The Sliding Scale of Intergenerationality: Rethinking Housing for Healthier, More Connected Communities

Across the UK, the way we live is being reshaped by powerful social and economic forces. Rising housing costs, longer life expectancies, and shifting family structures are transforming how people think about home and community. Almost half of Britons now live in multi-generational households, yet outside of the family, only 5.5% of children in England live near someone over 65. By 2040, one in four people will be over 65, and already half of over-75s live alone. At the same time, younger generations are locked out of affordable housing, face precarious rental markets, and struggle with the rising cost of childcare. These pressures are not isolated, they expose a system designed for the nuclear families of the 1980s, not for the longevity society we inhabit today.

Globally, the case is just as strong. Evidence from the Netherlands and Denmark shows that intergenerational housing reduces loneliness by up to 45% while boosting informal care networks. Singapore’s Kampung Admiralty, often cited as the world’s first ‘vertical village,’ demonstrates how integrated housing can enhance health outcomes and social cohesion.

The World Health Organisation recognises social connection as a vital determinant of health, ranking it alongside nutrition and physical activity and warns that social disconnection is a global public health crisis. An alarming 1 in 6 people worldwide experience loneliness and the consequences are profound. Beyond the human toll, social isolation weakens mental health and increases risks of depression, anxiety, heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, dementia, and early mortality. It also fractures community cohesion, deepening segregation by age, income, and background, eroding trust, amplifying division, and undermining societal resilience. Intergenerational connection, whether through shared housing, neighbourhood programmes, or design interventions, offers a compelling antidote.

Our recent YouGov polling shows there is strong public appetite for change. The majority of people recognise the benefits of intergenerational connection: 81% of UK adults believe mixing across ages reduces loneliness, 76% say it improves mental health, and 86% agree it fosters mutual respect and challenge ageism. The challenge is not necessarily a lack of willingness, but a lack of infrastructural awareness. While people see the value, our housing and community systems are failing to provide the spaces and opportunities to make it happen.

The UK stands at a crossroads. While countries like the Netherlands, Germany, and Singapore are leading the way with large-scale intergenerational housing developments, the UK response has remained fragmented, too often limited to pilots or small-scale projects. National strategies such as the Levelling Up agenda, the Healthy Ageing Mission, and the NHS Long-Term Plan all highlight the urgent need to build healthier, more connected communities. Intergenerational housing provides a direct, practical mechanism to deliver on these commitments, transforming them from policy into lived reality.

We know that housing insecurity in the UK does not fall evenly. Single older women, care leavers, migrant families, and low-income households are among the groups most at risk of insecure housing, loneliness, and social exclusion. Intergenerational housing has the power to tackle these inequities head-on. By creating affordable, connected living arrangements that share resources and foster support, we can ensure that those most vulnerable are not left behind. In practice, this might mean pairing younger people priced out of the rental market with older residents who have spare rooms, or designing neighbourhoods where cultural diversity is celebrated across ages. Building homes for all generations is not only a question of planning, it is a question of fairness – future proofing.

The truth is that intergenerational living isn’t one-size-fits-all. It exists on a sliding scale, from small, everyday interactions to purpose-built neighbourhoods designed to foster age-inclusive connection. Every community, council, developer, and individual has an entry point. The question is: how do we begin to think and act more intergenerationally in ways that enhance practice, policy, and everyday life?

The Sliding Scale of Intergenerationality

1. Neighbourhood Exchanges

At its simplest, intergenerationality can look like informal neighbourly support – swapping skills, joining a community timebank, or simply checking in on each other. These low-resource, organic interactions build trust and reciprocity at a hyperlocal level.

2. Programmatic Interventions in Existing Settings

Libraries hosting storytelling sessions, schools linking with care homes, or music-making projects that bring different ages together – these don’t require new buildings, but instead transform existing spaces into places of intergenerational connection.

3. Intergenerational Design in Housing Management

Housing associations and councils can adopt mixed-age tenancy strategies, shared communal spaces, and training for housing managers to support intergenerational inclusion. Even small operational shifts can reshape daily experience.

4. Retrofitted Intergenerational Models

Some schemes reimagine existing estates with shared gardens, community kitchens, or community cafés. By upgrading environments to enable age-inclusive interaction, local authorities and developers can breathe new life into communities without starting from scratch.

5. Purpose-Built Intergenerational Housing Developments

At the other end of the scale, purpose-built developments like Hazelmead Cohousing or Melfield Gardens are designed from the ground up with multi-generational living in mind. These sites integrate homes, services, and shared facilities, encouraging daily interaction and long-term social value.

