The Older People's Housing Taskforce

Written by Sarina Kiayani, Policy & External Affairs Manager at ARCO

The Older People’s Housing Taskforce was created by the last Conservative Government as an independent body, first announced in February 2022 Levelling Up White Paper.

The aim of the Taskforce was to look at options for the provision of greater choice, quality and security of housing for older people. Its objectives were to look at ways to increase supply and improve the housing options for older people in later life, and to explore ways to unblock any challenges. The scope of its work focused on both public and private specialised and supported older people’s housing, with a particular focus on the private market for those on middle incomes. The scope did not include care homes.

The Taskforce was chaired by Professor Emerita of Nursing, Julienne Meyer, and members included senior leaders across housing and social care, alongside organisations focused on older people.

Associated Retirement Community Operators (ARCO) led the campaign for a Taskforce over three years before it was announced, recognising the deficit in housing options for later life in the UK compared to countries like Australia, New Zealand and the USA.

The Taskforce began its work to look at options for the provision of greater choice, quality and security of housing for older people in 2023, submitting its report to Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and the Department of Health and Social Care on 22 May 2024.

Due to the 2024 General Election being called at the same time as the Taskforce’s report concluded, its final report, Our Future Homes: Housing that promotes wellbeing and community for an ageing population, was published under the new Labour Government in November 2024.

Key Recommendations

The Taskforce’s report consisted of 10 key recommendations:

1. Standardise definitions of older people’s housing

   
   

   The report indicates that older people, referred to throughout as senior citizens, prefer older people’s housing to be called later living homes (LLH). Within that broad category of Later Living Homes/Housing, the Taskforce suggested the following subcategories: mainstream homes/housing (MH), Community-Led Homes/housing (CLH) and two types of service-led homes/housing (SLH), split between supported living (SL) and assisted living (AL), and care homes (residential and nursing).

   
   

   The Taskforce recommended that agreed national definitions for the different types of Older People’s housing (OPH)/LLH that can be understood not only by senior citizens and the public, but also professionals (investors, planners, developers, operators, health and social care providers) and policy makers (national and local) should be created and implemented.
   

2. Incentivise a wide range of LLH options

   
   

   The Taskforce stated its vision in this regard was “to see more age-friendly and inclusive mainstream housing and grow a range of community-led housing, in addition to expanding the range and volume of supported living and assisted living homes for people in later life”. This is to enhance the choice in housing in later life. They acknowledged the urgent need to adapt and upgrade of existing stock, raise accessibility standards for new homes, and consider community-led forms of housing as options that may be more affordable and beneficial for the majority of people.

   
   

   They added that politicians must also recognise the workforce implications of enabling senior citizens to be well supported in their homes, and to plan for this. This includes supporting staff in OPH/LLH schemes, and domiciliary care workers who provide essential care and support to senior citizens in their homes. The Taskforce also noted that we can learn from the examples of other countries, such as New Zealand, which has an advanced Retirement Village (RV) market.
   

3. Develop more housing designed for later life 

   
   

   The Taskforce noted that we have a growing ageing population and housing stock that does not meet their needs. They recommended all forms of OPH/LLH including mainstream housing, community-led housing, service-led housing (supported living and assisted living) and, though not the focus of this report, care homes.

   
   

   They said their vision for this “is for a greater range of attractive, well-designed age-friendly and inclusive homes that are desirable, accessible, adaptable, technology-enabled and affordable to meet the housing needs and lifestyle choices of an ageing population and enable people to live well and comfortably into older age, connected to their local communities”.
   

4. Create age-friendly, dementia-inclusive, faith and culture sensitive communities

   
   

   The Taskforce said we should aim to create inclusive local communities where senior citizens enjoy life and thrive. Age should not be a barrier to living well and the environment, activities and services should support and enable senior citizens, including those living with dementia, to have opportunities to enjoy life and feel well, participate in society and be valued for their contribution, have enough money to live well, feel safe, comfortable and secure at home.
   

In this section of the report, the Taskforce’s vision includes creating communities that are inclusive for all, including housing for LGBTQ+ older people and foster intergenerational connectedness through older people’s housing being close and connected to other housing and facilities. Building age-friendly communities would also provide families with peace of mind, knowing their relatives are receiving the support they need whilst living close by.

