In my opinion, the government seems to have overlooked the needs of pensioners and has not given much time to assessing how these cuts will have devastating effects on them. I share the concerns highlighted in the Housing Charity Shelter’s recent report, ‘A better fit, creating housing choice for an ageing population,’ that there is an acute lack of appropriate housing in the UK for older people. Unless these issues are addressed by the government quickly we could be looking at major long-term social problems as well as a government induced housing crisis.

By 2030, one in three people in the UK will be over 55 – and as things stand, the supply of appropriate housing to accommodate this ageing population needs to rise by over 70% in the next 20 years. Shockingly, there are very few specialist homes with support services available – just 533,000 and much of it in the social rented arena. There is also very little mid-range housing available to rent privately or buy and a huge shortage of bungalows, which suit people with mobility issues. And, whilst many people are living alone in ‘under occupied’ houses, which if sold would release much needed family housing stock – it is unrealistic for the government to think people will downsize without incentives like tax breaks and with so little choice of alternative housing available.

We also agree with Shelter that developers find housing for older people complex to plan and costly to deliver and that the planning system simply does not support the development of houses for older people. However, these problems aren’t new – they have existed for years and subsequent governments have failed to address them. We think that National Planning Policy Framework provides an opportunity for government to change things – to plan and build the much needed range of homes for older people. If it doesn’t take this opportunity, we fear there will be serious social problems ahead.

We have seen enquiries for our retirement rental properties rise by 13% over the past few years together with a growing demand for more diverse housing options. We recognise that an independent and fit 64 year old is not going to have the same needs as a less mobile 85 year old. Our apartments accommodate both needs. They are designed for people who want to live independently but who might want to access support services, such as the 24 hour Careline in their apartment as they get older. There are also a range of different options available enabling people to choose whether they want to rent on lifetime tenancies, assured shorthold tenancies or buy their property. Everyone is different and we try to cater to their needs.

Firstly, there was good news – the basic state pension will increase by £5.30 a week from 6 April. Then the Chancellor announced a controversial change to age-related personal allowances – the amount of income that is tax-free. He will freeze the personal allowance for existing pensioners from April 2013, until it is aligned with the general allowance which everyone else receives but significantly, this change will only affect less than half of all pensioners as they do not receive enough income to reach the threshold. HM Revenue & Customs admits that by April 2014, 4.4 million people will be worse off in real terms with an average loss of £83 per year. The government will also introduce a new single-tier state pension for future pensioners to be set at about £140 and based on contributions.

This so called ‘granny tax’ has evoked criticism and great debate. However, we think that it is only right that older people who work should be taxed in the same way as younger people – particularly as so many more people will be working in later life. Additionally, the Chancellor isn’t really taking anything away from older people – he is freezing an allowance and this means that people will get less than they expected however, the same can be said for most of us when it comes to our pensions. More worrying is the fact that babies born today are likely to have to work until they are 80 before they receive any state pension!

It is all too easy to be negative and forget the many benefits that older people currently have – freedom passes, free prescriptions and winter fuel allowances. Until now the elderly have been shielded from many of the cuts that have affected working families. We must not forget that we are still in the midst of a global financial crisis and no group can expect immunity from the fall out.

On another note, we were very disappointed to see very little in the budget to boost the struggling UK property market and support the growing private rental sector. Whilst the government will introduce 7% stamp duty on £2 million pound properties, this will only affect less than 0.5% of homes. And, there were no measures announced to support the UK’s growing private rental sector either. This was a shame.

A greater number of the retired and semi-retired are realising the financial benefits of renting in later life. They no longer want to be home owners; they want to access their capital and are either selling their homes to downsize or moving from mainstream rental accommodation and renting in purpose built retirement developments to benefit from a more social and community-led way of life.

One attraction of renting in retirement is the availability of assured (life-long) tenancies as security of tenure is important for older people – they don’t want the upheaval that comes from renting a property on the standard six month Assured Shorthold Tenancy and then having to move when the landlord gives notice.

We hope that the government will review and invest in the development of purpose built retirement developments as part of its housing review, particularly in these desirable areas.

Here are ten retirement hotspots as advised to us by prospective tenants:

1. West Sussex
2. East Sussex
3. Dorset
4. Devon
5. Hampshire
6. Essex
7. Kent
8. Surrey
9. Somerset
10. Lancashire

According to Age UK many more over 65s are returning to work not just for social interaction but because they need the income. This pattern is set to continue. A new report from the Future Foundation tells us that many of us will be forced to work into our 70s because we can’t afford not to.

Equally, downsizing in later life can be sensible, particularly when people are living in large under occupied homes that are expensive to maintain. However, government hasn’t thought this through. Its discussion focuses on the need for people to move to free up their homes for families but there is little information offered in terms of an alternative housing solution for the ‘downsizers’.

