Vital real estate: meeting essential demand responsibly

Care homes, affordable housing and retirement living support some of society’s most fundamental needs. And they can offer investors resilient income.

Vital real estate addresses a persistent gap between society’s needs and the supply of suitable places to live and receive care. In England, 1.34 million households were on local authority housing registers at 31 March 2025 – the highest number since 2014. Only 263,000 households received a new social letting during the year.  These figures point to the scale of demand for good-quality, genuinely affordable homes.

An ageing population adds to that demand. The number of people aged 85 and over in the UK is projected to rise from 1.8 million in 2024 to 3.6 million by 2049.  At the same time, care-home capacity is not keeping pace: in England, there were nearly 450 fewer care-home beds per 100,000 people aged 65 and over in April 2026 than in April 2019.  The need for modern care homes, accessible housing and retirement communities is likely to remain substantial.

Michael Toft, Co-Head of Real Estate at Octopus Capital, puts it simply: “As the need for this type of housing continues to build, we see an opportunity for private capital to help deliver these much-needed homes. Managed correctly, this investment can aim to deliver attractive returns over a long period.”

Meeting that need takes more than capital and buildings. These assets are people’s homes and – in many cases – where residents receive essential support. Poor service, weak governance, or unsuitable accommodation can harm residents and investors alike, leading to regulatory intervention, reputational damage, lower occupancy, and weaker financial performance.

The opportunity is to provide essential infrastructure responsibly, through platforms with the expertise and authority to act when problems emerge.

Read the full ‘Thought Leadership’ article at the link below