ARCO, the national membership body for housing-with-care, welcomes the government’s milestone announcement of £39 billion for new social and affordable housing.
However, the Housing Minister recently noted that the “need to provide sufficient housing to meet older people’s specific needs is critical… Well-designed, suitable housing can improve the quality of life, health and wellbeing of older people, as well as supporting wider Government objectives.”
With an ageing population, it is vital that a sufficient share of new social housing investment is earmarked for older people’s homes, improving the options of older social housing tenants.
Michael Voges, Chief Executive of ARCO, said:
“The country badly needs a new injection of social housing and the government is delivering. However, despite recognising the benefits of specialist housing for older people, there is no detail on what percentage of the new investment will be targeted at social housing tenants currently living in unsuitable homes. We believe at least 20% of this investment should be reserved for specialist housing for older people, such as Integrated Retirement Communities, helping to free up general needs social housing for younger families.”
