2025 AGENDA
Property Week's Later Living Conference presents a unique opportunity for attendees to network with prominent industry experts and gain valuable insights into the latest developments in the later living sector.
Take a look at the 2025 agenda!
2025 Agenda
This session explores how government policies, industry initiatives, and strategic investments can accelerate the growth of later living communities. It will cover updates from the Older People's Housing Task Force, innovations in planning, and strategies for fast-tracking projects.
Panellists will discuss aligning sales strategies with market demand, boosting investment confidence, attracting new entrants, and leveraging public awareness campaigns to reduce stigma and unlock the sector’s potential.
- How government policies and industry initiatives can accelerate the growth of later living communities, including updates on the Older People's Housing Task Force recommendations
- Navigating regulatory challenges, delving into immigration challenges for hospitality and care staff, CQC issues
- How can innovations in planning and development, such as fast-tracking processes and aligning with local authority strategies, help accelerate the delivery of housing projects for older adults while meeting community needs?
- What role can public awareness campaigns play in driving sales and reducing the stigma or misconceptions about later-living communities?
- How can the industry address the perception gap that deters potential residents from considering later living options earlier in life?
- How can later living be positioned as part of the broader housing conversation, emphasising its potential to address national housing challenges and create jobs
With leasehold reform on the horizon, the retirement living sector must address what will replace it as a foundation for tenure. This session explores alternative models from New Zealand, Israel, and Australia, which are contract-based and have successfully driven investment, affordability, and consumer satisfaction. Focusing on aligning tenure reform with the modern Integrated Retirement Living Model, the discussion will examine diverse options, including affordable models and scalable rentals, drawing on insights from the Task Force report and global examples.
- Overview of Project Oracle
- How tenure reform can support sector growth
- How tenure reform will help attract investment, and adapt to Labour’s proposal to end leasehold arrangements
- Assessing affordability challenges and creative solutions for the middle market
- How to provide an offer that customers want, at a price they can afford
- Addressing ‘the three Es’: Economies of scale, Efficiencies, and Evolving charging models
This session addresses slow sales rates in the later living sector. Discussion will focus on actionable sales and marketing strategies, leveraging digital tools, and enhancing customer experiences to drive conversions.
- How can greater pricing transparency and innovative models influence demand and improve sales rates in later-living communities? What impact do service charges and flexible tenure choices have on attracting residents?
- What innovative sales strategies can be implemented to accelerate occupancy rates in later-living communities?
- How can rental models and intergenerational schemes play a role in addressing it and improving affordability?
- In what ways can digital tools and AI be used to improve the sales process and enhance the customer journey?
Moderator: Amanda Nurse
This panel brings together leading operators to share their expertise on maintaining high occupancy rates, designing affordable and appealing schemes, and effectively finding, converting, and retaining customers.
Three 10-minute presentations/use cases to delve into the intricacies of customer profiling, transaction conversions, and the tools and strategies that drive success in the later living market. The discussion will uncover best practices, challenges, and innovative approaches to delivering exceptional resident experiences while ensuring business sustainability
Talk 1: Finding and Understanding Customers: How to Identify and Profile Your Target Customers?
Shane Paull, Chief Operating Officer, McCarthy Stone
Talk 2: Converting Leads into Residents and Guiding Customers Through the Decision-Making Process
Lex Cumber, Head of Sales and Marketing, UnTold
Talk 3: Retention and Long-Term Success - Once Residents Move in, Strategies to Use to Ensure Their Long-Term Satisfaction and Retention
Matt Steere, Director, Data & Insight, Birchgrove
- What technologies or innovative practices have had the greatest impact on your sales and retention strategies?
- Can you share examples of successful initiatives or campaigns that have driven occupancy and customer satisfaction?
- What are your most effective strategies for converting leads into sales or lettings?
- The average sales cycle involves significant time and effort—what happens during those critical hours of engagement?
- How do you ensure your schemes remain consistently full?
- What design elements and affordability measures have proven most effective in attracting and retaining residents?
- How do you balance delivering value to customers while maintaining operational efficiency?
- How do you gather and act on resident feedback to continuously improve your offering?
A panel of sale and rent scheme residents sharing diverse perspectives on their experiences, challenges, and what drew them to later living.
This session highlights the importance of resident-centric strategies.
- Why have they moved in? What are the key motivators for residents choosing to move into later living communities?
- What challenges or barriers do residents face in making this transition? Do they like the design and why?
- How can the sector amplify resident success stories to attract more interest?
Moderator: Jeremy Porteus
Part 1: Market Overview Presentation
Part 2: Panel Discussion
This session will explore the evolving investment landscape for later living in a lower base rate environment, highlighting opportunities for increased activity as borrowing costs decline. Panellists will discuss business plans, return profiles, and the types of investment attracting capital—whether in development projects or stabilised assets. A deeper dive into examples of successful projects / partnerships and provide attendees with actionable insights. Key topics include the role of leverage, debt pricing trends, and strategies to maximize returns in a dynamic market.
- How is the lower base rate environment shaping the outlook for investment in later living?
- What are the key challenges and opportunities investors should be aware of as activity increases?
- What return profiles are currently most attractive in the market? Is there a stronger appetite for development projects or stabilised assets, and why?
- How are management teams adapting their business plans to align with investor expectations?
Moderator: Andrew Surgenor
This session will examine capital sources, emerging funding trends, and the role of leverage in the current market. Panellists will discuss innovative financing structures, debt pricing, and strategies for balancing risk and reward. Insights from adjacent industries like build-to-rent, co-living, and student housing will provide transferable lessons, highlight concrete case studies from these sectors to enhance innovation and integration. The session will also highlight anticipated shifts in the investment landscape and opportunities for operator-investor collaboration to drive growth and unlock new potential.
- Where is the capital coming from for later living investments, and what trends are emerging in funding sources?
- How accretive is leverage in the current environment, and what does debt pricing look like moving forward?
- Strategic Planning and Risk Management. How are investors balancing risk and reward in a competitive and evolving market?
- What innovative financing or investment structures are gaining traction?
- What shifts are expected in the investment landscape over the next 12 months?
- How can operators and investors collaborate to unlock new opportunities and drive growth in the sector?
- Lessons from build-to-rent, co-living, and student housing sectors to enhance innovation and integration in later living
Interactive roundtables to enable deep dives into critical issues like inward investment, retrofitting homes, and sustainable living with a glass of bubbles. Followed by the actionable outcomes from discussions, such as policy recommendations or industry action plans. Delegates can choose 1 roundtable with a focus on:
- Meeting the needs of the middle market Led by: Samantha Rowland
- Implementing AI and digital tools in Later Living
- Investing in existing retirement homes to maintain quality and demand
- Retrofitting homes to re-position and make fit for the future
- Sustainable living – the implications for design and heating systems
- Value-based care
- Debt and alternative financing- unlocking growth Led by: Steffan Goold
- Approaches to staff retention: Retaining and engaging top talent- winning strategies Led by: Tony Tench
End of the Conference.
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