A Call to Action

Intergenerational housing is not a fringe idea, it is a mainstream necessity. But too often it is left as pilot projects or “nice to have” initiatives. If the UK is set to build 1.5 million new homes by 2030, we must ensure these are homes for all ages.

• For individuals and tenants, the entry point may be simple acts of connection or advocating for shared facilities.

• For councils and housing associations, it means embedding intergenerational design in tenancy, planning, and regeneration.

• For planners and architects, it requires creativity in designing flexible, inclusive homes and communities.

• For developers, it is a chance to future-proof investments, enhance social value, and deliver resilient neighbourhoods.

Intergenerational housing is not just socially beneficial, it is economically smart. Research shows that reducing loneliness could save the UK health and social care system an estimated £1.8 billion a year through fewer GP visits, lower hospital admissions, and delayed entry into residential care. For local authorities, mixed-age housing reduces pressure on waiting lists and enables more efficient use of land and community assets. For developers, the value is equally clear: future-proofed neighbourhoods attract long-term investment, increase demand, and meet growing requirements around social value reporting. At a time when councils face financial strain and the NHS is under unprecedented pressure, intergenerational design offers a cost-effective solution that strengthens both communities and public services.

If every new neighbourhood built in the UK between now and 2030 embedded intergenerational principles, we could reshape the very fabric of society. Imagine if each of the planned 1.5 million new homes was designed to foster connection across ages, Britain would become the first country in the world to structurally embed intergenerational solidarity into how we live. This is not a utopian vision; it is a practical pathway to healthier, more resilient communities. The opportunity is clear, the evidence is strong.

At Intergenerational England, we believe in a sliding scale of opportunity. Wherever you begin, from a street-level exchange to a purpose-built development, the goal is the same: connection, care, and community across generations.

Want to Find out More on the Topic:

Intergenerational Social Value Metric – A Partnership between HACT and Intergenerational England - https://www.housinglin.org.uk/Topics/type/The-Social-Value-of-Intergenerational-Approaches-in-Housing-Discovery-Research-and-Impact-Framework/

Intergenerational Music Making Projects across Communties and Housing Schemes - https://www.imm-music.com/programs

Join the Intergenerational England Housing Taskforce - https://www.intergenerationalengland.org/contact-us

Here from other sector Experts - https://www.housinglin.org.uk/Topics/browse/Housing/HousingforOlderPeople/intergenerational-housing/

References

Age UK (2022) Older women and housing insecurity. London: Age UK. Available at: https://www.ageuk.org.uk (Accessed: 20 August 2025).

Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (2018) A connected society: a strategy for tackling loneliness – laying the foundations for change. London: HM Government.

Department of Health and Social Care (2022) Healthy Ageing Mission. London: DHSC. Available at: https://www.gov.uk (Accessed: 20 August 2025).

Droogleever Fortuijn, J. (2011) ‘Intergenerational housing projects in the Netherlands and Denmark’, Journal of Housing for the Elderly, 25(2), pp. 171–195.

Hazelmead Cohousing (2023) Cohousing community overview. Bridport: Bridport Cohousing. Available at: https://bridportcohousing.org.uk (Accessed: 20 August 2025).

Knapp, M., Bauer, A., Perkins, M. and Snell, T. (2017) Loneliness – the cost to society. London: London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).

Melfield Gardens (2023) Intergenerational housing project, Lewisham. London: Phoenix Community Housing. Available at: https://www.phoenixch.org.uk (Accessed: 20 August 2025).

NHS England (2019) The NHS long term plan. London: NHS England.

Office for National Statistics (2023) Living arrangements and ageing data. London: ONS. Available at: https://www.ons.gov.uk (Accessed: 20 August 2025).

Uplift (2025) Multigenerational households in Britain. London: Uplift. [Placeholder citation – update with exact report or survey details once confirmed].

Verma, I. and Tan, S.H. (2019) ‘Kampung Admiralty: A case study of integrated elderly housing in Singapore’, Journal of Aging & Social Policy, 31(4), pp. 336–353.

Versey, H.S. and Tan, E.J. (2019) ‘Creating multi-generational communities: Benefits for all’, Generations: Journal of the American Society on Aging, 43(2), pp. 28–34.

World Health Organization (2023) Social connection as a determinant of health. Geneva: WHO. Available at: https://www.who.int (Accessed: 20 August 2025).

Intergenerational England (2024) Polling on intergenerational attitudes. YouGov.