PTE partner Patrick Devlin was on BBC Radio London this morning speaking about housing needs in London, based on recent Resolution Foundation data about older Londoners remaining in the capital - bucking a demographic trend.

The data in the foundation’s January 2025 report - Ageing in the fast and slow lane: Examining geographic gaps in ageing – shows that over the past decade or so London has experienced more ageing than other large UK cities. London’s median age rose by two years between 2011 and 2022 but remained unchanged elsewhere in the UK.

According to the foundation this trend is shaped by two main reasons: a declining birth rate and the arrival of young international migrants became less concentrated in London post-Brexit.

Patrick argued that another - more fundamental - factor was informing the data: older people actually like living in London.

‘We want to live where we like living. Somewhere that we can afford, is accessible and provide the facilities and lifestyles we want,’ said Patrick. ‘Land prices in London are such that most of London can’t accommodate that without some sort of assistance but the appetite is there.’

He continued: ‘When we were discussing our New Ground co-housing project – a scheme for older women in Barnet - on a BBC radio programme a few years ago, the host received 4,000 emails after it aired, most of them asking, ‘how can we live in a similar place?’

‘There is a demand for decent quality mid-market accommodation for older people in London,’ Patrick said. ‘Social connection is absolutely critical to remaining happy and healthy - we all experienced that during Covid. You want to be where your networks are - not move miles away to somewhere which has a nice view but is far from your social connections.’

You can listen to the interview with Aaron Paul here on BBC Sounds (2:08)