Housing-with-care operators have called on the government to adopt major tenure reforms for the sector drawing on what works in New Zealand.
Operators of private, modern housing-with-care schemes have backed proposals published by membership body ARCO for a ‘Retirement Occupancy Lease’ (ROL) - a modern alternative to traditional leasehold, specifically designed for IRCs.
Building on the lessons of New Zealand’s system of ‘occupational rights agreements’, the ROL would reorient the legal framework for the IRC sector away from static leases toward legal arrangements that can be updated for every new resident.
From a legal perspective, the ROL could be implemented by mandating the use of key clauses in Retirement Occupancy Leases via statutory regulation.
The ROL would have the following key features:
• Mandatory fixed management charges removing risk from residents
• Enhanced consumer protection including new routes to redress
• Updated legal agreements for each new resident that are afforded higher protections in law
• Aligned interests on resales – operators take on a direct financial stake in the resale value of schemes (‘skin in the game’, aligning their interest with residents.
ARCO has published its proposals in a briefing entitled “The Retirement Occupancy Lease: Applying international best practice to housing-with-care”, which is available to download on the ARCO website.
New Zealand is widely recognised as an international leader in housing-with-care. Two of the three largest housebuilders in New Zealand are operators of housing-with-care.
Michael Voges, Chief Executive, ARCO said:
“Just as it is doing for general needs housing, it is vital that the government looks at what works in other countries for specialist housing, including housing-with-care for older people.
The ROL draws directly on international best practice and the tenure benefits found in comparable countries overseas – notably New Zealand’s housing-with-care sector - and applies them to the UK.
In the long-term, the ROL could be a stepping-stone toward a full, New Zealand-style contract-based tenure model for housing-with-care of a type that simply doesn’t exist currently in UK law.”
The Lord Best OBE DL, Co-Chair, APPG on Housing and Care for Older People, said:
“If we’re going to adapt housing policy to the ageing of the population, it’s really important that we learn from what other countries have done well. The IRC sector has long sought to learn lessons from abroad and the government should study ARCO’s new proposals closely.”
Mick Laverty, Chief Executive, ExtraCare Charitable Trust said:
“The ExtraCare Charitable Trust has always provided a new lease to every new resident, and our innovative model has allowed us to deliver thousands of new homes for older people. However, we need legislation to catch up with current practice and the ROL will do just that.”
Tim Seddon, Chief Executive, Retirement Villages Group (RVG) said:
“RVG’s shareholders are long-term pension investors managed by AXA IM Alts, a global long-term and diversified asset manager. Looking across the world, leasehold is an anomaly and in the context of global ageing, forward-thinking governments are adopting bespoke arrangements for housing-with-services, such as IRCs.
Our Guaranteed Repayment Lease reflects that shift in practice: residents benefit from clearer, more predictable costs and greater peace of mind, built on the same principles the ROL seeks to formalise. Getting this right for residents is fundamental to unlocking the sector's growth. A well-designed ROL will accelerate housing delivery and be a building block for further innovation."
NOTES FOR EDITORS:
- ARCO is the national membership body for charity, not-for-profit and private operators of modern housing-with-care schemes, known as Integrated Retirement Communities (IRCs). IRCs typically comprise 24/7 on-site support, a bar/café/restaurant/bistro, personal care if it is required and extensive communal facilities, such as swimming pool, gym, gardens, etc. The average age of moving in to an IRC is 79 and the average duration of residence is around eight years.
- The Housing Minister recently told MPs:
“… the Government understand the distinct operational and financial models that underpin specialist retirement housing, and that we recognise the important role that integrated retirement community operators play in providing high-quality housing for older people… the way in which the retirement housing sector functions in a world in which commonhold is the default tenure, and whether some kind of exemption is required, are among the many questions we are seeking feedback on in our consultation on moving to commonhold and banning leasehold for new flats.”
https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2026-04-13/debates/51CD692E-9426-452B-AB3F-40AD74D25FEA/LeaseholdReformIntegratedRetirementCommunities - In the report of its pre-legislative scrutiny of the draft Commonhold and
Leasehold Reform Bill, the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee noted:
“…the care model and complex financing of some retirement housing— particularly Integrated Retirement Communities—may justify a different approach to other leasehold housing.”
https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm5902/cmselect/cmcomloc/40/report.html - Information on the largest housebuilders in New Zealand can be found here:
https://businessdesk.co.nz/article/property/ranking-the-countrys-biggest-home-builders - For more information, contact: James Lloyd, Director of Policy & Communications, ARCO (Associated Retirement Community Operators)
M: 07535 088498 / jameslloyd@arcouk.org
