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More retirement communities needed to tackle adult social care crisis, says report
The government should provide councils with tools to incentivise the creation of more retirement communities to address the adult social care funding crisis, a new report has said.
A report by the Associated Retirement Community Operators (ARCO) and the County Councils Network (CCN), published today, said that retirement communities – developments that allow people to live in their own property, but with access to onsite care – can play a “hugely important” role in adult social care.
The groups noted that just 0.6% of over-65s – 75,000 people – live in a retirement community and estimated that if this number were increased to 250,000 by 2030, it could put more than 560,000 bedrooms back on to the market and keep people out of hospital longer.
The report said: “Historically the UK has focused on a binary strategy of developing retirement housing for independent living alongside the provision of designated care and nursing homes to cater for people when they become more infirm.”
Retirement communities offer housing with varying levels of support and therefore allow older people to live independently for longer while still having access to care when it is needed, the report said.
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ARCO and CCN called for a new planning classification called C2R, which would better enable local authorities to include retirement communities in their local plans. C2R applicants would need to adhere to strict criteria to meet the definition of ‘retirement community’, the report suggested.
The groups also called for the creation of a health and housing funding pot to support the development of affordable retirement communities in two-tier areas and establish a framework for more collaboration.
A government taskforce should be created to consider how current and future housing and care needs can be met, the report also suggested.
Nick Sanderson, chair of ARCO, said: “The retirement community sector is ready to play its part in partnership with councils in delivering good housing-with-care to hundreds of thousands more older people.
“The coronavirus outbreak has shown just how important it is to have a strong and sustainable care system for older people, ready to take the strain off the NHS at all times.”
David Williams, chair of CCN, said: “Retirement communities are currently a fringe part of the adult social care conversation, but the benefits they can bring to people’s well-being, reducing unnecessary hospital admissions, and freeing up half a million bedrooms, shows that they should be a prime part of the solution to many of the societal challenges we face.”
