Let’s get on with it and provide age-appropriate homes

We need social contact with others and to have meaning and purpose in our lives.

These core human principles define our choices in home and lifestyle and are something every housing provider needs to consider.

No matter what sector of housing you operate, these drivers to happiness (and purchase) are always the same, just applied differently.

“We need to change our mindset and start a revolutionary conversation about the ‘benefits’ of ageing.”

We know that there are large numbers of people aged over 55 that would like to move to something that suits their lifestyle.

The homes on the market currently are often mismatched to the aspirations of this generation and not seen as a solution by our willing and able buyers.

So how do we rethink our product for this market? First we need to change our mindset and start a revolutionary conversation about the ‘benefits’ of ageing.

Imagine if we all took it upon ourselves to talk with our generation of age, seeking out their life stories, learning from years of life experience and finding out what they really want from life. To design suitable homes, we need to find out what makes this precious generation tick.

In society and the public eye, growing with age is associated with the usual negativity: poor health, loneliness and being too wealthy (as a result of pensions and housing equity) are the first to be mentioned.

“At no age do we suddenly revert from wanting fun in our lives.”

This is shortly followed by the pressures on the NHS, lack of state funding and care availability as concerns and associations with ageing.

Let’s get real: if we are the lucky ones, we will age too.

At no age do we suddenly revert from wanting fun in our lives; to travel, go out with mates, keep fit, read, sing, learn, walk, engage with nature, and so on.

Nor do we suddenly want to sit alone in a flat on the edge of town that is too small, or be grateful for someone to prepare a meal that we have had to choose the day before and look forward to our weekly outing to the bingo.

The biggest and most needed revolution in this sector is to rethink ‘age’.

It’s only at that point that we will start to design and build aspirational homes for this most wonderful age of life.

The age where we have time to follow our pursuits, help others (there is a massive population of willing volunteers with time on their hands) and appreciate all that we have learned and all that we still have to learn in the future.

And with that most crucial mindset in place, what can we, as house builders and housing associations, do?

• Let’s properly consider age demographic when planning a new development. Let’s support a mobile ‘vibrant age’ community where lifetime contributors can be right at the heart of the community and close to all the facilities that bring joy into life.
• Let’s get really clued up about design, whatever we are building. Good design for disability, dementia, and sensory impairment is just really good design.
• Let’s get the space and lighting standards of our homes right. Let’s allow sunshine and fresh air in – it makes us feel well. Let’s make sure that super-insulation does not cut out so much noise that our residents can’t hear their community around them.
• Get rid of steps, wherever possible.
• Instead of waiting for the local authority to have a plan to bring housing, health and care together, let’s organise that ourselves around a specific opportunity.
• Let’s have more Section 106 opportunities: the retirement generation has much to offer; natural surveillance aids security, childcare, volunteering and community building.
• Let’s engage with our clever people to find ways to quickly release the equity held within our generational homes so that people can be freed up to move quickly and where possible release some equity to spend on their home of aspiration and lifestyle.
• Let’s create our own Age Aspiration Network to share opportunities and constraints to build more homes for over 55s, and support each other to jump over obstacles with our shared experience (email me if you are keen to be involved).

With these innovations we can start to build the homes that we ourselves one day will be the target audience for.

You will notice that I have not referred to ‘older people’ in this article – this is deliberate.

Help me to ban these words that portray so much stigma and loss.

Together let us create a new vision for our ‘GAP years’: Generation Achievement and Purpose.

Julia Ashley, chief executive, Central & Cecil Housing Trust