The private retirement living market is set to see tremendous growth over the next few years, an increase of 50% in its value forecast between now and 2022. That’s a staggering increase of &15bn, with the market cap sitting at a potential &44bn in four years’ time, and the number of available retirement units subsequently set to increase by 30%.
What’s driving this? Well, at present, there are 10m people in England that are over the age of 65, which is expected to increase to 12m in the next decade. There is a need for those in this bracket to downsize their living, which has thus driven high levels of development in the private sector. This will only increase as this attractive market matures, meaning that pressure is increasing on local UK authorities to plan ahead for the increase in retirement living.
The market is split into two sections; housing with care or assisted living, which makes of 30% and later living with limited on-site care, which makes up the remaining 70%. Given that the UK lags significantly behind several other Western nations like the United States, with only 0.5% of its +65 residents in housing and care schemes in comparison with 5% overseas, it’s no wonder that such focus is being placed on providing appropriate facilities and options for retirees.
Tom Scaife, Head of Retirement Housing at Knight Frank offered the following on the situation:
“Going forward we rapidly need every UK local authority to have a cohesive plan for the delivery of retirement living – so they can be held to account for meeting the needs of their constituents. The government has committed to help those at the beginning of the property ladder with initiatives such as the ‘Help-to-buy’ scheme and stamp duty relief for first time buyers. These initiatives and support should not be constrained to the beginning of the ladder – support should be available at all stages of the property life cycle.
“At a national level, a 20% allocation should be given for retirement living from the UK’s annual housing delivery target of 300,000 homes. Given that 18% of the population is over-65 (almost 12 million people), and that this age is predicted to increase by 20% over next ten years, it is imperative that the issue is addressed.”
