The key to fixing the housing and social care sectors — with one policy
Few would deny we have a housing crisis in this country — and even fewer that the social care system, which has suffered so much in recent weeks, needs urgent reform.
These two facts may seem to have little correlation, but a report out today from Cass Business School and ARCO — entitled Too Little, Too Late? Housing for an ageing population — demonstrates that thinking more broadly brings us far closer to a solution.
By 2040, there will be 20m surplus bedrooms in the UK. And nearly 60 per cent of those bedrooms are in houses occupied by the over-65s.
Clearly, there is potential there to free up some of these unoccupied family homes. The demographics of the UK are changing, and there are 160,000 households of over-65s being added each year. Their needs will not necessarily best suit the homes they currently occupy.
Choice is vital. Nobody should move unless they want to and feel it is a positive step for their future. But we know that many older people would indeed like to downsize. The issue is the lack of supply of appropriate housing for them, which has not only stagnated but actually decreased significantly since 1990.
Over the last 10 years, just 7,000 specialist retirement units have been built every year, and the existing stock accounts for under three per cent of total housing supply. This has clear implications for the lack of movement in all parts of the housing market.
And there is another, major implication too: the pressure that living in unsuitable housing can place on the NHS and the care system.
Care homes have had a very difficult time during the pandemic, but this new crisis has really just been the tip of the iceberg. The pressure on the system has been building for decades as too many people were admitted too soon into care homes due to the lack of appropriate alternatives. Something needs to change.
Retirement communities that provide high quality housing with wellbeing and care services have a vital role to play. The model gives people the option to live (and, in the current climate, shield) in their own homes, without isolation and with support and facilities on site. Crucially, it enables them to delay or cancel admission into a care home.
There is also evidence that those in retirement communities are half as likely to need emergency NHS care as those in care homes, thereby avoiding the horrors of lying on trolleys in A&E for the lack of a bed.
Increasing provision of the type of housing that is suitable for people as they age would take some of the pressure off hospitals and residential care, as well as freeing up family homes.
There are incentives from all sides to increase provision: from the market, from investors, and from the government. And there are some simple changes that would make a real difference. Today’s report rightly calls for “a joined-up approach between departments dealing with housing and health for older people”. This is vital for a truly holistic approach. And at a local level authorities should be mandated to include an allocation for housing with care within large scale developments.
We have a small window of time to make a real difference and improve the lives of the older population, while simultaneously easing pressure on the health and social care system and stimulating the housing market. It’s hard to argue against.
Main image credit: Getty