A week on from the annual conference, here are three points that have stuck with me:

1. A focus on the occupier. A theme running through the presentations throughout the day was a focus on the needs and preferences of the occupiers of retirement living developments. We heard from operators who are pivoting to focus on the “S” of ESG in their efforts to improve the lives of their residents as well as their employees and the wider community surrounding developments. There was a recognition of the need to provide for wider diversity, with a focus on designing developments with faith, culture, gender and disability in mind. Similarly, investors are keen to tailor developments to better suit demand in order to “future proof” their investments. The Leasehold Plus system (mentioned in my post last week, linked here) has also been devised by ARCO to address concerns raised by prospective occupiers.
2. The need for government input. There is a clear role for the Government to play in facilitating the continued growth of the sector. It is widely recognised in the IRC sector that planning reform (both at a national and local level) would be of great assistance. We saw the announcement of The Older People’s Housing Taskforce earlier this year, and the Government has published various white papers detailing a commitment to expand housing with care for older people, but further action on these is awaited.
3. Impact of the current economic climate. Uncertainty is currently the prevailing feeling in the wider housing market, and is inevitably impacting the IRC sector. Despite this, Knight Frank forecasts 63,000 new units will be built over the next five years, noting that there is much headroom in the market above this figure, and that the healthcare and retirement sectors are well-placed to weather the current storm and outperform other property sectors. However, it is expected that rising construction costs will likely slow down the development pipeline in the shorter term. One constant to be certain of is that the demographic demand for later living accommodation is not going away.