big travellers and often found that when we came back from trips, we weren’t using our whole house – we decided that we really wanted to downsize, and we found Ingenia Lifestyle,” Ms Welch said.

“We usually travel overseas every year but with COVID-19 we haven’t been able to, so we’re saving even more – we might even use those savings to retire earlier,” she said.

Another key reason for their move to the Chambers Pines community was the affordability of Ingenia’s land lease model, which would make their retirement stress-free so they could focus on prioritising social and lifestyle goals.

“Transitioning into our retirement was definitely on our radar when we moved here,” Ms Frehmann said.

“We really liked Ingenia Lifestyle’s house prices which are affordable, and it’s been a smart financial decision for us to own our own home and pay the site fees knowing we’ll have this security as we get older.

“Everything gets looked after here, we don’t have to worry about upkeep on the gardens or the pool – we can spend more time being social, which everyone certainly knows how to do here!”

Ingenia Lifestyle’s land lease model for independent living is an opportunity for a younger demographic to take advantage of a financially smart transition to secure a long-term retirement plan.