Retirement News : Seniors : Sale takes retirement homes

Sale takes retirement homes

Date Added: 29-04-2005

ELDERLY pensioners wanting to live at a former Salvation Army retirement village will have to pay $150,000.

 
 
 
 
 
 
Pensioners on the waiting list for accommodation at Inala Village in Blackburn have been left stressed and confused after the Salvation Army sold the property.
Independent housing units were available before the sale to elderly people who could not afford to pay for accommodation.

But now pensioners have been told to fork out $150,000.

Box Hill pensioner Val Clarke said she had no assets and didn't know where she would live now free housing was not available at Inala.

"It floored me because previously they didn't require a bond," she said.

"The Salvation Army haven't thought about the people who don't have the assets. There will be a shortage of places to live if things go on like this."

Retirement Care Australia has purchased Inala from the Salvation Army and will take over this year. Spokesman Jim Toohey agreed elderly people would be disappointed if they were under the impression they could live at Inala free.

"We are selling independent living units for $150,000 . . . and we are not required to reserve any part of them for people who can pay nothing," he said.

"And we wouldn't. It would be like asking a car salesman to sell every one of his cars free."

Salvation Army spokesman John Dalziel confirmed the conditions for Inala had changed.

Federal Chisholm Labor MP Anna Burke said that local pensioners had been let down by the sale.

"These pensioners expected to have appropriate housing available that was affordable," she said.

"And now they discover by virtue of the sale the option is no longer available because they don't have $150,000."

She said many had sat on waiting lists expecting independent accommodation to be available when they needed it.

"There is a lot of confusion. I've got pensioners who thought they sorted out their retirement and now they haven't."

For More Information:

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,15120839%5E2862,00.html