But he can OWN the house, he can get 30 year leases with a clause to extend for another 30 but the first 30 would probably be long enough for what he needs it for anyway.
It's best if you apply for the retirement visa from your own Country then you will have no problem opening a bank account here, You can not open one now with just a tourist visa.
Have you succeeded doing it for more than one person, We tried it and it didn't work so it was easier to do one each but there do seem to be a lot of glitches with the system.