Our solutions to resolve the issues we faced
To understand the housing needs and aspirations of older people in Central Bedfordshire, in 2016 we commissioned primary research with a representative sample of older people. It was designed to link to the nationally prescribed Strategic Housing Market Assessment (SHMA) and to provide a robust evidence base for the Local Plan for Central Bedfordshire (2015-2035) which was going through consultation and approval at that time.
This research, which was revisited in 2022, confirmed that when considering their next move, people wanted to maintain their independence. There was also significant demand for both age exclusive and age inclusive housing offering good design standards, in good locations with access to local facilities.
This data and insight informed our approach. We set out to develop a plan to:
- develop extra care/independent living schemes in each locality area
- encourage the development of open market extra care/independent living schemes to provide apartments for sale and rent
- re-provide the seven council-owned care homes (249 places) in homes that have modern physical and environmental standards
- work with current care home operators to improve the physical and environmental conditions in their homes by remodelling or re-providing
- encourage developers to build mainstream homes in new residential developments that are suitable for, and attractive to, older people
Care home replacement
We partnered with independent care home operators to develop new homes with enough places to allow us to replace a nearby council-run home. We successfully re-provided the capacity of four of our outdated care homes and are now building new homes for Care is Central to operate, enabling the re-provision of our three remaining homes.
Our first replacement care home, Marigold House in Leighton Buzzard, opens in 2024 to be closely followed by our second, Honeysuckle House, at the Senior Living Village in Flitwick that will open later in 2024. Both developments are dementia friendly and built to Passivhaus standards. Marigold House provides 63 care home places with a day centre for older people. The Senior Living Village in Flitwick will provide 72 care home places, 88 independent living homes and 8 places offering short breaks to adults with disabilities.
Care is Central
In response to reducing access to good quality affordable care home provision in the independent sector, we established Care is Central, a wholly council-owned company.
Care is Central operates new care homes that are being developed to replace capacity of our own outdated homes and to compete in the market for self-funders. The company is a sustainable business capable of growing to meet the increasing demand for complex care and support. It also gives the Council options to intervene in the care market should a failure occur.
Independent Living
We committed to an investment programme for 6 affordable independent living schemes, specifically designed to meet the needs of older residents with onsite facilities such as a restaurant, café, salon and craft rooms. Independent Living schemes enable people to age in place with access to 24/7 on-site care, as and when required.
Housing developers
In our Local Plan (2015-2035), we included a policy requirement for all developments of 100 dwellings or more to provide bungalows, level-access accommodation or low-density flats for older people. We will continue to review the impact this policy is having on the local market.