Time for bold action on older people’s housing

The taskforce’s collective expertise has delivered a blueprint to drive much-needed growth in the retirement housing sector. Supply needs to increase from about 7,000 new properties a year to meet estimated demand for 30,000, and the recommendations are likely to call for a rapid increase in provision.

This ambition complements Labour’s aims. The updates to the NPPF should include new requirements to plan and deliver more high-quality housing options for older people, with many local plans still sadly silent on this form of housing.

This would deliver several benefits. It would re-energise the housing market through the release of thousands of existing homes onto the market, particularly as each downsizer unlocks two to three further moves in the housing chain, often ending with first-time buyers joining the ladder.

“It would re-energise the housing market through the release of thousands of existing homes onto the market”

It would help our struggling health services. If older people could access independent living in a retirement community easily, or indeed other forms of housing such as bungalows, they would enjoy greater mental and physical health benefits and achieve quicker and safer hospital discharges.

It would also unlock billions of pounds of new investment into the market and the economy, with investors, including us, standing by to increase supply.

As the UK’s leading developer and manager of retirement communities, we can see what it would take to unlock this part of the housing market.

We have written to the new ministers, calling on them to take four key steps that would directly power a change of direction.

1. Act on the recommendations made by the Older People’s Housing Taskforce.

2. Ensure the new NPPF provides greater prominence for the need for older people’s housing.

3. Help older people with the costs of moving by introducing a stamp duty exemption for those downsizing into retirement housing, to encourage moving in later life.

4. Require Homes England to designate 10% of its housing delivery for older people and expand its Older Persons Shared Ownership scheme to increase the provision of affordable housing and care options in later life.

In the absence of these reforms for now, we are committed to doing all we can to help those stuck in unsuitable accommodation. This focuses on rolling out more affordable options, an area we feel the retirement community sector has historically overlooked.

We are seeking to do this in several ways. We use modern methods of construction to build faster and more efficiently. We are partnering with housing association Anchor to build new accommodation across all tenures. And we now offer the Older Persons Shared Ownership scheme across several developments to make our products available to people at lower price points.

“Mindful of the government’s drive to save money for the NHS, we are providing more care and support options across our developments”

For those needing additional financial support, we offer advice and practical support via our free benefits advice service to help customers claim thousands of pounds that they may have missed out on otherwise. We also offer extensive support at the point of resale, with the ability to defer service charges when that time comes. This reduces the pressure to sell quickly and cut prices.

As well as providing fair and transparent service charges, with no mark-up or commission, our research shows that it can often be cheaper to live in a retirement community than in a customer’s previous home. People typically save around £2,300 a year in a retirement-living apartment compared with like-for-like services in their previous home.

What is more, mindful of the government’s drive to save money for the NHS, we are providing more care and support options across our developments to keep our customers independent for longer, and free of state care.

It is important that we do all we can to provide a more affordable offer. We look forward to working with the government to make this a reality for more people in later life.

John Tonkiss, chief executive, McCarthy Stone