Housing Needs for the Ageing Population in Ongata Rongai

A Project Report Submitted to the Chandaria School of Business in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirement for the Degree of Masters in Business Administration (MBA)Retirement involves many transitions. Generally, within retirement people move from working to not working, from reliance on a steady source of income to living on pension and other subsidised sources. For living requirements, retirees move in to smaller homes that ideally would support their lifestyle into old age. The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a market for Senior Housing Communities in Ongata Rongai. To understand this better, the research objectives were defined as follows: The first one focused on establishing the factors that influence housing needs for retiring citizens in Ongata Rongai. The second one established the options available for retirement housing communities in Ongata Rongai. The last one reviewed key success factors in the establishment of a retirement housing community. The research work as suggested by the subject matter was undertaken in Ongata Rongai. A sample size of ninety-five people was defined using the Yamane formula further to understanding the full population of the area which is estimated at 1,800 people. The study was undertaken through a questionnaire. All respondents to this questionnaire needed to be aged 40 and above as this research work defines that these individuals are either about to retire or have retired and us such form the right target audience for this research work. The findings of this research work informed that majority of the respondents were keen to age in Ongata Rongai. However, most of the respondents of the research were low income earners and only had a basic level of education. This then suggests that any upcoming retirement community needs to customise their offering to suit this profile. When we reviewed factors to consider on retirement housing needs, the research informs that security, Independence and access to health facilities ranked the highest. It was surprising to note that social inclusion did not feature as highly as suggested by the literature that was reviewed. On the second objective, this research work determined that the residents of Ongata Rongai did not particularly subscribe to a particular housing community but instead had different needs met by the different communities discussed. The residents of Ongata Rongai did not particularly care for Green Environment for their retirement community instead they informed of missing factors in the questionnaire that include security, infrastructure and food security. Lastly, having gone through the research outcomes this research informs that the development of a housing community in Ongata Rongai would be a successful business venue given that the factors that define the success of a retirement community for the respondents within Ongata Rongai are all issues that can be address by both developers and the community itself. However, before embarking on this effort, it will be vital for more research work to be undertaken to understand what food security means to this population and equally their understanding and appreciation of place attachment