Knight Frank has released its latest Seniors Housing Development Update, which analyses the development landscape last year and offers forecasts of future delivery.

The report indicates that recent research shows there will be an additional 4.2 million seniors by 2040 when one in four of the UK population will be aged 65 or over.

24% of the population aged 65 or over currently has informal care needs, and there will be an additional million people in the UK requiring informal care in 20 years’ time. The under-65 population is staying the same size over the next 20 years, but the seniors are increasing, with the 75-plus 85-plus and 95-plus increasing the most.

Knight Frank contends that if the tax-paying cohort isn’t changing, the country will only be able to pay for these increased care needs by increasing taxes. The report states: “Unless the country becomes more productive, which it isn’t currently post-Brexit and post-pandemic. Or you get the seniors to pay for it themselves by right-sizing them into age-appropriate housing.”

Read the full report here