We live in an ageing society. Between 2014 and 2039, a staggering 70% of projected household growth will be made up of homes with someone aged 60 or older.

Three million older people would like to downsize to somewhere better suited to their needs but feel unable to do so.

As we come to terms with shifting demographics, we must be able to offer people homes and communities that meet their changing needs.

The sector needs to re-think outdated models for developing older people’s housing, letting go of archaic stereotypes about what living in later life means, and working closely with residents to understand their expectations of the services we deliver.

Involving residents in shaping the future of older people’s housing is crucial, whether through innovative co-design projects or listening to tenants’ views and acting on them to drive up tenant satisfaction.

This event will explore the vital role the social housing sector has to play in shaping the future of older people’s housing with sessions covering:

• Co-designing older people’s housing with residents
• Homes for life that can be adapted over time
• Reimagining the existing housing model for people aged 55+
• How landlords can drive up tenant satisfaction in older people’s housing
• Using technology to help people live independently for longer.

10.30 Chair’s welcome and introduction

• • Dr Vikki McCall, Professor of Social Policy, University of Stirling

10.40 Increasing independent living through technology

• • Dr Vikki McCall, Professor of Social Policy, University of Stirling

  • Helena Doyle, Customer Experience Director – Wellbeing and Support, Stonewater

11.10 Co-designing older people’s housing – the rise of co-housing and Housing 21’s innovative co-housing project

• • Owen Jarvis, CEO, UK Co-Housing Network

  • Lucy Hales, Head of Co-Housing, Housing 21

11.40 Improving tenant satisfaction – residents’ perceptions of services

• • Kathyrn Fox-Rogers, Chief Operating Officer, Johnnie Johnson Housing

12.10 Lunch

12.40 Empowering residents to have a voice in older people’s housing

• • Monica Barnes, Resident Ambassador, Southern Housing

13.10 Improving the quality and accessibility of homes to enable older people to live independently for longer

• • Millie Brown,  Senior Evidence Manager, Centre for Ageing Better

13.40 Phoenix’s intergenerational housing scheme

• • Lesley Johnson, Director of Property and New Business, Phoenix Community Housing

14.00 Break 

14.10 Current sheltered housing model

• • Bruce Moore, CEO, Housing 21

14.30 Tonic’s pioneering LGBTQ+ retirement scheme

• • Bob Green OBE, Head of Operations, Tonic Housing

14.50 Panel discussion on the future of supported housing – is the current 55+ model dead?

• • Bruce Moore, CEO, Housing 21

  • Millie Brown, Senior Evidence Manager, Centre for Ageing Better

  • Lesley Johnson, Director of Property and New Business, Phoenix Community Housing

  • Bob Green OBE, Head of Operations, Tonic Housing

15.30 Close

Bob Green, OBE, Head of Operations, Tonic Housing

Bob Green is Head of Operations at Tonic Housing. He has worked in various roles within social housing for over 30 years, including 14 years as the Chief Executive of Stonewall Housing, then 3 years leading on community engagement for LGBT Foundation to deliver an LGBT Extra Care Scheme in Manchester.

He sits on the Knowledge Exchange Hub of the UK Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence (CaCHE). Bob was awarded an OBE for his services to LGBT communities in the 2017 New Year’s Honours List.

Bruce Moore, CEO, Housing 21

Bruce joined Housing 21 as Chief Executive in 2013 with a track record of successfully managing change and addressing challenges in order to improve the provision of housing and care services for older people. Bruce has previously been Chief Executive for Hanover Housing Group, Chief Executive of Wolverhampton Homes and Deputy Chief Executive of Anchor Trust.

Bruce has served as a Board Member for a number of housing associations and charities including twice serving as an appointee on behalf of the regulator. He completed a PhD considering the differences in attitudes and expectation of the governance role of boards of housing associations in 2017 and undertook a further PhD on the preferences, positions and priorities of residents of Retirement Housing and Extra Care which he completed in 2021.

Bruce lists some of his key achievements in housing:

• Successfully changing strategy and structure to reflect challenges in the retirement housing and care sector, and the future expectations of older people
• Improving levels of staff satisfaction and engagement
• Consistently delivering strong results and value for money
• Identifying and delivering major growth and development projects, including corporate acquisitions and the negotiation and implementation of PFI contracts.

