The UK needs significantly more housing for people who require care and support. Delivering it, however, is about more than increasing the number of properties available.
Care housing sits at the intersection of several complex markets. Local authorities identify and commission services. Care providers deliver support. Housing associations and registered providers provide and manage homes. Developers create new supply, investors and funders provide the capital that makes many schemes possible, and professional advisers help structure and de-risk the transactions that connect them.
For a new care housing scheme to work, these different parts of the market need to align around the same requirement. That remains harder than it should be.
The National Housing Federation estimates that England has a shortfall of up to 325,000 supported homes, while research into future demand suggests that hundreds of thousands of additional supported housing spaces could be required by 2040.
At the same time, demand for adult social care continues to grow. CQC reported that requests for local-authority-funded social care support increased by 4% in 2023/24 and were 8% higher than in 2019/20.
These figures point to a significant long-term requirement for new housing. But understanding the scale of demand is only part of the challenge. The sector also needs better ways to translate that demand into viable, deliverable housing.
A fragmented market creates a delivery challenge
There is no shortage of expertise within care housing.
Commissioners have detailed knowledge of local need. Care providers understand the requirements of the people they support. Housing organisations understand tenancy, property management and regulatory requirements. Developers know how to identify and deliver suitable property. Investors understand capital and long-term asset performance.
The challenge is connecting that expertise early enough.
A local authority may have identified a requirement for additional supported living in a particular area, while a developer is independently assessing a suitable property nearby. A care provider may be looking to expand into the same geography, and a registered provider may have appetite to support new schemes.
Unless those organisations have visibility of one another, a potentially viable opportunity can remain disconnected.
Much of the sector still relies on existing relationships, direct outreach, consultants, agents, procurement exercises and informal networks to establish these connections. Those routes remain important, but they do not provide a complete or current view of demand, supply and organisational capacity across the market.
Better visibility could help organisations identify relevant opportunities and partners earlier, before significant time and capital have been committed.
The scale of the supported housing requirement
Supported housing already plays a significant role in enabling people to live more independently in their communities. More than half a million people in England use supported housing, and the National Housing Federation has highlighted a substantial gap between existing supply and current and future need.
Research cited by the Federation estimates a current shortfall of up to 325,000 supported homes. Separate work looking towards 2040 indicates that hundreds of thousands of additional supported housing spaces may be required as demographic and care needs change.
The economic case is also important. National Housing Federation research estimates that supported housing saves the public purse around £3.5 billion each year by reducing pressure on more costly public services. Meeting future need could increase those savings materially.
For the market, these numbers underline an important point: supported housing is not a marginal part of the housing system. It is an increasingly important component of the UK's wider health, housing and social care infrastructure.
Demand is only useful when the market can act on it
Strategic needs assessments and commissioning plans provide important evidence of local priorities, but broad demand statements do not always give housing and development partners enough information to make investment decisions.
A statement that an area needs more supported living is useful context. A deliverable opportunity requires greater detail.
● Who needs the accommodation and how many people are involved?
● What type of housing is appropriate?
● Which locations are preferred, and why?
● What level and model of support is expected?
● What is the anticipated timescale?
● How are referrals expected to work?
● What commissioning or funding arrangements are likely to support the service?
The more clearly these requirements can be expressed, the easier it becomes for care providers, housing organisations, developers and investors to assess whether they can respond.
This does not mean every aspect of a scheme should be prescribed at the outset. Providers and housing partners need room to bring their own expertise. But better demand intelligence gives the market a more reliable starting point.
Property and care need to be considered together
A supported housing development cannot be assessed solely as a property transaction.
The people who will live in a scheme, and the care model that will support them, can influence location, accessibility, apartment layouts, staff facilities, communal areas, security, transport requirements and the overall scale of the development.
Workforce is another important consideration. A property may be suitable in physical terms but difficult to operate if the local care workforce cannot support the intended service. Similarly, a strong care provider may be unable to mobilise successfully if the property design or location works against the operating model.
Bringing commissioners, care providers and housing partners into the conversation earlier can identify these issues before a scheme becomes difficult or expensive to change.
For developers and investors, this can also improve the quality of decision-making. Understanding the care model, local demand and potential operating partners provides a more complete picture of an opportunity than property fundamentals alone.
The market has appetite to deliver more
The shortage of supported housing is not simply the result of a lack of development ambition.
