'Senior, but not heard' by Ian Mellor

Ian Mellor, associate, discusses priorities for later living providers in delivering safe and comfortable environments with 'The Care Home Environment' publication.

The Government’s recent planning reform whitepaper set out to deliver a “simpler, faster and more predictable” planning system, to help tackle the national housing crisis. While no-one can fault the logic in addressing the shortage of general needs housing across the country, the vast opportunity presented by our ageing population largely went unnoticed.

2020 has been an incredibly challenging year for us all, not least the Government as it attempts to control both national and regional infection rates, as well as stabilising a vulnerable economy. But the under appreciation of older people’s accommodation and care needs is hardly a new issue and it is only going to become more apparent as our population ages.

According to the ONS, the number of over-60s in the UK is set to grow by more than 7 million over the next 25 years. Nearly 60% of new households from 2008-2033 will be inhabited by someone aged 65 or over, inevitably seeking an age-friendly environment for their last major move.

Now more than ever, the Government needs to work with local authorities across the country to ensure the consistent supply of suitable environments for later life; environments that offer safety, security and quality of life in the long term – whatever the future may hold.

Offering more choice in the later living market across all tenures, price points and locations, will undoubtedly result in new opportunities for homebuyers at earlier stages of life. Whilst the housing crisis is not purely about numbers, we know that 3 million of our over-65s have expressed an interest in downsizing but have been restricted by a lack of suitable options.

Too often, we’re seeing older people confined to potentially unsuitable housing, unable to access care or local amenities, bound by the ongoing maintenance costs of ‘empty nests’ and personal safety or security issues, which only compound any feelings of isolation and loneliness. These are all issues which can be overcome in a dedicated retirement community, providing the accommodation options are readily available nearby.

We need the Government’s support on planning policy both nationally and locally to recognise the importance of retirement and ‘housing with care’ schemes to help free up under-utilised housing stock. Local authorities need more powers to identify and allocate suitable site locations that can support the size of demand required, combined with a consistent approach to defining the relevant assessment criteria, such as affordable housing and CILs etc.

The support from local government to allocate appropriately located and sized development opportunities with supporting land values, would provide the potential for thriving age-friendly communities, that not only support each other but also boost their local economies; potentially providing much-needed regeneration on some local town centre high streets.

We have already started to see the change amongst operators and investors, who are looking to provide a mix of facilities and tenure options from private sale to rental and equity release. This in turn helps address the argument for the provision and suitability of affordable housing, together with a range of lifestyle options, which can in some locations include GP consulting rooms and nurseries. The valuable role our ageing population plays in childcare should not be underestimated and these kinds of community facilities could be further supported by CIL contributions.

Unfortunately, the existing planning classifications aren’t geared fairly towards retirement communities, which naturally combine elements of both the C2 class for residential institutions and C3 class for dwelling homes. Both the Associated Retirement Community Operators (ARCO) and the County Councils Network (CCN) recently mooted a new classification – C2R – which may help bridge this gap and drive better understanding and uptake of new retirement developments. It would allow local councils to identify and allocate specific development opportunities which could be aligned with local needs, whilst ensuring that developments provide the care standards required by local communities.

Pigeon-holing the experiences of older people simply doesn’t work, which is why we need a much less binary planning system to support aspirational later living models and developments. Assumptions about old age are also hampering efforts to increase supply in this area. In our experience, proposals for larger retirement communities are often met with concerns from affected residents that essential local services (like GP surgeries) will become increasingly overwhelmed, but in many cases, this simply isn’t the case.

Studies suggest that people looking to move into a retirement community want to be within five miles of where they have previously lived. This enables people to retain important social links and key aspects of the lifestyle that they love, as well as allowing them to maintain consistency of care with local medical services. In fact, moving to a retirement community can actually help release pressure on local primary care, since on-site support can be tailored to an individual’s needs and monitored far more closely.

Some of the best examples of retirement communities are where the traditional lines are truly blurred and older people contribute equally to their surrounding community. We designed an award-winning care village for Belong in Newcastle-under-Lyme to provide specialist care, independent living and amenities for both the village residents and local people. The result is a thriving environment for later life where intergenerational social opportunities are truly enabled and encouraged.

'Old age', whenever that truly begins, should be seen as a time of opportunity; when people can do more of what they love – not less. After all, the biggest luxury in later life is time.

Truly age-friendly environments need to be versatile to accommodate a range of traditional and aspirational activities; accepting that not everyone wants to spend their golden years sitting by a pool or playing tennis. With quality of life and health being maintained for longer, older people should be supported to play active roles in society and the economy for longer too. To this end, we need far more accommodation that nurtures creativity, connectivity and productivity in later life.

The Covid-19 pandemic has really highlighted the value in maintaining connections, and later living environments will need to adapt quickly. Smart technology was already a key ingredient in many higher-end retirement developments, but we expect far more innovation in this area over the coming years – to help maintain essential contact, even in extraordinary circumstances.

Developments that provide outdoor social spaces, with buildings that can quickly be segmented into ‘bubbles’ of up to 10 households may also become the norm, if retirement communities are unable to form their own independent bubble. At Gifford Lea retirement village, where Inspired Villages is into its third phase of luxury homes and on-site amenities, the design and layout could follow this model, providing accommodation in six – 10 units, offering extra reassurance to residents after the experiences of 2020.

With an acknowledgement of the role retirement housing, housing with care and the downsizer all have to play in contributing to our housing crisis by national and local government, millions of older people will be able to remove financial worries, access suitably-designed accommodation, and enjoy their third age with people around them - playing an active role in their community for longer.

Read the article via The Care Home Environment here.