Neal Dale comments on the government white paper 'Planning for the Future'

Commenting on the government white paper Planning for the Future, Neal Dale, Development Director at Inspired Villages, said:  

“It is hugely ironic the government has named this paper ‘Planning for the Future’ as there is one certainty for our collective future – we are getting older as a society. By 2035, one in four of the population will be over 65. The current planning system fails to effectively support the provision of age-specific housing and the new proposals present a significant step back, particularly as this white paper makes no mention of retirees and downsizers. 

“The UK already falls behind the rest of the world when it comes to meeting the growing demand for appropriate housing with care options for older people to ‘rightsize’ to, with just 7,000 units a year being delivered to market. Amidst the coronavirus pandemic, retirement communities have proven their vital role in ensuring older people are safely and securely provided for and protected. Furthermore, extensive research shows living in a retirement community delivers vast health and social care benefits that could result in a fiscal saving of £2.1bn annually for the NHS. Government should therefore be delivering a solution for housing that is more closely aligned with their health and social care agenda. We have the opportunity to enact change now and we will be judged poorly by future generations if we do not address the significant gap between supply and demand for age appropriate homes.

“We call on government to not miss this once in a lifetime opportunity to make a real difference to society by putting in place a framework that adequately reflects the needs of our ageing population as part of a comprehensive approach to deliver the housing needs this country needs.”