Former nurse and academic appointed as chair of retirement housing taskforce

Professor Meyer co-founded My Home Life, an international collaborative initiative to promote quality of life in care homes for older people.  

A former nurse, she is professor emerita of nursing at City, University of London, where she has led research in care for older people for 23 years.

Professor Meyer will work with the government to finalise the taskforce membership and the group’s terms of reference, with a first meeting to take place once all members have been confirmed. 

The cross-department taskforce was first announced in the government’s Levelling Up White Paper in February 2022.  

It was originally going to be led by then-housing minister Stuart Andrew, but never launched due to Mr Andrew’s resignation amid the collapse of Boris Johnson’s premiership and the subsequent churn of housing ministers. 

Developers that have lobbied the government for the taskforce since 2020 said they hope the announcement of an independent chair would provide more stability than the previous minister-led plan. 

The UK currently has 70,000 dedicated retirement housing units, which provide a home for 0.6% of people over 65.

Ms Meyer said: “Working between housing, health and social care will be critical to its success and I’m looking forward to advising government on proposals that give older people more choices in later life.” 

A review of retirement housing by Professor Les Mayhew of City University, published in November 2022, concluded that 50,000 new homes for older people need to be built each year to meet the needs of the ageing population, or one in four of all new homes. 

Housing minister Rachel Maclean said: “Making sure older people can access the right homes that meet their needs later in life is a government priority.  

“And by unlocking more housing for older people, we can also have a hugely beneficial impact on their health and well-being. 

“I am very excited to have Professor Meyer leading this taskforce, as we radically improve the choices available to older people, whether that’s retirement housing or support to help people live independently for longer.”

Michael Voges, chief executive of ARCO, said: “Today’s launch of the Older People’s Housing Taskforce is a watershed moment for our sector – signalling true government backing for an expansion of housing and care provision for those in later life.”