Become an ARCO Member or Accelerator
Full details, prices, benefits and FAQs of ARCO Membership
Members shape the future of older people's housing and care in the UK
If your organisation operates an Integrated Retirement Community or is in the process of building one, you may be eligible to become an ARCO Member
Eligibility
To be eligible for ARCO membership an organisation must operate or be building to operate/actively marketing at least one Integrated Retirement Community (IRC) that fulfils ARCO’s eligibility criteria.
An IRC Operator must maintain an onsite presence at their registered communities. Membership is not open to developers, freeholders or landlords of IRCs who do not also manage the operations and service provision in their communities directly or through another entity in their corporate group, unless the operating entity is itself a member of ARCO.
An ARCO registered Integrated Retirement Community must:
- Be primarily for older people.
- Offer self-contained accommodation that can be occupied with security of tenure.
- Enable residents to take advantage of personal care that is delivered flexibly, usually by staff based on the premises.
- Have staff onsite and available at the community 24-hours a day.
- Make meals available in restaurants or dining areas.
- Offer communal facilities and encourage an active social programme in the community.
- Aim to offer people a home for life and to enable them to ‘age in place’.
In addition, ARCO Members must agree to abide by the ARCO Consumer Code and the Standards and Compliance Framework.
Membership Types
We have different classifications of membership depending on where your organisation is in their operator journey, however, all new Members of ARCO will need to join as a Provisional or Prospective member prior to achieving compliance on their first assessment.
ARCO Approved Operators are those Members that have been through the Standards Assessment Programme with at least one scheme, have formally achieved compliance against the Consumer Code and been approved by the ARCO Board.
Only ARCO Approved Operators can stand for election to the ARCO Board and can use the Approved Operator logo.
Provisional Members are operators that already haveone or more operational Integrated Retirement Community open to residents and potential residents. They are currently going through the assessment process to achieve compliance against the ARCO Consumer Code.
Prospective Members are organisations that are in the process of building their first Integrated Retirement Community, or getting ready to open their doors to their first residents. They are actively marketing their community and selling units off plan. Prospective Members work closely with the ARCO Compliance Engagement Manager and our independent assessors to achieve full compliance before they open their doors to residents.
The ARCO Accelerator Programme is a membership offer for future operators planning their entry into the UK IRC market but are not currently building their first IRC or marketing to customers. When an Accelerator begins marketing specific properties to customers (as opposed to brand awareness websites), then they will be asked to become Prospective Members. Like all Members, Accelerators are able to draw down on insight and request input from the ARCO team as they develop their offer as well as attending events and meetings alongside established operators.
If you would like to find out if you are eligible to join ARCO as a Member or Accelerator, please complete our form below.
Contact the Membership Team
If you have any questions about ARCO Membership or joining the Accelerator Programme please contact the Membership Team.