Investors deliver big vote of confidence in IRCs

ARCO's 6th Annual Conference, due to be held from 6th – 7th July in Central London, will provide a pivotal platform for bringing together the leading voices on housing-with-care and inspiring debate on how to take the sector forward and maximise growth opportunities.

With the Integrated Retirement Community (IRC) sector poised to play a key role in the Government's social care and housing plans and with a newly assembled Task Force days away from meeting ARCO (The Associated Retirement Community Operators), the trade body for the sector has received a key vote of confidence from one of the UK's leading real estate managers.

JLL will once again be headline sponsor at this year's ARCO Conference which is to take place on 6th & 7th July at the IET in Central London. This reflects significantly increased investor interest in the sector over recent years, which is now set to accelerate further after the Government set out plans in its Levelling-up White Paper to implement ARCO's call for an Older People's Housing Task Force.

Also sponsoring this year's ARCO Conference will be Sherpa CRM, Tetlow King, Total Integrated Solutions (TIS), and Trowers & Hamlins LLP.

ARCO, the representative body for the sector, has led calls for a cross-government housing-with-care task force to be established, so the sector can be expanded and its benefits brought to hundreds of thousands more older people.

This coincides with the Mayhew Review which is seeking to develop a more realistic estimate of the level of unmet need for IRCs in the UK following significant growth in interest in recent years and amid concerns that the UK is not keeping pace with growth in other countries around the world.

ARCO's 6th Annual Conference, due to be held from 6th – 7th July in Central London, will provide a pivotal platform for bringing together the leading voices on housing-with-care and inspiring debate on how to take the sector forward and maximise growth opportunities.

The conference attracts hundreds of senior leaders from across the sector, and has seen addresses from Government Ministers, major investors, international experts and regulators in the past including the Care Minister's first speech in role last year. It is expected that a Government Minister will also attend this year's conference.

On the agenda at the conference will be:

• Do customers want what they need, and need what they want? How do operators manage the delicate balance between creating a 'pull' and catering for the forces that 'push'? What's the smart approach to balancing marketable lifestyle factors, with more difficult conversations about age related factors that ultimately make people consider IRCs?
• The Policy accelerator: Hear directly from members of the Task Force, Ministers and key experts on what the next 12 months have in store for planning, tenure models and the customer proposition
• Demographics determine our destination: Embracing ethnic diversity and elevating value in Integrated Retirement Communities
• Expanding the contract: The leasehold system is currently undergoing fundamental reform. Hear from legal experts on how alternative tenure models – sitting between rental and leasehold – will redefine the relationship between operators and customers and shape the future trajectory of our sector
• The mid-market target: How we can address the uneven distribution of IRCs across the UK and cater for the large numbers of older people unable to access either affordable IRCs or high-end provision?

"The IRC sector is set for fantastic growth in the years ahead and we're delighted to have this vote of confidence from a world leader in real estate services in the form of JLL's sponsorship," said Michael Voges, Executive Director of ARCO. "It is vital that we make the most of this opportunity to set out the future path for the sector and to draw together key decision makers from across the sector and Government as the Task Force gets underway.

"I'd like to thank our excellent sponsors for their support and look forward to welcoming a big audience to our conference in July."

Simon Hodson, Head of UK Later Living & Healthcare at JLL, added, "A combination of rising costs and an ageing population mean that the UK is facing a huge challenge to deliver much needed specialist housing at scale that responds to the needs and expectations of a generation in their later life. ARCO provides the opportunity we as an industry need to meet with government and agree the action and solutions needed to deliver the best homes for this demographic."

You can find the latest details on the ARCO Conference here.