30,000 homes a year needed for pensioners
UNLESS 30,000 retirement homes are built each year for the millions of pensioners who want to downsize, Boris Johnson’s plans to kickstart the economy are “running on empty”.
The caution came in an open letter to the Prime Minister from the chief executives of the UK’s three biggest developers of retirement homes.
Mr Johnson is prioritising housebuilding to help boost recovery. But John Tonkiss, of McCarthy & Stone, Spencer McCarthy, of Churchill Retirement and Mark Dickinson, of the Lifestory Group, say urgent action is needed to ensure retirement homes make up 10 per cent of new builds.
They say 30,000 homes a year for a decade would save the NHS and social care services £3,500 per person annually – up to £1.4billion a year.
This is because people living in homes modified for older residents are less likely to be admitted to hospital or need as much home care as those continuing to live in larger properties.
Pensioners selling up would also boost the property market as young families and first-time buyers move up the ladder.
Research commissioned by the signatories – who established the Homes for Later Living policy group – shows that residents in adapted homes feel as good as someone 10 years younger.
The letter to Number 10 said: “The Government has given the housing market the green light to get moving 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 want to downsize.”
Downsizing is crucial to boosting the economy and tackling the skewed housing market, said Professor Les Mayhew, of the Cass Business School. Nearly 60 per cent of surplus bedrooms lie in households headed by the over-65s, his research found.
A Government spokesperson said: “Many older people are benefiting from the 460,000 affordable homes we have delivered since 2010. Others are supported to stay in their homes.”