Planning for the future

Planning for the future: Understanding the needs of the senior living market

The need to provide suitable housing options for an ageing population is more important than ever.

• Private senior living market forecast to grow by almost 40% by 2023
• Over 65s prioritise location over affordability or size of the property 

The number of people aged 65+ living in the UK is forecast to increase by 20% to 12 million by 2027. Advancements in healthcare mean individuals are living longer, and more healthily – in many cases managing health conditions better.

Indeed, the cohort of 90+ year olds in the UK is expected to rise at an even faster rate, by a third, to more than 750,000 people over the next eight years. 

Amid all of this change, Knight Frank data indicates there are four people who would consider downsizing for every existing senior living property currently in use.  The need to provide suitable housing options for these individuals is more important than ever.

Investors are already responding, and Knight Frank forecasts the total value of the private senior living market will climb to £55.2 billion by 2023, from £39.6 billion in 2019. 

To ensure success, developers must understand the wants and needs of potential purchasers and tenants across the spectrum of ages that are increasingly interested in living in specialist senior living property. 

Knight Frank surveyed almost 2,000 homeowners and renters over the age of 65 as part of a wider tenant survey to better assess their priorities. Though customers aged 75+ are the target market for senior living developers, in this report we analyse the views of those aged 65+, to incorporate the views of current and future customers. 

Highlights from the survey include: 

• Affordability is a significant factor underpinning decisions to live in the private rented sector, with 17% of respondents stating they don’t have enough for a deposit to buy a property
• When choosing a location in which to live, 28% of respondents said that their decision was guided by whether the rent or purchase price of the area was within their budget, followed by living close to family and friends (17%), proximity to transport links (13%) and access to green space (10%)
• 60% of respondents said their last move was to a home within ten miles of their previous property. Meanwhile, almost a quarter moved more than 50 miles, perhaps reflecting the need to move for family reasons
• Respondents indicated a clear inclination towards town centre living, with 75% stating the distance from a retirement village to a town centre was important to them

Knight Frank also engaged with 15 of the biggest funders and developers in the senior living market to conduct its Investor Survey. The results reveal that:

• 83% of investors plan to manage their projects using an in-house platform
• 68% of respondents said that future investment would be in the regions, rising from 63% today
• More than three quarters of investors (78%) view Brexit as a threat
• More than a third of respondents said they wanted to engage in providing “cradle to grave” housing, in some cases, student housing right through to Housing with Extra Care for older people