South Glamorgan tops UK care home hotspots list

A lack of supply in the UK care home market remains a factor as new development is counterbalanced by closures.
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South Glamorgan tops the healthcare hotspots list for England and Wales, with the region displaying the best prospects for care home investment and development. Comprising Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan, the area is experiencing strong economic growth, but has limited levels of new supply despite the relatively cheap cost of land.

Development in the area is beginning to increase with current schemes including Llys Isan at Llanishen, where developer McCarthy and Stone is building 49 retirement units specifically targeted at the over 70s; Churchill Retirement Living’s De Clare Lodge in Cowbridge comprising 37 new retirement homes; Arbor Vale in Dinas Powys – Developer with Portabella constructing 24 properties for over 50’s; and the 70 bed care home recently completed at Castleoak Abergavenny.

Across the UK, the care home market continues to grow, but at a lacklustre pace. In terms of bed numbers, with the past year has recorded a marginal net gain of only 43 beds combined with a net loss of 86 care homes. Significantly, the rate of care homes closures remains high owing to a variety of factors. These include the rise in the National Living Wage and a constrained labour market centred on an acute shortage of qualified nurses. 

Furthermore, many buildings are not fit for purpose and are failing care standards, with two-thirds of those closed rated ‘inadequate’ or ‘requires improvement’. This is compounded by the insufficient funding available for reinvestment into existing care homes, mixed with building material inflation costs and construction costs which have confined new care home development.

Analysis shows that the UK is already short of 100,000 market-standard beds and this position will worsen over the next two decades unless the rate of new builds increases.