Helen Vlasich, village manager at Bupa Glenburn Retirement Village in New Lynn, Auckland, says that for many new residents shifting into a village, the key to settling lies in downsizing and making the most of your space.

Commonly, those moving into a retirement village leave a family home, and such transitions come with sadness at having to leave a much-loved place.

Vlasich says spending time on making the new home welcoming, familiar and well-suited to the needs of the homeowner will comfort their ongoing physical and emotional needs.

"We offer one- and two-bedroom apartments in our retirement village. So it's quite a change for people coming from a three-or-more bedroom family home,” she says.

Key recommended characteristics for a new retirement village home include guaranteeing ease of use, that it is socially inviting, contains light and bright spaces, is sensory-stimulative, A 2016 Natural England Journal of Medicine report itemised the benefits of engagement with nature during various stages of later life. These include a more positive emotional state and better sleep, appetite, attention, awareness and sense of belonging.

"Many of our residents really embrace the change and look at this move as an opportunity to buy something new for themselves.

On the other hand, some really want to keep their familiar things around them. There's no right or wrong."