Fast growing sector hires new Head of Membership and Operations

ARCO appoints Lex Cumber as new Head of Membership and Operations

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

09/12/20

 

Fast growing sector hires new Head of Membership and Operations

ARCO, the main body representing the older people’s housing-with-care sector in the UK has today announced that Lex Cumber will be joining them as their new Head of Membership and Operations.

The housing-with-care sector, often referred to as Retirement Communities or extra care has been experiencing rapid growth in recent years as major institutional investors have moved to respond to rising demand from older people for good quality housing and care options. The sector has also seen very significant growth in its housing association and not-for-profit provision driven by increasing demand from local authorities.

As Head of Membership and Operations Lex Cumber will be the chief point of contact for the growing number of partners seeking to work with the sector and will be responsible for managing suppliers seeking to expand their business in the sector.

Another key function of Lex’s role will be managing ARCO’s relationships with its members and ensuring that the trade body continues to deliver sector leading events.

Lex has worked in the retirement sector for more than five years including in construction, development and sales enablement.

Lex Cumber, ARCO’s Head of Membership and Operations said:

“I am delighted to be taking up this role – housing-with-care is such an important sector and such an exciting one to be working in right now. Working with our amazing members and partners I am looking forward to helping ARCO drive years of ambitious growth and to making sure that we continue to deliver a fantastic service for hundreds of thousands more older people.”

Michael Voges, Executive Director of ARCO said:

Lex is a great addition to the team – he understands our sector, what our members want and how to deliver value for them. His background in supplying the sector means that he will be able to work well with both members and partners. As a team we are all excited about the coming growth in our sector in the years ahead and look forward to working on behalf of our members and residents to revolutionise housing and care for older people in this country.”

 

ENDS

 

For Further Information Please Contact

Gareth Lyon, Head of Policy and Communications, at garethlyon@arcouk.org or on 075350 88498

 

Notes to editors

 

  1. About ARCO: Founded in 2012, ARCO (Associated Retirement Community Operators) is the principle body representing both private and not-for-profit operators of housing-with-care schemes in the UK. ARCO’s members aim to provide housing and care solutions to an additional 150,000 people over the next 10 years. We work in three distinct areas, each vital in supporting our Members and growing the sector that helps people to live independently for longer.
  • Setting the Policy Agenda: delivered through policy campaigning work with MPs, Peers, Government Ministers, Local Authorities and other key sector stakeholders to influence the future of much-needed sector specific legislation.
  • Compliance & Regulation: delivered through our Consumer Code and standards framework, with continual assessments of Members to drive high standards for customer and resident experience.
  • Knowledge Sharing and Best Practice: delivered through our extensive events programme, annual What Next? Conference, Network bulletins, online Knowledge Bank, and ARCO Analytics.
     
  1. About Retirement Communities/housing-with-care: Retirement Communities sit in between traditional retirement houses (which have less extensive staffing and leisure facilities), and care homes, and can be set in urban or suburban locations. There is a growing body of evidence which shows that Retirement Communities keep older people healthy, well and independent for longer – reducing the overall level of care they need and keeping them out of care homes and hospitals. Currently about 77,000 people live in Retirement Communities in the UK but this number is set to grow to 250,000 people by the end of the decade. Retirement Communities are the fastest growing form of social care provision in the UK – with demand significantly exceeding current supply. Typically consisting of individual one or two bedroom flats or houses, located in a development with similar properties, residents have access to a range of services and facilities, which will include optional on-site care, 24-hour staffing, and dining and leisure facilities, and may also include bars, gyms and craft rooms. Retirement Communities are also sometimes referred to as housing-with-care schemes, retirement villages, extra care housing, assisted living, or close care apartments.

 

  1. The benefits of Housing-with-Care: Housing-with-care has shown during the outbreak that it can help residents to self-isolate independently. A particular advantage of this form of retirement provision is that residents can access the highest levels of support from staff through care, meals, regular phone check-ins and a wide range of online activities.
    More broadly, housing-with-care brings a range of great benefits to older people and our country as a whole:
    • Delivering savings to the social care system: Providing social care for those with lower-level needs costs £1,222 (17.8%) less per person per year, and for those with higher-level needs £4,556 (26%) less than in other care settings.
    • Boosting health and the NHS: By improving the physical and mental health of residents, costs like GP, nurse and hospital visits reduce by 38%. £5.6bn in cost savings will be made for health and social care if 250,000 over-65s live in housing-with-care by 2030
    • Freeing up family homes: 562,000 bedrooms will be released to the market for all generations if the sector achieves its 2030 growth targets.
    • Efficient use of land: Apartments for older people are built using up to six times less space than family homes.
    • Tackling loneliness: Residents are five times as likely as non-residents to participate in social events, and four times as likely to get together with friends.

These benefits have been clearly demonstrated during the coronavirus outbreak. The provision of care, meals and support onsite has played a key role in keeping residents well and healthy. Housing-with-care has been central to cutting hospital admissions, reducing strain on the NHS and providing crucial step-down capacity once people could leave hospital.


 

  1. Our call for a Housing-with-Care Task Force: The coronavirus pandemic has shone a light on our social care system and forced us to reflect on the fact that we need to develop new models of care.

There is a huge gap in the current social care landscape for housing and care options that sit between care homes, and people receiving care in homes that may no longer suit their needs. For older people without acute care needs, the UK needs to grow the provision of models that enable them to live independently for as long as possible: with onsite care and support if needed, boosting health and wellbeing, reducing pressure on the NHS and strengthening social connection.

That’s why ARCO is calling for the swift establishment of a cross-government Housing-with-Care Task Force to accelerate the growth of the housing-with-care sector. Backed by a range of high-profile supporters, we believe a Task Force is the best mechanism through which barriers to growth can be identified, and recommendations for change made. Only by working together can we establish new options that compliment and extend the existing social care landscape in the UK.