Local Plan Issues and Options (Regulation 18)

Comment

Representation ID: 2611

Received: 15/08/2025

Respondent: Anchor

I&O_2764
Anchor is England’s largest provider of specialist housing and care for older people. We welcome a policy which supports the delivery of housing for older people that neither excludes nor favours one type of specialist housing over another, as currently proposed. We urge Cheshire West and Chester Council to include a dedicated older persons’ housing policy with a clear target for the number of homes to be delivered over the plan period.  This could either be a numerical target or a percentage of the overall housing requirement. National planning policy is clear that planning policies should reflect the need for different types of housing to meet the diverse needs of older people - including retirement housing, housing with care, and care homes. Although a housing needs assessment is pending, a significant shortfall is anticipated. The Older People’s Housing Taskforce’s Our Future Homes report recommends building 30,000 to 50,000 later living homes annually, yet only around 7,000 are currently delivered each year. The Cheshire West and Chester Local Plan should plan to meet the identified need. Anchor operates three older persons’ schemes in Cheshire West and Chester: two provide 48 social rent homes, with waiting lists matching capacity, and one provides 16 leasehold homes for ownership. Demand is high and increasing supply would ease pressure on the housing register and waiting lists.  We note the intent to be more prescriptive about property size and tenure mixes. While we support an evidence-based approach, future policy should allow flexibility for older persons’ housing. Anchor’s well-designed developments typically consist of single apartment buildings with around 70 high-quality affordable (social rent) homes. Mixing tenures within one apartment building is generally unfeasible, as sales (market or shared ownership) alongside social rent cause market challenges and tensions. Additionally, social rent homes for older people are mainly one-bedroom, as two-bedroom homes are hard to let due to the under-occupancy charge and the predominance of single-person households. Policy flexibility is essential to ensure the viability and successful delivery of older persons’ housing. We also recommend Cheshire West and Chester Council make specific allocations for older persons’ housing to meet the identified need. Rather than requiring a percentage of homes to meet M4(2) or M4(3) standards – which do not specifically cater to older people and are not typically reserved for them - we recommend that a percentage of homes on allocated sites are required to be specialist homes for older people, meeting one of the definitions in national planning policy. When making allocations, consideration should be given to the minimum viable number of older persons’ homes, which in Anchor’s experience is at least 65.

Comment

Representation ID: 2612

Received: 15/08/2025

Respondent: Anchor

I&O_2765
Anchor is England’s largest provider of specialist housing and care for older people. We welcome a policy which supports the delivery of housing for older people that neither excludes nor favours one type of specialist housing over another, as currently proposed. We urge Cheshire West and Chester Council to include a dedicated older persons’ housing policy with a clear target for the number of homes to be delivered over the plan period.  This could either be a numerical target or a percentage of the overall housing requirement. National planning policy is clear that planning policies should reflect the need for different types of housing to meet the diverse needs of older people - including retirement housing, housing with care, and care homes. Although a housing needs assessment is pending, a significant shortfall is anticipated. The Older People’s Housing Taskforce’s Our Future Homes report recommends building 30,000 to 50,000 later living homes annually, yet only around 7,000 are currently delivered each year. The Cheshire West and Chester Local Plan should plan to meet the identified need. Anchor operates three older persons’ schemes in Cheshire West and Chester: two provide 48 social rent homes, with waiting lists matching capacity, and one provides 16 leasehold homes for ownership. Demand is high and increasing supply would ease pressure on the housing register and waiting lists.  We note the intent to be more prescriptive about property size and tenure mixes. While we support an evidence-based approach, future policy should allow flexibility for older persons’ housing. Anchor’s well-designed developments typically consist of single apartment buildings with around 70 high-quality affordable (social rent) homes. Mixing tenures within one apartment building is generally unfeasible, as sales (market or shared ownership) alongside social rent cause market challenges and tensions. Additionally, social rent homes for older people are mainly one-bedroom, as two-bedroom homes are hard to let due to the under-occupancy charge and the predominance of single-person households. Policy flexibility is essential to ensure the viability and successful delivery of older persons’ housing. We also recommend Cheshire West and Chester Council make specific allocations for older persons’ housing to meet the identified need. Rather than requiring a percentage of homes to meet M4(2) or M4(3) standards – which do not specifically cater to older people and are not typically reserved for them - we recommend that a percentage of homes on allocated sites are required to be specialist homes for older people, meeting one of the definitions in national planning policy. When making allocations, consideration should be given to the minimum viable number of older persons’ homes, which in Anchor’s experience is at least 65.