The faces behind the trees: Canberra's retirement living is about community, not just villas

Retirement villages across Canberra are filling a gap the glossy brochures never show: genuine human connection. With the capital's over-65 population projected to grow by more than 35 per cent over the next decade, according to the ACT Government's 2024 Population Projections, providers are realising that the biggest selling point isn't the reverse-cycle air conditioning or the pickleball court. It's the person living next door.

This matters now more than ever. Australia's 2024 Intergenerational Report found that one in five Australians will be over 65 by 2063. Villages such as Lendlease's The Grove in Casey and Lendlease's The Valley in Gungahlin, which opened in 2022 and 2023 respectively, are already seeing the shift. Their show homes are open, but the real tours are happening over coffee in residents’ kitchens.

‘I didn’t come here for the garden’

At The Grove, a retirement community on the northern edge of Canberra, you won't find a clubhouse with a grand piano that nobody plays. Instead, residents run a book club that meets every second Tuesday, a walking group that sets off from the village entrance at 8am on Saturdays, and a weekly craft circle that has, by all accounts, produced more baby blankets than the official records show. The Grove's development manager, speaking on background, said the village's design prioritises communal courtyards over private lawns. The result is a built environment that forces interaction.

It works. Valerie, 78, moved in from a house in Ainslie. She told the The Daily Canberra she chose The Grove because she was tired of mowing a lawn of 400 square metres. But the reason she stays, she said, is the neighbour who brings her soup when she is unwell. The village does not have a formal concierge service. The soup is delivered by the woman two doors down, who also checks in on residents whose cars have not moved in three days.

From quiet streets to shared meals

The Valley in Gungahlin operates on a different model. It is part of a master-planned community and shares a boundary with the Gungahlin Lakes Golf Club. Residents have access to a community centre that hosts monthly shared dinners. Linda, 71, a former public servant who moved from Deakin, said the first dinner she attended seated her next to a retired botanist who had spent 30 years working on native trees in the ACT. By dessert, they had planned a walking tour of Black Mountain. She said she had lived in her house in Deakin for 18 years and did not know the name of the person who lived three doors down.

The trend is not limited to large developers. Goodwin Aged Care Services, which has operated in Canberra since 1953, runs independent living units in Ainslie and Monash. Its executive manager of community services said the group is seeing a surge in interest from people who want a maintenance-free home but also a social structure that resembles the best parts of suburban life: communal vegetable gardens, bridge nights, and a volunteer driver program that takes residents to appointments in Civic. He said the transport service runs because residents volunteer, not because the budget pays for it.

What happens next depends on how well the sector can scale genuine connection. Lendlease is completing 58 more villas in the next tranche at The Valley, due for release in early 2027. The Villages Act 2024 mandated annual social connection audits for licensed retirement villages in the ACT. The next audit for The Grove is due in September 2026. For prospective buyers, the advice from current residents is simple: skip the morning tea they put on for open days. Instead, ask to have lunch with someone who already lives there. The soup will tell you everything you need to know.