It is good to see that the Taskforce’s vision includes creating communities that are inclusive for all and this should start with design and consideration into the operational management of the needs of a more diverse population including, women, people Ageing without Children, LGBTQ+ older people and people looking for intergenerational connectedness.  

5. Expand LLH at scale, ensuring it is affordable to live in and viable to build, finance and operate

   
   

   To increase supply, the Taskforce said we should create greater incentives for inward investment, including private and public sector capital. This would a greater mix of housing that is affordable to those in the ‘lower to middle market’.

   
   

   The Taskforce’s vision for this is “one where the market is able to supply a wide range of housing options to meet senior citizens’ needs at a price people of lower to middle-affluence can afford”.
   

6. Strengthen national and local planning policies to incentivise development

   
   

   The current planning system remains a major barrier to the expansion of housing options for older people.

   
   

   It was positive that the National Planning Policy Guidance (NPPG) was updated in 2019 to explain the critical need for OPH/LLH. However, that much-needed change still failed to reverse the trend of a declining number of planning approvals for OPH/LLH. To address this, the Taskforce recommended that local authorities need to be given the right levers to reverse this chronic under supply to meet growing future demand. This means ensuring sufficient land is made available to support the volumes of new supply needed. Raising the profile and priority given to OPH/LLH in local plans will bring confidence to providers and help overcome the “social reluctance to plan for old age”.
   

7. Establish a national information platform with local hubs

   
   

   The Taskforce noted that, for older people to fully explore options in housing for later life, they must first understand what offerings are, what would best meet their needs and how to take them up. Accurate and trusted sources of information are needed for this.
   

They therefore recommended that an independent and trusted national platform to share resources and information about the various types and tenures of OPH/LLH should be created, so that duplication and replication is avoided at local level. The platform could provide an in-person or an interactive software system, and Advice Line. It could also signpost people to local hubs, where they exist, for more in-person information and support, if required.

8. Build consumer confidence

   
   

   The Taskforce’s vision here is to see improved consumer protection and trust so that senior citizens are confident in moving to OPH/LLH. This is critical to empower senior citizens to explore and take up the housing choices available to them.

   
   

   To build consumer confidence, the Taskforce recommends that we should follow international best practice and develop more specific approaches to consumer rights issues, especially for OPH/LLH with higher levels of support and care, that is operationally more complex to deliver and may include different charging structures. One example of this is the Taskforce recommending that the government implements measures to protect consumers from hidden event fees, paid after leaving a retirement property, as soon as possible, based on recommendations developed by the Law Commission in 2017, and accepted by government in 2019.
   

9. Enhance innovation, research and professional development

   
   

   To address gaps in knowledge around housing options in later life, the Taskforce recommended creating a mission-led innovation, research and professional development strategy and programme focused on housing for later life. This would facilitate a clear, preventative, joined-up agenda to deliver essential changes that transform the homes in which people live, by addressing the needs of the ageing population, their wellbeing and health outcomes, and the need to create inclusive communities. The Taskforce said this should be mission-oriented and solution-focused with support from all relevant departments of government.
   

10. Create collective leadership to drive change

    
    

    The Taskforce stated that our collective ambition should be to see the delivery of a long-term National Housing Strategy for an Ageing Population, to enable the country to be better prepared for the multifaceted impact of an ageing society and to support the transformational thinking of government departments in housing, health and social care and other key stakeholders in local communities. They recommended that a new Office for an Ageing Population should drive delivery forward, with central government, local systems and the industry all having a role in collaborating to drive change. Housing and care policy should also be joined up effectively to facilitate this.

What Next?

It is down to the government to take the Taskforce’s recommendations forward. In a Ministerial Statement given as the report was published, Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook said that “the Government recognises the importance of increased supply and improving the housing options for older people in later life, and we will give careful consideration to the many recommendations set out in the report”.

The Minister noted that the government is working with the Planning Advisory Service to meet the recommendation of the Taskforce for guidance to provide more clarity on how planning use classes apply to specialist Older People’s Housing, and will consider the needs of older people’s housing in upcoming leasehold reform.