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UK needs more focus on retirement property

Negative perceptions of retirement living are putting the public off rightsizing, law firm Shakespeare Martineau has warned in its ‘Moving On’ white paper.

For each bedroom added to retirement stock, two to three are released in mainstream housing, so shifting the focus will improve availability of ‘family’ and ‘starter homes’, the paper said.

Of more than 1,000 people aged over 50, 59% had no plan to, or did not know if they would, rightsize one day.

Louise Drew, partner and later living expert at Shakespeare Martineau, said: “Our government’s obsession with first-time buyers is to the detriment of our ageing population and families across the UK.

“A greater focus on last-time buyers could not only make better use of existing housing stock, but also help ensure people have a better quality of life in their later years.

“In addition to a shift in government focus, we would call for the Older People’s Housing Taskforce to push for a later living use class – in the same way as affordable housing – to increase intergenerational schemes and consider the full housing lifecycle.”

The current ‘healthy life expectancy’ – the average number of years that an individual is expected to live in a state of self-assessed good or very good health, based on current mortality rates and prevalence of good or very good health – in the UK is 63.4 years for males and 64.1 for females.

However, when asked at what age over 50s would rightsize, the average age was 71, which increased alongside the age of the respondent.

Factors putting them off retirement living included; not wanting to live in a community of older people (28%), more than a quarter (26%) didn’t feel it would be an affordable option for them, one in four believed they would lose their independence if they moved into a retirement living scheme, almost one in five (19%) felt they’d be more isolated and one in 10 believed their health would deteriorate.

Francis Burrows, director of support and service development, from housing provider Orbit, added: “There is a common misconception that retirement living is the same as a care home – but it isn’t.

“Retirement living or ‘later living’ schemes offer full autonomy and often extend independence due to better suited facilities, such as being stair-free, having health and wellbeing professionals on site, community activities and security.

“Social rent homes provide an affordable option with the security of a lifetime tenancy. The rents and service charges in these homes is kept low to provide much needed homes for older people with modest incomes who need safe, secure homes for their later lives.

“The increase in shared ownership properties provides another opportunity for older people wanting to retain ownership but also release equity to top-up pensions and ensure care costs can be covered.”

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