Thank you to all that attended ARCO’s What Next? 2023 Conference.

We were thrilled to welcome over 440 experts representing over 170 leading organisations from across the Housing-with-Care sector to our 7th Annual Conference and Knowledge Exchange Day, and bring together once again relevant,
insightful and varied voices to this sold-out event.

On Wednesday 5 July, we were delighted to welcome and hear from Rachel Maclean MP, Minister of State for Housing & Planning, Professor Julienne Meyer CBE, Chair of Older People's Housing Task Force, as well as over 40 speakers and IRC residents that participated and shared their expertise in this year's sessions.

The Knowledge Exchange Day, on 6 July, offered the opportunity to delegates to attend and participate in a variety of workshops that addressed relevant and current issues as the importance of data and analytics, planning policy, how MMC can give confidence when developing future IRCs, the Building Safety Act, modernising the consumer contract, rising awareness in the sector, effective complaints handling, and how to remove barriers to sales in Later Living.

We want to thank everyone that has supported and taken part on this event.

If you were unable to purchase tickets this year, you can now join our mailing list and receive communications when tickets go on sale for the 2024 ARCO Conference.

With the Task Force for older people's housing now starting its work, we heard from policy experts on what the IRC sector needs to facilitate growth and ensure the sector continues to flourish

Providing care and support services is key to the integrated retirement community offer. While not all residents will need care services on an ongoing basis, it is nevertheless a key driver for customers looking for a safety net that will enable them to live independently for as long as possible. However, providing regulated care is arguably the most complex component of an IRC, and in this session, the panel highlighted some of the main considerations when it comes to setting up and running a CQC regulated domiciliary care service

Professor Bobby Duffy, this year's Keynote speaker, has worked across most public policy areas in his career of 30 years in policy research and evaluation, including being seconded to the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit.

Professor Duffy spoke about his latest book Generations – Does when you’re born shape who you are? which challenges myths and stereotypes around generational trends, seeking a greater understanding around generational challenges, trends and opportunities

This session looked at the case for acceleration growth of the IRC sector, including:

• Impact of absorption on returns  
• How affordable is the product?
• Ideas to accelerate growth

The IRC sector continues to attract new entrants keen to develop their own offers to address the housing and social care crisis. However, the barriers to entry are significant. In this session, delegates had the opportunity to hear from operators new to the sector who shared their top tips on planning, building and operating a new Integrated Retirement Community. In addition, we also heard from colleagues who are currently planning their entry, and the barriers they need to overcome

The IRC sector has been on a journey to move away from the traditional leasehold system, with new lease structures transferring risks from residents to operators as a response to customer preferences. The sector’s Leasehold Plus proposals will expand consumer protection for residents and allow for contracts to be updated. This session provided an insight into the need to update consumer contracts to ensure operational sustainability

IRCs are a key part of the future health and social care landscape. We were able to hear from staff and residents on how non-regulated support services make a crucial impact on people’s health, well-being and sense of belonging

This session brought together industry experts to share innovative thinking of some of the key components needed to fill Integrated Retirement Communities rapidly. Panellists discussed the marketing techniques, customer engagement approaches, and barriers to moving, including a lack of awareness and other disincentives, including proposals to overcome these obstacles

The Knowledge Exchange Day offers delegates the chance to explore in-depth specific topics through various workshops delivered by leading sector experts and is highly recommended for those wanting greater insight into the Housing-with-Care sector after the main conference day.  These year's workshops included the following:

This session focused on the importance of maintaining effective communication and responsive complaints handling within the IRC sector and share reflections from lessons learned. John Hesford, ARCO’s Compliance Engagement Manager, and Laura Davies, Head of Quality, Compliance & Performance at ExtraCare Charitable Trust,  discussed best practice approaches, pitfalls to avoid, and insights from their experience in dealing with feedback and complaints

Following on from the Tenure transformation session on Day 1, this workshop considered how best to meet consumer preferences while ensuring long-term sustainability in new leases, and options for updating older leases so that they continue to reflect best practice. ARCO's Director of Legal & Compliance, Sally Ireland, Kyle Holling, Partner at Trowers & Hamlins, and Louise Read, General Counsel at Inspired Villages discussed these issues from the legal and operational perspectives

This session explored the changing planning landscape for Integrated Retirement Communities, including current changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), the newly proposed infrastructure levy, emerging case law and the need for a better definition of what it is we do. Leading planning experts, Tetlow King and Michael Voges, ARCO's Chief Executive discussed the current state of play and look to future changes to help unlock our sector’s current challenges

Despite the steady growth of the IRC sector in the UK, the different housing and care choices available for older people remain still relatively unknown and often misunderstood by the wider public. James Lloyd, ARCO's Director of Policy & Communications, explored the current public awareness challenge around the IRC sector, looked at how other countries have addressed this challenge, and invited attendees to discuss what could be done in the UK

With the demands on the industry to increase the volume of new homes for older people and the simultaneous challenges around materials and skills, we are at a critical stage in the development of modern methods of construction (MMC). NHBC is using their scale, expertise and knowledge of working with manufacturers to provide operators, investors and lenders with the confidence that innovative systems can meet the same high standards of quality and durability as traditionally-built schemes. Join NHBC to discuss how new methods of MMC can help to give operators confidence when developing future IRCs and reduce the long-term risk of operation

How are operators ensuring compliance with the regulations so far, what are the key upcoming challenges and what is next on the horizon? Legal experts, James Huckstep, Partner at Trowers & Hamlins and Harry Blathwayt, Head of Legal at Riverstone LIving, discussed what operators should have in place already and how you should be preparing for the October 2023 milestone

For operators and investors working in and looking to enter the sector, having access to clear data and analytics is critical to decision making and building a successful IRC offer for older people. At Knight Frank, we use our analysis across numerous projects to inform decision making, including site acquisition, support at IC, sales and marketing, planning as well as design. Peter Youngs and the Senior Housing Team demonstrated in this interactive workshop how they apply this analysis and take a deep dive into the data

The very best Later living sales practitioners understand their role as catalysts for change.
Alex Fisher, Board Member & Advisor at Aline, shared the most up-to-date data that help us understand how the leading indicators of better sales outcomes are tied to facilitating the removal of emotional barriers to buying. Aline believe that successful change isn’t about pushing harder, rather it is about overcoming resistance by reducing friction and lowering the person’s hurdles to action.
This presentation is based on decades of research and practical hands-on experience in the field, as well as the latest data studies of over 3,200 communities in the US and Canada.  

Over 440 representatives from more than 170 leading organisations
from our sector attended this year's conference.
See who was in the room!