Vision for retirement living alternative with village at its heart

This is branded content for Sun Villages.

A childhood travelling around the world with her family, while her father was filming the first TV travel series for the ABC shaped Stina Kerans's vision of a kinder and more integrated retirement living model.

When the family returned to Australia, Stina witnessed the end-of-life experience of a beloved great aunt. Being wealthy, the aunt was able to afford 24-hour nursing care in her home but her emotional needs weren't being met.

"She was being looked after but I could see she was sad and lonely, and I was unable to drive so couldn't access her," Stina says. "She had a maid and carers but they didn't really care, such a contrast to what I saw in villages that support the full age range of people that live in them. There was no respect for this now frail, old and childless woman whose vibrancy had meant so much to me as a child.

"I knew then that money couldn't buy what I sought in life. My village experiences had shown me the benefits of walkable connection to all the different roles at all stages of the life cycle. To me this was real security along with happiness, not the amount of money one had.

"And so I started to seek solutions, I asked myself, 'Well what would I want and how could that be achieved?'."

The vision

Since that time, the Queanbeyan sustainable housing advocate has been on a mission to solve some of the social issues ranging from financial stress, anxiety and depression to suicides and substance addictions, that she believes are generated by the way we house ourselves.

"These sorts of issues just didn't exist in the villages I lived in, and there was certainly no such thing as a village aged care facility," Stina says.

"I collected architectural design principles that enhanced social sustainability. I imagined how easy it would be for the 'affordable housing' industry to become obsolete, and how social issues could be significantly reduced if there was a way that enabled people to collaborate using just three of these principles."

Ideal village design

Along with her husband Garry, Stina and a group of 13 people purchased an ideal site of high-density zoned land in Queanbeyan in 1981.

"It's a perfect location on the edge of open countryside, and just ten minutes from Parliament House, close to a hospital and railway station, on a public bus route, and ten minutes to Canberra airport," says Stina.

Together, they designed an ideal village and the Sun Villages concept emerged, SUN being an acronym for a Synergistically United Network of Villages.

There are now 74 apartments and townhouses on a part of this site. The last stage of this community-titled development is ready to commence and will include the SUN Village facilities.

Seeking like-minded people to join

Stina has written a book outlining her journey and her experiences leading to her identifying these design principles for people who want more information. But she says what makes her journey even more significant is "the wonderful work" of the people who assisted her in founding this unique financial model of peer-funded homeownership and investment.

"I want this demonstration village concept to be financed by people rather than banks", she says. "This company 'share-based' model cuts out many financially-extractive processes incorporated into the property and investment industries, as well as substantially cutting living costs.

"My projections indicate that as an investment, the model would not only surpass the gross annual return realised on an investment property, but also Sun Villages' shares could potentially have a greater capital gain than that of the real estate market. It's a worry-free investment with no property holding and maintenance costs.

"On top of this, the hefty capital gains tax due from the sale of an investment property can be avoided by selling a few shares when some capital is required. I'll wager that the share value will stay in line with gold and silver, while also producing a weekly income."

Stina says the model also avoids inheritance problems, especially if one child wishes to take ownership of the home of their parent or parents. And it can more easily withstand the financial crisis of divorce.

"It would only take a small group of us Baby Boomers to downsize and finance the construction of this integrated village concept, a far more financially profitable solution than buying into a lifestyle resort or retirement village," she says.

"I don't want to be one of the 40 per cent of older people who lose control of their life in a residential care facility costing a couple of thousand dollars a week - so heartbreaking for the many families I know who find it's their only option.

"In the village model, if we oldies do end up needing extra care, we could easily pay for live-in nursing care and share the costs. I can also imagine others in the village would willingly assist, especially the young who would benefit from all the ways extra income could be generated on-site."

Stina will be running a series of Zoom calls to assist people in comprehending the Sun Villages model. For an idea of how the village will be constructed visit go.sunvillages.com.au/Animate

For more information and to access Stina's book and free booklets visit sunvillages.com.au