Despite significant interest in downsizing and buying a retirement property and the wealth of many older people, there is a distinct lack of innovative schemes in the UK, says David Sinclair, director, The International Longevity Centre – UK (ILC-UK)
Early last year, the American singersongwriter Jimmy Buffet announced plans to launch a themed retirement community based on his Margaritaville song and chain of US restaurants. About 100,000 Americans signed up to receive more information about the initiative and Buffet has subsequently broken ground on a second scheme
About 3.5 million older people are interested in downsizing and buying a retirement property. However, in the UK, despite the significant wealth of many older people, the supply of new and innovative schemes like those introduced by Buffet are way behind those that can be seen in the US. At the level of current market trends, it would take 20 years for supply to meet the demand of just half of the people aged 60 plus in the UK who are interested in downsizing.
So, what do we need to do to attract older people to retirement communities in the UK? There are a number of key areas of focus. Firstly, adaptations must be mainstream. People don’t want disability equipment. They want good, attractive products and services that work. Look at the success of stores such as Lakeland, which offer easy to use, affordable and attractive products on the high street. Work on kitchens by Professor Sheila Peace shows that mainstream providers of household equipment aren’t meeting our needs as we age. I recently had a new kitchen fitted and was advised by the salesman not to buy a product that helped me reach the back of a cupboard because “that was for older people”.
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