Planning and Design

The design of specialist accommodation for older people, including extra care housing takes place within a framework of planning and building regulations and law. It is important for architects, planners, builders and housing providers to understand the implications of national and local planning policy. In particular, in the National Planning Policy Framework and the accompanying assessment tools, the government has stated:

"The need to provide housing for older people is critical given the projected increase in the number of households aged 65 and over accounts for over half of the new households Plan makers will need to consider the size of dwellings needed in the future in order to free up houses that are under occupied. The age profile of the population can be drawn from Census data. Projections of population and households by age group should be used. The future need for older persons housing broken down by tenure and type eg sheltered, enhanced sheltered, extra care and registered care can be obtained from a number of online tool kits provided by the sector."
Department for Communities and Local Government Household Projections 2013.

The resources listed provided below offer an introduction to some of the key planning and related design documents available to enable planners make sense of the demands for housing for an ageing population. For further resources on planning, including latest guidance, our local authority planning trackers and more information on technical information ie on use class orders etc, visit our online planning portal.