"If You Use a Cane, You Can't Move In"...Tacit Agreement to Prevent House Prices from Falling [Senior House]

[9] Reasons for Not Accepting 'Elderly with Canes'

Elderly Welfare Housing Requires Independent Mobility and Age Limit Below 85

Implicit Agreement to Decline 'Dementia and Terminal Cancer Patients'
"Property Value Drops... Residents Also Do Not Want Them"

"Those over 85 years old cannot move in. Even if you are younger than that, if you use a cane, you cannot move in. You must be able to walk on your own. We need to assess the health condition of the elderly. You must come with your father for a consultation." Seo Jeong-ah (47), who lives in Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, sighed while on a phone consultation with a senior welfare housing near her home. Her father, who lives alone in their hometown, is 81 years old this year. Since developing arthritis, he has been relying on a cane. Seo said, "Other places also have age restrictions," and added, "Except for my knees, nothing else hurts, but they still won't accept him. I wonder where I should take him," showing a distressed expression.

Among residents living in sale-type senior welfare housing in Gyeonggi Province, there is an unspoken agreement: 'Do not sell houses to elderly people with dementia or terminal cancer.' In the lobby, there is a notice stating the intention to allow only relatively healthy residents to move in. A nearby licensed real estate agent said, "Our role is to facilitate sales, but we also check the health condition of the elderly who come to look for houses." Although it is their own house and they might think they can do as they please, there is a reason. Park Nan-hee (76), a resident here, explained, "If bad rumors spread, the house prices are immediately affected," and added, "I feel sorry for those who are ill, but the residents here do not want to live mixed with people who cannot live normal lives."

Industry Stirred by Proposal to Remove ‘Able to Live Independently’ Clause

The entry threshold for private senior welfare housing is quite high. Usually, the age requirement is under 80 to 85 years old, and one must be able to walk unaided to move in. Even if one has financial means, if not healthy, entry is not possible. An operator of a senior welfare housing in Seoul explained, "Health is a ‘basic condition.’ Residents must be able to use facilities like the fitness center and serve themselves meals on a tray to live independently."

He added, "These places are businesses, and there is even a waiting list. Elderly people who ‘require more care’ are pushed to the back of the line," and continued, "If we accept all elderly people in their 80s or 90s, the average age rises, and those in their 70s tend to avoid moving in."

In reality, neither operators nor residents want elderly people who use canes to move into senior welfare housing. A manager of a senior welfare housing in Gyeonggi Province said, "Those in poor health should go to nursing homes, not senior welfare housing."

An elderly person is being assisted while moving at a nursing home in Seoul. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

In this context, when the Ministry of Health and Welfare announced last March that it would remove the phrase ‘able to live independently’?a legal entry requirement for senior welfare housing?the industry was stirred. The government explained that the purpose was to lower the entry threshold for senior welfare housing. A Ministry of Health and Welfare official from the Elderly Policy Division explained, "When elderly residents living in senior welfare housing receive nursing care grades, they gradually face pressure to leave the facility," and added, "The intention is to allow those with home care nursing grades to continue living there."

The industry responded, "If you say to accept even dementia patients or bedridden patients, who would want to operate senior welfare housing?" Ji-hee Lee, adjunct professor of social welfare at Suwon Women's University, pointed out, "The government needs to establish step-by-step measures on which facilities and care services elderly people should receive as they age. If they require housing to accommodate very ill elderly people, building senior welfare housing will become even more difficult."

No Control Tower for Elderly Housing Policy

Elderly people taking a walk in a park in downtown Seoul. Photo by Jo Yongjun jun21@

There is also a view that the controversy arose because there is no government-wide control tower. Kang Dae-bin, vice president of the National Association of Elderly Housing Welfare Facilities, said, "Because there is no control tower for senior welfare housing, such puzzling policies emerge," diagnosing, "Without policy continuity, policies disconnected from reality are announced abruptly."

For example, the ‘Long-term Care Insurance System for the Elderly,’ implemented since 2008, is operated by the Ministry of Health and Welfare through the ‘Long-term Care Committee,’ which plans long-term strategies. He believes that elderly housing policy also needs an organization to create policies looking 10 or 50 years ahead.

Kang added, "The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, which is responsible for a part of senior welfare housing, recently announced plans to build ‘Silver Stay,’ a long-term rental housing for middle-class elderly. But the term ‘Stay’ is used for short-term accommodations like hotels or motels, not for housing," and said, "This alone shows that the government needs to think much more deeply."

There is also an opinion that the control tower should include not only the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport but also the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the Ministry of Science and ICT. A senior welfare policy expert from a government research institute, who requested anonymity, emphasized, "Senior welfare housing should not be seen as just building a structure. To ensure elderly residents live well there, four ministries must cooperate."

He explained, "The Ministry of Land handles housing supply, the Ministry of Health and Welfare manages services and operations, the Ministry of the Interior oversees local housing management, and because senior welfare housing increasingly requires ICT-based functions, the Ministry of Science and ICT must be included." He added, "In 2011, Japan’s Ministry of Land and Ministry of Health and Welfare jointly revised the ‘Elderly Housing Support Act’ and used it as a control tower to implement housing policy. Our country urgently needs to enact laws for elderly housing policy through the National Assembly and government," he advised.