There is an acute shortage of retirement accommodation to rent or buy in the UK – whether that is private apartments, and housing in retirement villages, or developments. Such places would offer ready-made communities where people could enjoy lots of social interaction to combat loneliness. These development also tend to have a house manager on site to check in on people. Why isn’t the government thinking ahead and investing in such developments which would not only provide the kind of housing needed but also ensure people’s well being would be looked after and they wouldn’t be isolated in their old age? Government is naive to think that people will downsize when there isn’t attractive accommodation to tempt them.

Shelter is right – the government needs to take a tough stance on private landlords who break the law. However, we urge tighter regulation of all private landlords and the enforcement of the laws that already exist concerning the quality and standards of private rental accommodation that need to be met. Currently, these laws are not enforced so Landlords are getting away with providing substandard or even squalid accommodation and giving the whole industry a bad name.

Girlings belongs to The Association of Residential Lettings Agency (ARLA) – a professional body that has a strict code of conduct and is campaigning for lettings agents to be regulated in order to raise standards and get rid of rogue landlords. All private landlords should be required sign up to ARLA but more importantly local authorities need to be prepared take action and enforce regulation, good practice and compliance. Only, then will we weed out these rogues.

The government is right; voters will be shocked to learn these figures. What we see here is a sad reflection of how low the welfare system has sunk from its original aim to helping the most poor and needy. And, whilst we are told that thousands of these tenants are likely to be thrown out because they will not pay the higher rental rates now required by their LHA – this is little consolation – we shouldn’t have been contributing towards their accommodation in the first place.

Government’s failure to address this situation is scandalous. This money could be used to help the people who really need it – the elderly social housing tenants who have no means of earning money towards their rent. What will happen to this vulnerable group of people when they can’t meet their rent increases? This is a serious question that needs answering before it is too late.

However, there are other deep rooted problems at the heart of the care system including the inconsistent quality of care. There have been several reports about how the UK’s care system is failing elderly people – not only in terms of the inefficient system but in the shocking tales of neglect and abuse in hospitals and in care homes. I can speak from personal experience here as my own mother was subjected to inadequate levels of care when she went into hospital a few years ago.

So I urge the government to address the problem of care quality as part of its reform and hope that its investment of an extra £2bn a year is enough to bring about the changes so urgently required.

And, apparently progress has been made already – with government owned land identified for the building of 80,000 homes and details released that it is working with the likes of the BBC and Royal Mail to find unused sites for housing development.

Mr Shapps expressed a determination to put an end to waiting lists for social housing and proposed a £19bn deal that will end the ‘tenants’ tax’ and give councils the freedom they need to build more homes in their area. Additionally, he promised not to repeat the mistakes of housing ministers in the past – who laid out endless policies that gathered dust on Whitehall shelves.

So far so good?

Worryingly, there was no mention of retirement housing. The UK is experiencing a major shortfall in supply of purpose built retirement property. With projections from the Office for National Statistics suggesting that the number of over 50s will rise from 12 million to 16 million by 2050, it is clear that this problem is not going away any time soon.

We would like to see acknowledgement from Government that it will address the shortfall in retirement housing as a core part of its housing strategy. Plans have been released about the government helping older people to ‘downsize’ to free up much sought after family homes which are currently occupied by elderly people. However, there have been no details on how they realise these plans, provide suitable alternative accommodation for these people or indeed, what kind of accommodation is planned.

So whilst it is good news that Housing is being prioritised at last – we would urge the government not to look overlook the needs of the elderly in its planning. The shortage of retirement housing is a big issue and it needs addressing now.

In 2008, the government changed its policy to one which pays new claimants housing benefit directly to the tenant rather than the landlord and also changed the way new tenants entitlements are calculated. In some cases, this reduced tenants LHA housing benefit payments, requiring them to make up the shortfall in rent. Both changes have clearly made an impact.

And from April 2011, the way in which LHA entitlements are calculated was changed once again, meaning that the shortfall tenants were expected to pay increased.

Since then, over half of all landlords have experienced problems collecting rent and this problem is more pronounced with social housing tenants, with 87% of landlords claiming rent is not being paid on time or in some cases, not at all. Given these facts, it is not unsurprising that 86% want to revert to the government paying them directly and that 56% won’t accept social housing tenants at all.

However, important facts are being overlooked. One is the impact of the housing benefit cuts on peoples’ ability to pay and the second is the fact that many of the social housing tenants well be in their 60s and older without the means of working and earning additional income to supplement their rents.

In recent months, we have all seen inflation levels, food prices, utility bills and VAT rise – making it harder for the elderly to make ends meet. The low interest rates have also diminished returns on any savings. The housing benefit cuts will have come as a serious financial blow to the over 60s living in social housing – what they don’t need now is for their landlords to give up on them.