Working with Cushman & Wakefield, The British Property Federation (BPF) has launched a report that identifies an acute lack of purpose-built, self-contained homes for older people in the UK that have the capacity to provide care, yet allow residents to continue living independently.
The report ‘Housing and care for older people: Defining the Sector’ also reveals the scale of new housing-with-care units needed across England and Wales to keep up with future demand.
There are only 74,000 housing-with-care units in the UK today, representing just 0.9 per cent of older households, significantly lower than in the US, Australia and New Zealand. The UK falls considerably short of the international benchmark of approximately 6%.
The report highlights that from 2015-2019, England and Wales were only delivering 3,500 housing-with-care units each year, with a total volume of 71,000 units today. There are currently around 11 million people aged over 65 years in England and Wales, and by 2029 there will be 2.1 million more, highlighting the growing disparity between supply and demand.
BPF Chief Executive, Melanie Leech, said: “Government must make purpose-built housing for older people a national priority. It is critical that the country’s housing sector delivers new, purpose-built homes to serve older people’s aspirations, many of whom will continue to live productive and independent lives, but may wish to have certainty that their future care needs will be provided for.
“The current lack of housing-with-care is acute. Our ageing population needs more fit-for-purpose, affordable, high-quality housing and this will have positive implications for issues as far-reaching as social care, isolation and integration, generational inequality, and employment and skills.”
Download a copy of the report from the BPF Website.