Planning for Retirement: How retirement communities can help meet the needs of an ageing population

This report by the County Councils Network an ARCO argues that councils and providers should be given the tools by government to incentivise and accelerate these developments as research shows that residents in these developments spend up to 12 days less on average in hospital due to unplanned accidents compared to those in regular housing.

It argues for ‘bold but easily implementable’ reforms such as changes to planning rules, a government task force, and tailored funding pots to help incentivise more development of retirement communities.

On the planning front, the report calls for the introduction of a new planning classification called ‘C2R’, to incentivise more development of retirement communities. It states this would better enable local councils to include retirement communities in their Local Plans, whilst reducing complexity and confusion for councils and providers alike when planning for these types of specialist developments. A new classification will also help ensure that some developers do not provide substandard retirement communities.

The report also cites the Housing LIN’s work for Gloucestershire County Council as part our LGA funded work to help councils plan strategically to meet the housing and care needs of their older citizens.