Responding to the new 'Meeting housing demand' report by the House of Lords Built Environment Committee, Michael Voges, Executive Director of ARCO, said:
“We urgently need cross-government action to create the housing and care options that our ageing population so desperately requires, which is why we reiterate our call for a cross-department housing-with-care task force to be established immediately.
“The ‘Meeting housing demand’ report is absolutely right to highlight the huge growth in the older population that we will see in the next few years – particularly those living alone – and the need to vastly expand specialist housing options to meet this surge.
“Integrated Retirement Communities, in combining independent living with high-quality support and care, and great opportunities to meet new people and reduce loneliness, have a key role to play in enabling older people to thrive.
“As the report notes, when sector-specific regulation and legislation is put in place to support new options like Integrated Retirement Communities, great things happen. The experience of New Zealand, where there is 10 times the provision of this kind of setting compared with the UK, demonstrates this in abundance.”
ENDS
For further information please contact
Sam Dalton, Policy and External Affairs Manager, at samdalton@arcouk.org or on 07722553856
