Happy older woman on a sofa, symbolising comfort and contentment in well-regenerated housing for older people.

Understanding the Performance of your Housing for Older People

By Nick Sedgwick · 8 January 2024

The Government’s All-Party Parliamentary Group for Housing and Care for Older People recently decided to establish an Inquiry panel to look at the regeneration of housing for older people. The Inquiry is calling for evidence from industry experts which covers:

Upgrading the service model: technology, housing management, customer experience
Upgrading, modernisation, and extension of sheltered housing
Demolition, replacement, and repurposing of sheltered housing
Improvements in sheltered/retirement housing asset management e.g. decarbonisation agenda, energy efficiency, digital switchover, disrepair.

These are options that landlords should be considering for their individual schemes of housing for older people. While many landlords grapple with competing priorities, we recognise the rising expectations and the challenges in filling existing homes, making proactive asset management even more crucial.

Good evidence is needed to allow decisions to be made. ARK has a well-established approach to gather data for options appraisals. This considers the strategic context, the local supply and demand, resident and staff feedback and the financial performance of each scheme. When priority schemes have been identified ARK completes options appraisals so decisions can be made.

We can support you in several ways:

Leveraging technology, refining housing management practices, and elevating overall customer experiences to enhance your service model.
Revamping and extending sheltered housing facilities, either modernising or extending them to meet evolving needs.
Considering viable paths such as demolition, replacement, or repurposing of existing sheltered housing.
Implementing improvements encompassing decarbonisation, energy efficiency, digital switchover, and addressing disrepair for strategic asset management.

We understand the complexities involved and stand ready to assist landlords in enhancing their housing schemes for older residents. While the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Housing and Care for Older People has initiated an inquiry, our focus remains on providing proactive assistance. This proactive approach to ensure properties and services meet expectations, and schemes perform well financially must be key to responding to the issues raised by the APPG’s inquiry.

The deadline for submitting evidence is 9 February 2024.