Press Release

A revolution in older people’s housing and care by 2020

18 June 2008

Baby boomers reaching old age will cause a revolution in older people’s housing and care over the next 10 to 15 years.

That is the finding of a new paper from Anchor Trust, England’s largest not-for-profit provider of specialist housing, care and lifestyle services. ‘Anchor 2020: Meeting the challenges of older people’s housing and care’ argues that longer life expectancies, higher care needs and the aspirations of the demanding baby boomer generation will change the face of older people’s services.

Services will have to become more personalised and much higher quality, right across the income spectrum, in order to meet the next generation of older people’s rising needs, aspirations and ability to pay.

The discussion paper takes the arguments developed in the Government’s National Strategy for Housing in an Ageing Society (Feb 2008) and shows how providers must respond on the ground. It shows how demographic, social and economic changes over the next 10-15 years will provoke major quality innovations in older people’s housing and care services.

As baby boomers reach retirement and become customers for care services their approach and attitudes will be far more “consumerist” than those of their parents. The nature of the boomer generation will result in them demanding more choice in how they spend their retirement than their parents did. The discussion paper outlines Anchor’s early thinking on developing new services to meet changing demand.

John Belcher, Anchor Trust Chief Executive, said “Providers and commissioners have to be ready to meet much higher expectations and more complex needs in the future.

“At Anchor, we want to develop closer direct relationships with our customers and ensure we are delivering the quality of homes and services they want from us.

“We want to create a future where old age matters and where older people’s housing and lifestyle choices are respected and provided for. Anchor has always been an innovator in our sector. We are developing and expanding our services to ensure older people get the best out of life.”

The Anchor 2020 paper is being launched at the Chartered Institute of Housing conference in Harrogate on Wednesday 18 June.

'Anchor 2020: Meeting the challenges of older people's housing and care' is available here