SUSTAINABLE HOMES FOR AN AGEING POPULATION

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1 SUSTAINABLE HOMES FOR AN AGEING POPULATION

2 Meeting the Challenges of an Ageing Population Britain s population is ageing, and faster than earlier projections had shown. The Government Actuary issued figures in autumn 2004 which show that the number of people over state pension age will rise from 10.9 million in 2002 to 12.2 million in 2010, whilst those of 80 or over will increase from 2.5 million in 2002 to 4.9 million in The number of pensioners starts to exceed the number of children from system and national Government planning and housing policy is now focussed on the creation of sustainable communities. Draft Planning Policy Statement 1: Creating Sustainable Communities (February 2004) notes that "Planning policies should enable the provision of good quality new homes in suitable locations... a suitable mix of housing...[and] take into account the needs of...the elderly" Recognising and meeting the needs of the UK s ageing population is therefore perceived to be an essential element of Government strategy. "Planning and Diversity: Policies and Procedures," (March 2004) commissioned by ODPM to inform its review of national planning policies and PPSs to ensure that they "address the needs of a diverse society", observes: Source: Government Actuary s Department These demographic trends are recognised by Government and the policy challenges arising from them are acknowledged. In March 2004 Government Minister Stephen Ladyman observed, "Older people are demanding more from us and this government is committed to answering their call..." Government has been committed to widening housing choice for older people for some years. In 2001 the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) and the Department of Health jointly published the keynote document, "Quality and Choice for Older People s Housing: A Strategic Framework". It said that challenges exist because of the rapidly changing profile of the elderly population; people were living longer with huge upward changes in lifestyle and expectations. Older people should be able to "secure and sustain their independence in a home appropriate to their circumstances," they should be offered "diversity and choice". Providing a wider range of housing choice for older people involves the forward planning "Clearly, many spatial planning issues impact on older people; housing, accessibility and centralisation and colocation of services. Housing, its location, affordability and suitability to expressed needs of older people remains a very central concern in determining quality of life. The majority of older people are owner occupiers, a significant proportion of whom can exercise choice in changing locations in the post-work period. There is a growth in the numbers of retired people seeking market towns judging that these places have the right mix of services, coupled with less crime and real community. There are issues about how these places may respond to older people and how larger towns and cities may become places that older people choose to live in"

3 Retirement Housing Can Help Although, as Stephen Ladyman observed, "Older people are first and foremost individuals, no one-size-fits-all approach is going to work", sheltered or retirement housing is one of a number of housing choices that should be available to older people. Increasing its supply would help to guarantee their quality of life, as well as ensuring a better use of the existing owner-occupied stock. Dr Ladyman noted that, "In the UK over 95% of people over 60 years old live in private households, including approximately 5% in sheltered accommodation of some form" and that "There are real benefits for people in having their own self-contained living space behind their own front door, a space that is truly theirs and offers security of tenure". Yet the stock of such specialised accommodation is small, particularly in the private sector. The Royal Commission for Long Term Care (1999) noted that, of the 5% identified by Dr Ladyman, 56.6% was provided by the public sector, 34.7% by housing associations and 8.6% by the private sector. As the high number of the post-1950 s generation moves into retirement they are more likely to be looking to buy, not rent, retirement housing. Owner-occupiers of 60 and over are also more likely to own detached or semi-detached houses than the population as a whole, resulting in higher levels of underoccupation, so such a move is beneficial both to them and the wider community, allowing family-sized accommodation to revert to family use. one such study indicated that over 80% of those moving into retirement flats were downsizing from houses. Clearly, therefore, the supply of housing that these households will want to buy should be increased, to meet both their needs and also other planning and environmental policies for a more sustainable future. Meeting Government Policy Objectives on Sustainability and Brownfield Regeneration As we all know, many retired people do not want to move and prefer to stay in their family homes for as long as possible, although this can lead to significant under-occupation. But if elderly people, whether couples or single people, were given more choice and greater opportunity to move to retirement or sheltered housing, more would do so, freeing-up some existing family housing, using the existing stock better and reducing the need to build more new houses. Surveys of residents moving into retirement schemes show that the majority are downsizing, often from three bedroom units:

4 Retirement developers prefer to build on urban and brownfield land, or to convert existing buildings, because this provides their purchasers with greater access to shops, doctors surgeries, Post Offices and other facilities. This is in contrast to greenfield development and makes a significant contribution to a more sustainable future. Retirement housing is usually of higher density and generally has lower parking ratios than most general market housing and ideally is located within walking distance of facilities and/or public transport routes. Government guidance requires local authorities to assess existing capacity across all tenures and identify and plan for the future needs of all older people, including owner-occupiers. "Preparing Older People s Strategies" (produced by ODPM, the Department of Health, Housing Corporation and published by ODPM in 2003) strongly recommends close liaison between housing and planning departments and specifically refers to making provision in local plans for specialist accommodation. It asks: "is the current specialist accommodation system for older people likely to meet the need and demand identified? Who does the present accommodation system cater for? Who is left out? For example, owner occupiers...what will be done to ensure that all older groups have sufficient supply and choice? Are any schemes in the pipeline - do they meet current and likely needs and demands?" Helping Local Authorities Meet Identified Housing Needs Local authorities have the principal responsibility for enabling the right kinds and numbers of housing to meet this identified housing need to come forward through their housing and planning policies. In preparing their Local Development Documents they are required to compile up-todate and robust local housing assessments to identify the needs of all the community, including groups such as the elderly. But, in addition to identifying the likely requirement for specialised housing, planning policy needs to go on to make positive provision for it, recognising that this will contribute to the objectives of delivering diversity, housing choice and sustainable development. The Extra Costs of Providing Retirement or Sheltered Housing National planning guidance requires local planning authorities to work with developers to ensure that planning policies have regard to the costs of bringing sites to the market, taking into account the implications of competing land uses, and making realistic assumptions on the levels of public subsidy likely to be available. Planning for this sector does raise the need to consider some of the special features of housing designed for older people. Sheltered or retirement housing is defined as: "Housing which is purpose built or converted exclusively for sale to elderly people with a package of estate management services and which consists of grouped, self-contained accommodation with an emergency alarm system system, usually with communal facilities and sometimes with a warden". Such housing is built for people with increasing dependency as they grow older, who are progressively more reliant on disability and other allowances and who would otherwise require costly care home facilities much earlier. Although it is more expensive to provide it is also much more cost-effective as a way of providing for a significant and growing special-needs group than most of the alternatives, thereby relieving the burden on the public purse, Social Services and the National Health Service.

