UK: Three of the UK’s largest retirement housebuilders have called on Boris Johnson to set a target for the delivery of homes for the over-65s.
In a letter to the PM, the chief executives of the three largest specialist retirement providers told Johnson that his Covid-19 recovery plan for the economy must include specialist housing for over-65s.
The letter was from John Tonkiss from McCarthy & Stone, Spencer J McCarthy from Churchill Retirement Living and Lifestory Group’s Mark Dickinson, who recently established the Homes for Later Living policy group.
It was sent following the prime minister’s intentions to prioritise housebuilding to boost economic recovery, and illustrated the economic benefits of building 30,000 senior living homes per year to address an ageing UK population.
The letter claimed that the main advantage of prioritising elderly specialist housing would be to generate savings for the NHS and social care services of approximately £3,500 per person per year.
The letter said: “Building core specialist retirement housing would be a win-win for the government. It would unlock the housing market, helping older people, young families and first-time buyers. It would also assist with attempts to fix the social care crisis once and for all. With the number of older people in England growing significantly, the time to act is now. The government has given the housing market the green light to get moving again and we welcome this. But the risk is that the recovery drive will be running on empty if we don’t take urgent action to help the millions of people who actively want to downsize.”