The National Housing Federation's 2025 survey of supported and older persons' housing providers found strong appetite to develop additional homes. It also identified significant barriers, including limited capital grant funding, building-safety and decarbonisation costs, uncertainty around housing benefit and the risk of services being decommissioned.
These constraints cannot be solved by technology alone. Nor can better connections remove the need for robust commissioning, viable rents, appropriate funding or good development decisions.
They can, however, reduce another source of friction: the difficulty of understanding where genuine demand exists and identifying the organisations capable of responding to it.
In a capital-intensive market, better information matters. It can help organisations test opportunities earlier, avoid unsuitable partnerships and focus resources on schemes with a stronger prospect of delivery.
Better market infrastructure can reduce friction
Many sectors have benefited from digital infrastructure that makes previously fragmented information easier to discover and use. Care housing has yet to develop the same level of connectivity.
The opportunity is not simply to digitise an industry directory. Static lists quickly become outdated and rarely show what an organisation needs, where it wants to grow or what opportunities are active today.
More useful market infrastructure would connect live demand with relevant organisations and opportunities. Commissioners could make local requirements more visible. Care providers could show their specialisms, operating geographies and growth priorities. Housing organisations could identify partners and opportunities aligned with their strategy. Developers could assess property against evidenced need, while investors could gain greater context around the operating ecosystem behind an asset.
The value comes from connecting information that is currently held in separate places.
That creates a more informed starting point for conversations. It does not replace procurement, due diligence, professional advice or commercial judgement. It helps those processes begin with better information.
From identified need to delivered housing
The supported housing challenge is often discussed in terms of the number of additional homes required. That number matters, but supply will not increase through development activity alone.
Successful delivery depends on several organisations making compatible decisions around the same requirement: commissioners understanding need, providers having the capability to deliver support, housing partners providing an appropriate model, developers creating suitable supply and capital being available on terms the scheme can sustain.
The more visible those requirements and capabilities become, the easier it is for the market to organise around them.
For people who need care and support, the outcome is ultimately much simpler: access to the right home, in the right place, with the right support.
How OTHRS fits into the market
OTHRS is building a digital network for the care housing sector, designed to make demand, opportunities and relevant organisations easier to discover and connect.
The platform brings commissioners, care providers, housing associations and registered providers, developers, agents, sourcers, professional advisers and capital into a shared environment. The aim is to give organisations better visibility of the market and help relevant partnerships form earlier.
OTHRS does not replace formal procurement, due diligence or the professional relationships on which successful care housing depends. It provides infrastructure around those relationships: making information more visible, connections more relevant and opportunities easier to understand.
As demand for supported housing continues to grow, better connectivity will not solve every barrier to delivery. But it can help ensure that viable opportunities are less likely to be missed simply because the right organisations did not find one another.
Better with OTHRS.
Frequently asked questions
What is care housing?
Care housing is a broad term for housing provided alongside care or support. Depending on the model, this can include supported living, supported housing and other forms of specialist accommodation that enable people to live more independently.
How much supported housing is needed in England?
The National Housing Federation has cited an estimated current shortfall of up to 325,000 supported homes in England. Research into future demand also indicates that hundreds of thousands of additional supported housing spaces could be required by 2040.
Why is supported housing difficult to deliver?
Delivery can depend on the alignment of local demand, care-provider capability, suitable property, housing partners, planning, workforce, funding and capital. A weakness or delay in any one of these areas can affect the viability or timing of a scheme.
Who is involved in delivering supported housing?
Depending on the scheme, delivery can involve local-authority commissioners, care providers, housing associations or registered providers, developers, landlords, investors, funders and professional advisers.
How can better data help supported housing delivery?
Better data can make local demand, organisational capacity and property opportunities easier to understand. This can help stakeholders identify suitable partners earlier and assess whether a potential scheme is aligned with genuine need before significant resources are committed.
What is OTHRS?
OTHRS is a digital network for the care housing market, connecting organisations across commissioning, care, housing, property and capital.
Sources
● National Housing Federation — Supported and older persons' housing development survey 2025.
● National Housing Federation — The financial benefits of supported housing, 2025.
● National Housing Federation / Altair — Research on future supported housing need to 2040.
● Care Quality Commission — The state of health care and adult social care in England 2024/25.
