Hammersmith and Fulham Council is reviewing housing options for residents over 55, aiming to shape its 2026-31 Older People's Housing Strategy. The strategy will address the needs of the borough's aging population, considering national and regional policy shifts and the specific challenges within Hammersmith and Fulham.

The Housing and Homelessness Policy and Accountability Committee met on 24 July 2025, to discuss a report providing an overview of the types of housing available to over 55s in the borough. The report, authored by Aaron Cahill, Policy Strategy Lead, provides background and analysis of national, regional, and local policies and strategies, including:

The report, titled Housing Provision in Hammersmith and Fulham for People over the Age of 55, highlights a variety of providers and varied housing stock in the borough. It also includes a SWOT analysis, highlighting the council's provision of such housing, opportunities to change perceptions of this housing type, and challenges of supply.

The report references the council's own strategic framework, including the:

  • 2021-26 H&F Housing Strategy
  • 2017-22 H&F Older People's Housing Strategy
  • 2021-26 H&F Tenancy Strategy
  • 2021-26 H&F Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy
  • 2021-26 H&F Disabled People's Housing Strategy
  • 2018 H&F Local Plan

Currently, the types of housing available to residents over 55 in Hammersmith and Fulham include:

  • Age-restricted general market housing: Housing for people aged 55 and over, potentially with shared amenities like communal gardens.
  • Retirement living or sheltered housing: Purpose-built flats or bungalows with communal facilities and some support for independent living, such as 24-hour on-site assistance and a warden or house manager.
  • Extra care housing or housing-with-care: Adapted flats or bungalows with a medium to high level of care available, offering 24-hour access to support services and staff, with meals available. These are sometimes known as retirement communities or villages.
  • Residential care homes and nursing homes: Individual rooms within a residential building providing a high level of care, including dementia care.

The SWOT analysis in the Housing Provision in Hammersmith and Fulham for People over the Age of 55 report identifies key strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats:

  • Strengths: H&F provides 950 sheltered homes, letting on average 80 per year; accessible signposting to available housing on the internet; a strong history of providing housing for this cohort of need in the borough; segment of affordable council housing not impacted by loss of homes from the Right to Buy; the H&F Housing Standards team can enforce against rogue landlords; the Council's Family Housing Strategy includes action to provide more opportunities for downsizing.
  • Weaknesses: Limited opportunities to access funding to build sheltered housing; perception that sheltered housing is similar to care home provision; Sheltered Housing means different things to different people. The Government sponsored Older People's Housing Task Force (2024) promoted the term 'Later Living Housing'.
  • Opportunities: Need for more modern-day standard housing aimed at meeting older people's needs; ensure older people's housing needs are embedded in the new Local Plan; rebrand Council's own sheltered housing offer to something aimed at contemporary needs; review current housing stock and consider whether full/partial redevelopment opportunities will yield better quality sheltered housing; work with housing associations to identify sites for redevelopment possibly with other tenures to help with viability.
  • Threats: Continuing lack of national priority to older people's housing issues, leading to decline in choice and quality of housing for the Over 55s; limited available/sufficient capital funding to build new housing for the over 55s; long term, high cost and potentially unstable private rental presents a risk to over 55s; high land values limiting opportunities to build affordable housing for older people.

The council has a strong foundation of affordable housing provision for older residents, particularly through its own sheltered housing stock, but there are significant challenges. The Housing Provision in Hammersmith and Fulham for People over the Age of 55 report notes these challenges exist despite the borough's strong foundation of affordable housing provision for older residents. To address the challenge of changing perceptions of housing for older people, the council plans to rebrand its sheltered housing to better meet contemporary needs.

The report recommends that the committee note the contents of the report and comment on what issues and priorities should feature in the council's Draft 2026-31 Older People's Housing Strategy. Discussion with Members of the content of the report and this SWOT Analysis will help to inform the Council's 2026 – 31 Older People's Housing Strategy.

The insights from this report will be instrumental in shaping the 2026–31 Older People's Housing Strategy, ensuring it is responsive to current realities and future needs.

The committee was chaired by Councillor Jacolyn Daly (Chair of Housing and Homelessness PAC), and attendees included Councillor Asif Siddique (Lead Member for Support for Older People), Councillor Sally Taylor (Lead Member for Communications), Councillor Omid Miri, Councillor Laura Janes (Lead Member for Wellbeing and Early Access to Support), and Councillor Adronie Alford (Conservative Spokesperson for Housing).