Last-time homes and intergenerational communities
A Church Housing online event ~ Monday 11th May at 6pm ~
Hartrigg Oaks - Britain’s first integrated retirement community in York
A symptom of the housing crisis is the struggle that younger, first-time buyers have to get on the housing ladder. Less obvious is the struggle that ‘last-time’ buyers have to find a suitable home.
We are currently building age-segregated communities. It’s not intentional, but planners and developers typically focus on first time homes and general needs housing, but don’t include age-appropriate, ‘last-time’ homes for older people.
And yet we are living in a rapidly ageing society, where loneliness is rife. Nearly half of all people over 75 live alone. Older retired people can end up stuck in family houses that are too large for them, due to the lack of suitable alternatives.
Providing attractive homes that are designed for older people can unlock much-needed capacity all the way down the housing ladder, including those first-time homes for young people. Last-time homes built in the heart of new housing developments can be a vital key to easing the housing crisis!
The online Church Housing event on May 11th will explore these themes and unpack how the Church can help create, facilitate and populate intergenerational communities.
Speakers include:
Lord Richard Best, housing expert and former Church Commissioner who pioneered integrated retirement communities in Britain and is the co-chair of the APPG on Housing and Care for Older People.
Revd Dr Karin Voth Harman, a vicar in Cambridge who is piloting an intergenerational community in her parish where retirement housing is co-located with a primary school.
Dan McPherson MRICS, Head of Later Living at TSA Riley, where he helps landowners, developers and retirement living providers create great communities.
To learn more about this topic ahead of the event, the new ‘Creating Intergenerational Communities’ report from the APPG on Housing and Care for Older People is an excellent place to start!