Kathryn Fox-Rogers, Chief  Operating Officer, Johnnie Johnson Housing 

Kathryn joined Johnnie Johnson Housing in December 2015. She was previously Head of Housing Management at Stafford and Rural Homes and a member of the Chartered Institute of Housing (MCIH). Kathryn’s key responsibilities include:

• Independent Living and mainstream housing services
• Customer services and resident involvement
• Asset management, repairs and compliance

Monica Barnes, Resident Ambassador, Southern Housing

Monica has lived in south-east London for nearly 30 years and in all that time has worked tirelessly for residents in her housing association, Southern Housing. She was awarded the MBE from Princess Anne in recognition of her hard work. Monica has worked on scrutiny projects, complaint hearing and driving up standards.

Monica was born in a small parish in Jamaica, and sadly lost her mother at the age of seven. She was brought up by her father and Aunt (her mother’s sister). Her Aunt had an opportunity to come to the UK in 1954 as part of the Windrush generation and took Monica with her. They settled into a new life in Brixton, South London.

Monica went on to have three children of her own and, with housing being a major issue at the time, she was inspired to get involved as she wanted to have a positive impact and influence on social housing in the best way she could.

This eventually led Monica to volunteer and become an involved resident with Southern Housing. She has held many different positions within the organisation, including Chair of the Resident Strategy Group and the Older People’s Coordinating Group. Monica’s dedication, hard work and involvement has seen her win many awards. She remains dedicated to helping residents and improving services.

Dr Vikki McCall, Professor of Social Policy, University of Stirling

Dr Vikki McCall is a Professor of Social Policy in the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Stirling. Professor McCall teaches the Postgraduate MSc/Diploma of Housing Studies at the University of Stirling and has won the RATE award for excellence in teaching in the Faculty of Social Sciences in 2016, 2019 and 2023.

Professor McCall’s work includes leading projects focusing on housing, ageing, stigma, co-production the role of front-line workers, service users, volunteers and the policy process. Professor McCall is Principal Investigator on UK-wide projects including Intersectional Stigma of Place-based Ageing (ISPA) project funded by the ESRC (2022-2027) and the Inclusive Living support for older people in residential care (INVITE) project funded by the Longleigh Foundation (2020-2023). She is also Co-I on the UKRI funded Designing homes for healthy cognitive ageing: co-production for impact and scale (DesHCA) project (2020-2024).

Vikki is Honorary Secretary for the Social Policy Association Executive Committee and Editorial Board member of Social Policy & Society.

Lesley Johnson, Director of Property and New Business, Phoenix Community Housing

Lesley has been with community gateway housing association, Phoenix Community Housing, since 2017 and has almost 40 years of experience working in housing with local authorities and housing associations. An expert on the built environment, Lesley’s career has particularly focused on housing development and renewal working with local communities. She has led on the set up of several successful stock transfers and delivered significant refurbishment and redevelopment programmes. She recently led on the acquisition of 1500 homes by Phoenix form L&Q. She is committed to working locally to provide good quality homes and places for people who need them.

Lesley has previously acted as a Neighbourhood Renewal Advisor to the DCLG and as a Built Environment Expert with the Design Council CABE, as well as teaching at the Bartlett School of Planning.

Owen Jarvis, CEO, UK Co-Housing Network

Owen Jarvis, CEO, has led social sector organisations over the last 20 years focusing on points of growth and change. He came to UKCN with experience of living in housing co-operatives and ecovillages. As a NESTA funded Clore Social Leadership Fellow, he authored a paper demonstrating how housing associations can scale new ideas by working with innovators and entrepreneurs. He has a masters degree from the University of Cambridge Business School, leading to a publication on social enterprise Organisational Science. He is also a Winston Churchill Fellow spending time with leaders in successful social and community ventures in Australia and the United States.

Lucy Hales, Head of Co-Housing, Housing 21

A housing professional, with over 35 years’ experience, Lucy has worked in the diverse communities of the West Midlands, leading operational teams in both the social housing and charitable sectors.  As Head of Cohousing Housing, she plays a pivotal role in enabling Housing 21 to think outside the box, to deliver a vision that is very different to the more established models for older persons’ housing.  She is currently working with disadvantaged communities in Birmingham to ensure residents are at the heart of decision-making processes, from design through to future management, for the new cohousing projects to be built in the city.

Millie Brown, Senior Evidence Manager, Centre for Ageing Better 

Helena Doyle, Customer Experience Director – Wellbeing and Support, Stonewater

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