Next month Jean Whittle is celebrating her 90th birthday as well as her first experience of falling in love. She is enjoying the romance and happiness of her first relationship — from her retirement village.

Jean from Wollongong met 86-year-old Martin while she was waiting at a bus stop a few years ago.

The pair quickly became friends, but it was not until Jean thought that she had lost him that she knew she had fallen in love.

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Living apart, Martin visited Jean daily in her retirement village, but one morning when he failed to arrive Jean thought the worst.

"I panicked," she said.

"I was imagining him dead and life without him."

But it turned out that Martin had just been to pick up his niece from the airport, and it was at that moment that Jean realised she was in love.

"He was very sweet. He pinched a red rose from someone's garden … came and knelt down and apologised," she said.

Martin pays Jean a visit every day at her retirement home. ( ABC Illawarra: Renee Sant )

Before Jean met Martin she had spent most of her life caring for her cousin who was diagnosed with dementia.

While she had dated a few men, Jean said she had never found 'the one'.

"Martin is the first one I've really loved … took me 88 years."

The added benefits of love

Jean is not the only one finding love later in life.

Andrew King from Relationships Australia NSW said 9 per cent of people aged 75 to 88 were dating and continuing to be in active relationships, with the trend on the rise partly due to the increased life expectancy.

Australian woman aged 65 could expect to live another 22 years and men another 20 years according to figures by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.

"Because people are living longer it's meaning relationships are critical and pivotal to people's mental health, wellbeing and connection," Mr King said.

Embarking on a relationship later in life has been proven to have many health benefits and reduce feelings of isolation and loneliness that often come with old age.

Andrew King said more social connections in the later stages of life could lower blood pressure, reduce obesity and lower the onset of dementia by a third.

"In a relationship it has companionship, it has friendship, it's got shared mutual activities and an ongoing experience of a sexual life," he said.

"Being in a relationship with someone else probably gives you another 10 to 12 years longevity of life, and we are seeing that."

Romance in retirement villages common

As Australia's older generation continues to grow and is projected to more than double by 2057, there is a need for more access to services for individuals to maintain those important social connections.

As people get older it is becoming increasingly common for individuals to form relationships in retirement villages.

Community relations and marketing manager, Lynelle Johnson, from Warrigal Retirement Village in Figtree has seen many elderly couples find love in their later years, with 150 couples like Jean and Martin living at the village.

Ms Johnson said she believed the active social life of retirement villages helped people find love.

"They have dinners, they have lunches, they meet-up, they go walking," she said.

"So the chance for love is higher than if you were in the general community.

"It's important to remember that as you get older it doesn't stop love. You're still having relationships and you need to be in an environment that supports that."

However, Mr King said there was not enough support in retirement villages to accommodate forming relationships later in life, like shared bedrooms.

"We are really going to see a much greater demand on accommodation facilities and even nursing homes to step up," he said.

But for Jean she looks forward to celebrating her newfound romance and 90th birthday with Martin.

"It's the happiest time in my life."