‘Build, build, build’ is all well and good, but a truly sustainable recovery also depends on ‘care, care, care’

While the chancellor’s Stamp Duty holiday until next spring is a step forward, further reforms to the planning system are needed in order to put retirement housing developers on a level-playing field with mainstream developers. This includes the creation of a new planning use class for housing with care which, as research from Associated Retirement Community Operators indicates, is hamstrung by the current system.

If there is any positive to be found in the terrible pandemic, it is that it has highlighted the phenomenal skill and dedication of people in housing and social care while exposing the need to rethink how we provide for many of society’s most vulnerable. The National Housing Federation (among others) has led the charge for social housing as part of the excellent Homes at the heart campaign.

Research undertaken during lockdown by Anchor Hanover highlighted that the public have a stronger awareness of the value and importance of social care. Our study found that 84% of people want the care sector to have parity of esteem with the NHS.

The recent spotlight on the approach taken by the government at the start of the pandemic also piles further pressure on the prime minister to finally grasp what so many have failed to do before: reform social care funding. The rumoured tax on people over 40 to fund it has the merit of being an approach which has been tried and tested elsewhere.

There’s even, dare I say it, some prospect that those now beavering away behind the scenes in the Department for Health and Social Care and Number 10 use the opportunity to make a more explicit connection between care homes and other forms of housing and care.

We know that increasing life expectancies mean people have increasingly specialist needs. Slowly, the number of options available to older people are increasing too – from domiciliary care and adaptations to retirement housing, extra-care schemes, retirement villages and care homes to name just the main ones.

“We as providers and commissioners must learn to better use our diversity if we are to make the most of this window of opportunity to influence government to support [all older people]”

At a time when all are under pressure, there’s a temptation to play one off against the other. Are care homes better than extra-care schemes? Retirement housing better than domiciliary care?

It’s crucial though that we don’t fall into that trap. Older people are not an amorphous mass. We are all different, with different needs and preferences, and what is right for one may not be right for another.

Demand for all these options is huge. We as providers and commissioners must learn to better use our diversity if we are to make the most of this window of opportunity to influence government to support them all – as part of a continuum rather than see them as competition for each other.

Specialist older people’s housing and care must be at the heart of public discourse about both delivery of vital services and economic recovery.

While much of the focus of the ‘build, build, build’ agenda will be on first-time buyers and the prospects of younger people, older people must not be forgotten. Addressing later-living housing and care needs, providing a wider range of options for older people in the UK will help all generations fulfil their aspirations.

Increasing the supply of specialist housing and care is not just a job for central government. Local authorities play their part through the inclusion of older people’s housing in local plans. This can help to increase supply, maintain older people’s place in their communities and help them to contribute to local economies while reducing the strain on local services.

“Build, build, build” is all well and good, but now is the time to ensure a dual focus on ‘care, care, care’ to deliver a sustainable economic recovery and a better future for the older people of today and tomorrow.

Jane Ashcroft, chief executive, Anchor Hanover