Pozzoni Architecture associate Ian Mellor discusses priorities for later living providers in delivering safe and comfortable environments in which to enjoy the ‘third age’.
The government’s recent planning reform White Paper sets out to deliver a “simpler, faster and more predictable” planning system, to help tackle the national housing crisis. While no-one can fault the logic in addressing the shortage of general needs housing across the country, the vast opportunity presented by our ageing population largely went unnoticed.
2020 has been an incredibly challenging year for us all, not least the government as it attempts to control both national and regional infection rates, as well as stabilising a vulnerable economy. Yet the under-appreciation of older people’s accommodation and care needs is hardly a new issue and it is only going to become more apparent as our population ages.
According to the ONS, the number of over-60s in the UK is set to grow by more than seven million over the next 25 years. Nearly 60 per cent of new households from 2008-2033 will be inhabited by someone aged 65 or over, inevitably seeking an age-friendly environment for their last major move.
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