The UK needs between 30,000 and 50,000 new later life homes a year due to demand, but the only builds around 7,000 a year, according to a government-backed report.
The independent report from the Older People’s Housing Taskforce outlines the growing pressure on housing for the over 65s.
It points out that over 11 million people, or 18.6% of the population, were 65 or over at the time of the 2021 census, compared with 16.4% at the time of the previous 2011 census.
By 2066, this study estimates, the older population will have grown by 8.3 million, or 26% of the UK, “broadly equivalent to the size of the population of London today”.
The body also points out that currently 91% of over 65s currently live in mainstream housing, which is “unsuitable homes for ageing”.
It says only 12% of senior citizens had level access to their building, while 46% had a bathroom on the entry level of their home.
It adds that “more than half of older households” live in homes with an energy efficiency rating of D or below. A rating of C, or above, is considered acceptable by the government.
The taskforce says: “Ensuring suitable, accessible and affordable housing for later living is a societal obligation on which the current housing market falls significantly short.”
It makes nine “core recommendations”, several of which are related directly to housing. They are:
This should include adapted mainstream homes, community-led properties, supported living and assisted living and care homes.
- Greater incentives for later life housing investment
The report says: “If developers and operators can build and run housing options that customers can afford to buy and live in, investors will provide the capital funding to fuel the growth of supported living and assisted living.
“In turn, the ability to connect senior citizens with the ‘right choice’, at the ‘right size’, at the ‘right price’ will be key to securing the capital investment needed to fuel the sector’s growth.”
- National and local planning policy should “help deliver greater volume and diversity” of later life housing
As part of this, local planning authorities should “make better and more timely choices in planning applications” for later life housing
Audley Group chief executive Nick Sanderson welcomes the “focus” the report brings to this area.
Sanderson says: “This report brings real focus to the housing challenges our aging population currently faces in the UK and sets out concrete recommendations to improve things.
“We hear so much about the housing crisis, but to date, far less about how we can resolve it in a way that benefits the entire population, not just first-time buyers.
