Third Age City: Housing for older Londoners

This report makes the case for a stronger and more coordinated approach to providing homes for older Londoners that work for them.

Published by the Centre for London, it highlights that there is a particular gap in the availability of specialist housing, with less than half of the new specialist homes required being built. It finds that this gap is also likely to grow as London’s older population increases.

The report makes a number of recommendations for the 32 London Boroughs, the GLA and government as follows:

London boroughs should:

• Include specific targets for specialist housing in local plans
• Proactively shape the range of older people's housing being built
• Work with partners to reach "rising" older people with information about future house prices

The Greater London Authority should:

• Create a specialist housing target for large sites;
• Be or support a trusted provider of information on housing options for older Londoners;
• Continue to promote accessible design principles – such as the Lifetime Homes Standards – to ensure that housing can be adapted as people age.

The government should:

• Create statutory definitions and consistent minimum standards for the different types of older people’s specialist housing;
• Provide dedicated funding to local authorities for older people’s housing support services;
• Develop a second-generation ‘New Homes Bonus’ that rewards councils for delivering older people’s housing