By Mike Lord, mobility expert and Chairman & CEO of Stiltz Homelifts

A single-storey home with a manageable garden has long been seen as a desirable option for older people looking to downsize.

But our love affair with the bungalow must come to an end. Moving from a family home to a property without stairs that’s easier to maintain may seem like a very sensible option as we grow less mobile. However, in most cases, it’s not in the best interests of homeowners, the wider community and public services.

In our new white paper, Elevating Housing: Why the Future of UK Homes Must Look Beyond the Staircase, we are calling for the government and local authorities to help people continue to live in their multi-storey homes. Rather than moving to new properties, their existing houses can and must be made to work for our older generations.

By criticising bungalows, I know we are going against the grain. The HomeOwners Alliance recently called for more bungalows to be built to meet demand from an ageing population. Some 38% of homeowners aged 55+ would like a bungalow for their next move, and though such properties made up 11% of new homes in 1990, in 2024 that figure was just 1%.

The shortage of bungalows forces people towards getting into debt by choosing residential homes earlier than they might need to. According to the UK Seniors Housing Report 2024, there will be a shortfall of up to 46,000 retirement and seniors housing units within five years.

Building more single-storey homes really isn’t the solution, though.

They take up much more land than two-floor properties with the same internal space. This is a big disadvantage when suitable construction land is in such limited supply across much of the UK.

They also remove older people from the homes, friends and communities they may have lived in for decades. It’s for this reason that I also reject the recent calls by housing-with-care operators, MPs and peers for the government to bring forward a national policy to establish more housing developments specifically for older people.

Moving to a bungalow or retirement complex, particularly in a new area, can damage individuals’ mental wellbeing. Forced relocation in later life has been shown to increase rates of depression, anxiety, and a loss of identity. Our white paper reports that 13% of over-50s feel moving would negatively affect their mental health.

New bungalows and retirement properties are frequently built on the edge of towns or in rural areas. If too many people relocate to them, we will be gutting town and city centres of older residents and losing the intergenerational integration that brings such positivity to our communities.

It is older people and retirees who are frequently the driving force behind the likes of community gardens, good-neighbour networks, local-history societies and providing free childcare for working parents.

Besides, the growing housing crisis for older, less mobile people is so huge that constructing more bungalows or special retirement developments will in no way be enough.

In 2022, there were around 12.7 million people in the UK aged 65 or over. By 2072, that figure will be 22.1 million people. Even the most determined, well-funded government won’t be able to build new properties to house everyone.

Instead, authorities and families must help older generations to stay in their family homes by adding accessibility features such as grab rails and wetrooms. Homelifts too can be transformational in making multi-storey homes as accessible to people with walking or frailty issues as any bungalow.

Adaptable housing also eases pressure on ever-stressed NHS funding. For every £1 invested in preventative housing adaptations, including ramps and walk-in showers, to prevent falls and loss of independence, it saves the NHS and other government care agencies £1.62.

We do urgently need new homes in the UK, of course. However, the 1.5 million homes the government plans to build by 2029 must be designed around ageing in place. Residents from young families to 50-something couples whose children have flown the nest should feel able to still be in these newbuilds in 30 years’ time.

They must be built with wide hallways for wheelchair-access, level doorways and space for lifts to be installed. Developers should receive incentives to create such features. Local councils must adopt and enforce building regulations that ensure all new homes are adaptable and designed with vertical mobility in mind.

Finding enough suitable land for all these new homes will also be easier and quicker if we build up, rather than out, and accommodate several people over two or more floors.

Bungalows have provided happy homes for many people for many decades. But as space gets tighter, they are no longer the answer for this country. We can now make other types of property practical, safe and attractive for older residents. An emphasis on ageing in place and adaptable new builds will benefit social cohesion and people of every generation, now and in the future.

Mike Lord is Chairman and CEO of Stiltz, the UK’s leading homelift provider. The company manufactures, supplies, and installs a range of models in different sizes and for different needs. For more information, visit www.stiltz.co.uk/home-lifts/