Raising the ambition for later living: The Lovell Approach

Since joining in April, I have led the restructure of the business and revisit the business plan to ensure we have the right skills to accelerate the delivery of later living solutions. 

I’m delighted to be in the position of leading the Later Living business right now because this business is in an excellent position to make a difference. Working with our partners, we will be investing in shaping the future provision of homes fit for old age. And supported by our parent company Lovell Partnerships Ltd (part of the Morgan Sindall Group), we will create communities which nurture and support against the pandemic which cannot be cured, climate change, shaping places that promote wellbeing for people and the environment in later life focusing on design excellence and zero-carbon infrastructure.

The appointment of the senior leadership team, including some of the industrys most knowledgeable and experienced individuals; former Home Group Head of Development Teresa Snaith, former Commercial Director at Lovell Major Projects Neil Hicklin and former Development Director of Morgan Sindall Investments David Lane, places the business and our partners in safe hands.

Collaboratively, we intend to influence, shape and accelerate the delivery of appropriate housing and specialist accomodation for older people. The next 5yr business plan focuses on investing in innovative products and delivery solutions to benefit our partnerships with local authorities, registered providers, private operators and delivering to our customers expectations and aspirations. Shaping places which put later life at the heart of the planning, to support people across the UK to live life to the full in appropriate housing and care communities.

Through engagement and coproduction with our partners and customers, we will be able to establish the real needs and aspirations to inform better design and by focussing on innovation, the future adaptability and sustainability of the building, we will deliver desirable homes ‘now’ which can flex and adapt to the changing needs of customers as they age.

We intend to be instrumental in changing the horizon for older people in this country. Whether people are at the stage in life to benefit from Extra Care Housing, Registered Care homes or Lifelong (open market) homes, our focus is to build homes that will inspire people to right size at the right time, rather than be forced to downsize when life changes forcing a more urgent response.

Research continues to repeat the same messages and evidence that:

• 1 in 4 people over 60 years old are interested and or looking to move into what can be their last home
• People aged 65 years and over will increase by 47% and aged 85 years and over will increase by 87.5% in the next 15 years

And recent surveys reveal 4 in 10 (44%) of people aged 65 and over believe the government should be doing more to encourage rightsizing / downsizing equal to circa 5.3m people across the UK.

We all acknowledge, the many difficulties highlighted by the pandemic, loneliness and isolation, restricted care in the community and infection control, all impacting many peoples lives over the past 18 months. But these challenges existed for many before the pandemic where they couldn’t access the homes or services they needed to live independently and well, because as a society we have failed to build communities and homes fit for old age for decades. The pandemic also clearly demonstrated just how important communities are in us supporting each other in times of crisis and some inspiring stories of community sacrifice and innovation have hit the media headlines over the period, which we can embrace and replicate. Now more than ever the focus from all tenures is not only the need for swift action in developing age appropriate, adaptable, future proof homes but also on just how essential it is to create inclusive communities for people to enjoy growing old with peace of mind and security.

So now more than ever we need action, we need commitment to innovation, commitment to investment and commitment to working collaboratively in partnership to make things happen.

I am delighted to announce our Corporate Sponsorship of HousingLIN. Myself and the Later Living team are looking forward to providing ongoing support of the HousingLIN as the go to place for excellence, information and research which many of us have used over the past decade. This year, is a very special year for the HousingLIN and I am personally excited to be celebrating with Jeremy and the team the 10th anniversary as an original regional lead from the start and then annual sponsor.

We are committed to supporting this vital learning network and using our position to work alongside partners and other industry leaders with shared values to address the chronic housing shortage we face for older people in the UK, challenging the norms and finding innovative solutions.

The realignment of the business across the whole Later Living market space has undoubtedly revived our partnerships and brought new insight to our business, strengthening our offering by enhancing our capability to effectively collaborate with public and private partners to accelerate the development of aspirational communities and sustainable, accessible housing needed for the UK’s aging population.

Thank you for reading and we look forward to working with you and celebrating later in the year.

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Lovell Later Living are proud to sponsor these Housing LIN’s thought-leadership pages.

And, if you found this blog of interest, you can also read a range of other resources on housing for older people on our dedicated webpages here.

Lastly, if you would like to find out more about how the Housing LIN can support you develop your housing for older people strategic vision and/or operational plans to meet the future accommodation needs of older adults, including for people living with dementia and their carers, please email us at: info@housinglin.org.uk