5 Retirement housing is more expensive to build because it has a range of services - communal lounges, laundries, guest rooms, staff facilities, landscaped and maintained areas, numerous mobility features, managers and/or alarm systems - which are not usual in mainstream "for sale" housing. Facilities can range from design modifications and alarm call systems through to 24-hour onsite care. Unsaleable space (communal areas, corridors etc) amounts to between 25-40% of the internal space, depending upon the type of sheltered/retirement scheme. Development finance is also more expensive because, unlike mainstream housing, the whole scheme is usually completed before elderly purchasers and their often anxious children and relatives will consider buying. Unlike traditional mainstream housing there is little opportunity to phase construction in line with sales. schemes should be considered on their merits within such an exemption policy. Quite apart from financial viability, it is only commonsense that increasingly old and frail people in their late 70s, 80s and 90s living in schemes developed specifically for the elderly, are unlikely to find the lifestyle of younger people particularly congenial or, indeed, vice versa. Filling the Gap left by the Escalating Closure of Residential Care and Nursing Homes Older people have a diverse range of needs. Active 60 to 70 year olds become frail 80 and 85 year olds who need some assistance, though not necessarily nursing care. Sites that are suitable for retirement housing schemes are eagerly sought by commercial developers and mainstream housebuilders who are required by national planning policy to compete for brownfield urban sites ideal for retirement housing schemes. Because they generate high development values and do not have to carry the costs incurred by retirement housing schemes, they can usually afford to pay the highest price for the land. Sheltered Housing and the Planning System Local Development Documents (LDDs) should incorporate appropriate policies, based on market assessments, to support and encourage the provision of appropriate housing for older people and other planning policies, including planning obligations, can also help delivery. For example, schemes intended for older people which incur higher development costs, as outlined above, may not be suitable for the inclusion of the same amount, or any, social housing that might be required on mainstream for-sale developments. Local planning authorities can specify in their LDD the types of residential development that would normally be exempt from the requirement to provide affordable housing. Retirement At a time when the number of nursing and residential care home beds are reducing significantly, and the Department of Health has repeatedly confirmed its belief that specialised housing has a significant role to play in future, more sheltered schemes can provide an attractive alternative, offering older people real independence and greater opportunities to socialise and to maintain community contacts, at far less cost to the public purse. Minister Stephen Ladyman said, "I believe extra care housing will be the most dominant form of residential care in the future, sometimes in the public sector and increasingly in the private sector".

6 Retirement housing, whether very sheltered or not, can offer independent living for many older people who require some level of support. A recent report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Building a good life for older people in local communities: The experience of ageing in time and place", concludes that being part of a community with an emphasis on mutual help and reciprocal relationships is central to a 'good life' for older people, offering them the opportunity to sustain inter-dependent lives. As older people become frailer, it says, their lives are increasingly affected by their immediate physical and social environment and they seek a comfortable, clean, safe environment, with a sense of belonging to their local community and to wider society. Furthermore, it has been observed that, with the burden of home maintenance and fears about safety and security taken from them, the overall mental and physical health of the elderly residents of retirement housing improves markedly. Pressure on local authority social services and the NHS can be reduced as a result. It has been calculated that the residents in retirement housing schemes spent less than half the number of nights in hospital than those aged 75+ in the general population. The frequency of visits to their GP was also lower than the average for this age group. So the provision of retirement and sheltered housing throughout the older age ranges can play a vital part in any local housing strategy and ensure that elderly people enjoy the choice of the most appropriate housing during their increasingly long retirement. The Future Planning for the housing needs of an ageing population requires regional spatial strategies and local development frameworks to set the policy framework, providing the opportunity to develop specific guidance in forward plans for retirement housing. Recognising the special considerations relating to retirement housing will also help improve the process for determining planning applications. Planning policies should, therefore, reflect current circumstances relating to housing for older people and be flexible enough to respond to changing requirements. Conclusion As Minister Stephen Ladyman said, "There are real benefits for people in having their own selfcontained living space behind their own front door, a space that is truly theirs and offers security of tenure..." Sheltered or retirement housing helps to meet Government objectives of offering older people diversity and choice in housing, sustaining a decent quality of life, a sense of well being, independence and social inclusion. Planning positively for an ageing population will help to provide a range of specialised housing for those older people for whom it is appropriate and will assist in delivering a range of housing, social welfare, health and planning objectives. Acknowledgements Crown copyright material is reproduced with the permission of the Controller of HMSO and the Queen s Printer for Scotland. Illustrations Grateful thanks are recorded to Churchill Retirement Living, Pegasus Retirement Living plc and Peverel Ltd for permission to reproduce illustrations in this document. Published by the Retirement Housing Group of the House Builders Federation. For more information about the Group and its work, contact Vivien Aldred ( ).