Future of an Ageing Population

Residents of specialised housing generally show high levels of satisfaction,
improved wellbeing, better health outcomes and reduced healthcare costs 82 .
Specialised housing is also likely to be more in-demand as the population ages,
with one prediction suggesting a 70% increase in demand by 2033 to 86,000
units per year 84 . Growth in demand is likely to be driven by higher numbers of
older people with acute or chronic disabilities.
This ageing population is not the only trend that will affect the demand for
homes in the future – social trends will also play an important role. Whereas
the vast majority of older people currently live as married couples 35 , 66% of
all people living in one-person households by 2037 will be aged 65 and over 81 .
This may be due in part to increasing divorce rates – between 2003 and 2013
the divorce rate of women over 60 increased by 21% from a rate of 1.4 to 1.7 per
thousand married women 85 . Any increase in demand for suitable housing for
single older people has implications for the size and variety of housing needed.
The changing demand is occurring in the context of historic falls in homebuilding
rates over the past decades 86 . This can risk a drop in provision of
housing for older people.
Policy Implication
The ageing population will change demand for housing. In particular,
it is likely that more adaptable and specialised housing will be needed.
4.2 Meeting the changing demand for housing
Potential ways to meet the changing demand for housing could involve
providing suitable new homes, ensuring that the existing housing stock is
appropriate and adaptable, and helping people to move to a home that is
appropriate for their needs 87 .
There are challenges to meeting the increased demand for specialised housing.
If current build rates continue (see Figure 4.2), it is likely that the needs of
the increasing numbers of older disabled people will not be met. There is a
regional element to this – more specialised housing has been built in the South
of England than the North relative to the number of older households in those
regions 88 . This is despite people in the North being more likely to live with
disabilities for longer 89 . There are also regional variations in the provision and
cost of providing care homes 90 . The funding needs of an area are affected by
both the demands of the population, and the cost of providing the individual
places in that location.
P52