Key questions for Age UK staff seminar What is ‘sheltered/ retirement housing’ - who lives in it? Who is it for? What does it offer older people in terms of quality of life? Do residents find they can afford it? Can tenants and owner-occupiers in retirement housing exercise voice, choice and control? Why does sheltered/ retirement housing matter for Age UK?

JRF-funded research on housing for older people: Focus on older people with high care/ support needs Emphasis on quality of life and value for money Sheltered & retirement housing: desk review of evidence, data analysis, drawing on Age UK studies Housing with care: affordability for self-funders, and how provider organisations work together Interviews with around 100 owner-occupiers and tenants, visits to over 20 schemes across UK

What is sheltered and retirement housing? Over half a million dwellings housing around 5% of the older population Age-restricted (eg 55/60+), communal facilities Around ¾ for social rent, around ¼ for sale Only 10% is housing with on-site care Buildings should be designed for older people eg good location (shops, transport); lifts to upper floors BUT wide range of dwellings, costs, facilities and staff presence - from poor quality sheltered bedsits to spacious 2/3-bed housing in new developments

What does sheltered/retirement housing offer older people? Traditional model: limited on-site support staff member (‘warden’ or house manager) and alarm system Private developments: still have on-site house manager and most residents in age-range 70s - 80s Council/ housing association sheltered housing: Withdrawal of on-site wardens/scheme managers, many residents now have limited (or no) staff contact Some still popular, some hard to let (eg bedsits, no lifts) More younger people (under 65) & different needs (eg mental health, homeless); more very old (85+); more with serious disability/ ill-health & high care needs

What does housing with care offer older people? HWC offers an active independent lifestyle choice &/or an alternative to residential care ‘Your own front door’, more space, flexibility/ choice (care, activities) and tenancy/ ownership rights Spacious buildings designed for older people eg wheelchair standard, wet-room showers, lifts, extensive communal facilities (eg gym, restaurant) 24/7 on-site staffing, range of activities, on-site care team available for tailored 1-1 care as needed Some HWC has specialist staff and residents with specific disabilities (eg dementia, learning disability)

What does it offer older people in terms of quality of life? Sheltered housing: little recent research evidence, but significant resident concerns about loss of ‘wardens’, and tensions between more diverse tenant mix (age, needs, lifestyles) Owner-occupied retirement housing (leaseholders): suits some ‘downsizers’ but concerns include small 1-bed flats, high charges and ‘exit fees’ when selling/ moving out Housing with care: mostly high levels of satisfaction from extensive research; enables couples to stay together even with ill-health or disability; can be expensive, especially for self- funders with high care costs

The affordability ‘maze’… Difficult for older people, relatives and advice agencies to understand/ explain the complexity of costs in retirement housing… especially in housing with care (with its higher costs)… and in leasehold housing for owner-occupiers Accessing welfare benefits and state help can be crucial for self-funders – especially if costs rise faster than incomes, or savings run out

Who may find it harder to afford retirement housing? Leaseholders (especially in more expensive housing with care) Residents under state pension age (including mixed- age couples): working-age benefits much lower Single people (especially women: often no or low occupational pension/savings) Residents who moved in as a couple and then partner dies (especially if the carer dies) Couples where one partner needs a care or nursing home and the other still has the costs of retirement housing/housing with care

Voice, choice and control in sheltered and retirement housing Voice: limited engagement of older people: in housing and care policy-making; and within individual retirement housing schemes Choice: limited range of options for housing, care and support in later life (tenure, location, limited models); lack of access to information/ advice for many older people and families Control: in theory, housing rights should give more control, but difficult to enforce without support, information, advice, advocacy

Why does sheltered/retirement housing matter to Age UK? Influencing, research and policy work: includes ‘Nobody’s Listening’ about warden changes; leaseholders on high charges and exit fees; resident-led Inquiry on retirement housing National services: specialist advisers for enquiries and advice about sheltered and leasehold housing; links to local older people forums; information sheets Local services: information, advice, advocacy, lobbying about local issues