The government’s taskforce on older people’s housing can unlock growth, says John Tonkiss, CEO of McCarthy Stone
According to the latest ONS statistics, nearly 70% of UK households have more bedrooms than they require. There are also 3m older people who would like to downsize to somewhere better suited to their needs – but can’t. If they could, they would free up 2m spare bedrooms, solving the housing crisis outright.
As a nation, we need more housing options for those looking to downsize to give older people choice, while also freeing up existing homes for younger people.
The government’s promised (but not yet launched) taskforce on older people’s housing offers a real opportunity to grow the supply of older people’s housing, helping to make this the decade where the full suite of benefits offered by retirement housing can be fully realised.
It needs to be launched now – and be given a real mandate to free up larger homes at the top of the ladder for young families – which will also help first-time buyers.
Years of undersupply have led to increased demand
At the end of last year, McCarthy Stone, alongside Damian Green MP and Lord Best, convened a roundtable of parliamentarians, government officials and representatives from across the housing industry to discuss housing for older people. Every person sitting around that table agreed on one thing: there have been years of undersupply of housing for older people, ranging from bungalows to retirement housing, and that this trajectory can only change if government policy is in place to address this.
Over the last few years, housing and care have both been at the top of the political agenda at various points, but the government has yet to be bold enough and drive through policy which will dramatically improve this part of the market for the better.
This has led to their being years of undersupply in the retirement community sector, leading to a situation where demand for this form of housing is around 30,000 new properties a year but supply is around 7,500 new units a year. Even doubling the current amount of specialist homes for older people would have a significant impact on the market, unlocking economic growth.
Retirement communities can improve older people’s independence and wellbeing
Research by the Retirement Housing Group shows that delivery of retirement housing has actually gone backwards as the population has aged. In 2015, there were 139 retirement properties per 1,000 people aged 75 or over, but in 2021 this number had fallen by over a fifth to just 110 properties per 1,000 people, a trend which looks set to continue.
Retirement communities have huge benefits, both for their residents and wider society. Such communities help older people maintain and improve their independence, health and wellbeing, and in the process, save the NHS thousands of pounds per resident each year and reduce the pressure on the social care sector.
Meanwhile, more than nine in 10 of our sites are on brownfield land in or close to town centres. This is convenient for older people as schemes are close to high streets, with access to essential services and transport.
We also have a plan to make retirement communities more accessible by increasing affordability, increasing choices of tenure and increasing the care services that we provide to our residents. However, issues in the planning system, and the lack of a national focus on retirement housing specifically, are delaying our ability to achieve this and to increase supply.
That is why our industry was delighted when the government pledged that it would be launching a taskforce for older people’s housing, and we are pleased that the housing minister Lucy Frazer MP has renewed this pledge. The taskforce has great potential to address the significant supply side constraints that currently prevent our sector from expanding and delivering additional socio-economic benefits.
Planning remains a barrier to growth
At the roundtable a couple of months ago, attendees agreed that the planning system remains the key barrier to the industry meeting the needs of older people. Solutions discussed included there being stronger local and national guidance on housing designed for older people; putting retirement housing on the same basis as homes for first-time buyers to incentivise supply; setting clear targets for councils’ Local Plans; exempting people moving into a retirement community from paying stamp duty; and supporting greater consumer understanding of this important sector.
These are objectives are not exclusively held by developers. In January, the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Housing & Care for Older People published a report which recommended that the government increase the provision of affordable shared ownership for older people. It also recommended clearly “defining older people’s housing needs to help ensure that they are adequately included in Local Plans”, and noted that local planning authorities should undertake housing needs assessments for older people.
To increase the benefits provided by retirement housing, we need to be able to tackle the hurdles currently stymying their development. Our industry has the ideas, capacity, and experience to change the UK housing market for the better. We now need greater government support to help our sector truly reach its potential.
John Tonkiss 
CEO
Tel: +44 (0)800 201 4811
