Clustered Housing to alleviate the Senior Housing Crisis

Abstract

With the growing number of seniors in the Netherlands and the ongoing reform of their accommodation since 2015, finding new housing forms for this target group is crucial in improving their quality of life as well as solving the housing crisis. Currently, seniors in the Netherlands face multiple imminent challenges, like the rapidly increasing cost of care in the country, growing issues of loneliness and the housing mismatch for the target group, which often lives in way too large housing for their needs and capabilities. In order to accommodate for this problems, clustered housing forms, or co-housing, have become an emerging option throughout Europe, while for the senior target group there has been little focus on it. In this research, litera- ture as well as user research will be utilized in order to confirm the potential for the target group as well as get insights on the actual users wishes and experiences with community based housing. As the literature research showed, clustered housing promises potential in reducing issues such as loneli- ness and lack activity in the senior target group, as well as being able to provide housing attractive for the target group to move out of their previous homes. Regarding the health of the users the literature showed the importance of access to greenery and views, highlighting the importance of the right location for their accommodation. Further, the user research highlighted the importance of the community to the users, and the ability to find social interaction whenever they want, which is not the case living in their previous family homes. Further, the users confirmed the importance of greenery to their living quality and the ability to personalize they homes. In conclusion, clustered housing proved to be a promising solution for the target group, if its done with attention to the community and their wishes.