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.

The Government believes the proposal would provide support for the elderly to move without having to sell their homes at a time when there is a shortage of affordable housing for young families.

We see this as a bold and sensible move – one we have advocated for many years. Britain has a housing crisis on its hands and according to The National Housing Federation the UK’s ‘chronic’ undersupply of homes is reaching crisis point.

80% of elderly people in the UK are homeowners and occupy many of these sought after family homes – property worth an estimated £3 trillion. Many of their properties are under occupied. According to research from the Intergenerational Foundation last year, there are 25 million vacant bedrooms in England. It stands to reason then, that if government can incentivise elderly people to downsize, they would be freeing up this valuable space for family. But – here lies the dilemma – how they will do this?

Firstly, if older people are going to downsize, it must be because they want to not because they are being pressurised. Secondly, there is a chronic shortage of suitable, purpose built retirement property in the UK for sale or rent – so a severe lack of the ‘more appropriate’ accommodation to which Mr Shapps refers.

So, whilst the scheme is undoubtedly a great idea and could put an end to the UK’s property problem it will only be workable if this problem is solved. We now need concrete plans on how government intends to deliver the increase in retirement accommodation. This is vital and without them, its plan simply won’t work.

Eight million people currently live in under-occupied homes and many are older people. What’s more, this number has increased by 45% since 2003 because people are living longer and there aren’t enough suitable alternative homes available. Arguably, if a greater number of retirement properties were built and the government incentivised people to move into them, many of these ‘family homes’ would become available.

Missing from the Autumn statement is joined up thinking on housing. A review of the number of empty and under-occupied properties and a strategy of providing quality retirement homes is needed urgently.

The building of new homes is at its lowest levels since World War II and with rents and house prices remaining high, while mortgage lending is restricted; this has pushed homeownership out of the reach of many.

New plans include mortgages of up to 95% of the value of new homes to be offered with government underwriting part of the risk, £400m public fund to help developers “unblock” stalled housing schemes, discounts for social tenants wanting to own their properties under the ‘right to buy’ scheme, more public sector land to be made available for building and up to £150m, to help bring empty housing back into use.

But strikingly these measures are targeted at young people and families and seem to ignore the needs of older people at the other end of the housing market. Many elderly people no longer desire homeownership. They want to downsize. However, there is currently an acute shortage of appropriate retirement housing in the UK to buy or rent so why are no provisions being made for these people?

This shortage of homes for older people has led to another problem. 8 million people currently live in under-occupied homes and many are older people. What’s more, this number has increased by 45% since 2003 because people are living longer and there aren’t enough suitable alternative properties available.

Arguably, if a greater number of retirement properties were built and the government incentivised people to move into them, many of these ‘family homes’ would become available.

So, before the government embarks on its huge and costly building campaign – I would urge some common sense and joined up thinking. This should start with a review of the number of empty and under-occupied properties and a strategy of providing quality retirement homes – only then will we get the market moving again!

According to the report, there are 25 million unused bedrooms and 8 million under-occupied homes in the UK. This is a growing problem as the under-occupation of housing has jumped by 45% since 2003 because older people are living longer and staying in the family home rather than downsizing to more appropriate accommodation.

It is true elderly people in the UK are based in under-occupied homes worth an estimated £3 trillion. However, many are desperate to sell their homes and release their capital to downsize or rent but there simply isn’t enough of the ‘appropriate’ accommodation referenced in the report – far from it. There is a shortage of suitable housing accommodation to buy or rent for retired people in the UK and this is crux of the crisis.

With RPI currently running at 5.6% and utility companies putting up their prices, many older people are facing a bleak winter in homes that are too big and they can’t afford to run. They may have property, but they don’t have cash and will struggle to meet the rising living costs. So, although this report highlights an important issue, it is more complex than declaring it a generation divide.”

The government is failing to address these problems. Whilst it recently announced two new housing schemes which will see up to 200,000 new homes being built in the UK, retirement housing wasn’t on the agenda – neither was under-occupancy. It is time for joined up thinking on housing to ensure ‘appropriate’ options for all age groups. Only then will we see an end to housing hoarding and the current property bottleneck.