In 2022, 19% of the population was over 65 and this will increase to 27% by 2072. At the same time, more than half a million people are now aged over 90.
While this is a positive indicator of longer life spans, the UK faces a growing challenge in providing suitable accommodation for its ageing population.
Our current provision of suitable housing falls short by a long way.
The government estimates that the country needs around 30,000 to 50,000 additional ‘later living’ homes per annum, but at this time, we only build around 7,000 each year.
This means that more than ninety percent of over-65s live in mainstream housing, leaving them increasingly vulnerable to unsuitable conditions as they age.
This gap is already drawing investors who have already seen the potential in this market. Some experts estimate the sector could be worth £219 billion with forecast growth of 246% up to 2029.
However, as the government points out, it’s not simply a case of adding to the building stock, but of providing living environments that actively support longer and healthier lives.
Elderly residents are most vulnerable to heat-related illness during periods of extreme weather
Mike Egan Business Development Manager
Supporting health and wellbeing
For HVAC professionals, the growth in senior living schemes presents an opportunity. Here, heating, cooling, ventilation and hot water provision are not simply matters of comfort or energy efficiency. They can and do play a direct role in supporting health, wellbeing and independence.
An important point to bear in mind is that the senior living property market is not homogenous. The sector includes independent retirement apartments and later living communities through to extra-care housing and accommodation with more intensive support services.
Occupants may range from active retirees in their sixties through to residents requiring daily assistance later in life.
As a result, HVAC systems serve a wide range of spaces and requirements, sometimes within a single development. Individual apartments need straightforward, easy-to-use comfort systems, while communal lounges, restaurants, fitness facilities and healthcare spaces will have their own heating, cooling and ventilation demands.
Finding flexible solutions
Flexibility therefore becomes a key consideration. Systems need to deliver comfort today while remaining capable of supporting changing occupant requirements over the long term.
Affordability is also a critical factor for occupants who may be living on fixed incomes from pensions.
Thermal comfort is important in every building, but in senior living developments it can have a particularly significant impact. Older people are more vulnerable to the effects of cold temperatures, which can contribute to a range of health issues.
What’s more, residents spend more time indoors than younger generations, making the performance of the indoor environment especially important.
This places greater emphasis on heating systems that provide consistent, controllable warmth throughout the year while maintaining high levels of energy efficiency.
Heat pumps
Heat pumps are increasingly the preferred solution. By providing low-carbon, highly efficient heating without reliance on fossil fuels, they align with investor sustainability objectives, occupant comfort requirements and affordability.
Air-to-water heat pumps can be particularly effective where developers wish to integrate underfloor heating systems. Because underfloor heating operates at lower flow temperatures than traditional radiator systems, it works exceptionally well alongside heat pump technology while providing gentle, even heat throughout living spaces.
For larger developments, Mitsubishi Electric's Ecodan and commercial heat pump solutions (for larger schemes) can provide an efficient route to decarbonising heating and hot water provision while helping operators manage long-term energy costs.
Overheating is also an issue
Historically, heating has often dominated discussions around residential building services in the UK. However, increasingly hot summers are changing the conversation, as we have seen with rising temperatures in May 2026.
Overheating is now recognised as a growing challenge across many building sectors, and senior living developments are no exception. In fact, elderly residents are among the groups most vulnerable to heat-related illness during periods of extreme weather.
So, developers must think beyond winter heating requirements and consider year-round comfort. Good building design remains the first line of defence. Appropriate shading, solar control measures and natural ventilation strategies all have an important role to play.
However, there are situations where additional cooling may be desirable, particularly in communal areas where residents gather during warmer periods.
Air-to-air heat pumps provide an attractive solution. As well as delivering highly efficient heating during colder months, they can provide cooling when temperatures rise, helping to maintain comfortable conditions throughout the year.
Systems such as Mitsubishi Electric's M Series and Mr Slim ranges also offer a practical approach for individual apartments and smaller communal spaces, while larger developments may benefit from more sophisticated solutions capable of serving multiple areas from a central system.
Improving air quality
Alongside thermal comfort, indoor air quality is becoming an important consideration in senior living environments. Older occupants can be more susceptible to airborne pollutants, allergens and seasonal illnesses.
At the same time, modern energy-efficient buildings are becoming increasingly airtight, making well-designed ventilation strategies essential.
Mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (MVHR) provides an effective way of introducing fresh air while minimising heat losses. By extracting stale air and recovering its heat before introducing fresh outdoor air, these systems support both indoor air quality and energy efficiency objectives.
Mitsubishi Electric's Lossnay heat recovery ventilation systems can help designers balance these competing requirements, delivering a healthier indoor environment while reducing the energy penalty often associated with ventilation.
In some applications, air conditioning systems can provide an additional contribution to indoor air quality through integrated filtration technologies that help remove dust, allergens and other airborne contaminants.
Taking back control
Controls also play a crucial role. Residents and facilities managers alike benefit from systems that are intuitive to operate and easy to monitor. Remote monitoring capabilities can help facilities teams identify performance issues before they lead to occupant disruption, supporting preventative maintenance strategies and improving overall system reliability.
For developments operating around the clock, this ability to maintain comfort and minimise downtime is particularly valuable.
As the senior living sector evolves, developers will focus on buildings that promote health, wellbeing and independence while meeting increasingly demanding sustainability targets.
HVAC systems will play a central role in achieving these objectives. From underfloor heating and hot water heat pumps to air-to-air heat pumps, cooling systems and heat recovery ventilation, designers have access to a growing range of technologies capable of delivering healthy, comfortable and energy-efficient environments.
Successful senior living developments will be those that recognise the connection between building performance and quality of life. By creating spaces that are comfortable, resilient and easy to operate, the industry can help ensure that residents are not simply living longer but living better.
Mike Egan is Business Development Manager
