Housing our ageing population

If ever confirmation was required of the importance of housing provision for an ageing population, it came with the announcement of the 2011 census results for England and Wales on 16 July 2012. When compared with the census a century ago, two statistics from the announcement illustrate the point – one in six of the population is 65 or over, equating to 16.4% of the population, or 9.2 million people, compared with one in 20 in 1911. Within this cohort, 430,000 are 90 years old or over; in the 1911 census there were only 13,000 people. This research has focused on four key aspects under two broad headings, People and Property. Under the People heading, it looked at the needs and aspirations of our customers and potential customers, and the implications for our staff and organisations. Under the Property heading, it looked at the implications of existing residents and tenants who want to stay in their own homes longer and have more choice with services delivered to them there; it also looked at what this might mean for the design of new homes, how they might be future proofed and energy efficient.