Extra care housing (ECH)

This Market Position Statement explores the current position and future need for extra care housing in West Sussex. The term ‘extra care housing’ (ECH) describes developments that comprise self-contained homes with design features and support services available to enable self-care and independent living.

ECH comes in a wide variety of forms, for example:

• Housing with care
• Retirement communities or villages
• Assisted living

Occupants may be owners, part owners or tenants and all have legal rights to occupy, underpinned by housing law in contrast to residents in care homes (Housing Lin, 2023).

This statement is designed to give information to providers and developers on the current landscape of ECH, future demand and supply projections, and commissioning intentions of West Sussex County Council (WSCC).

WSCC will continue to encourage ECH as an option for West Sussex residents and wish to work towards extra care meeting the needs of a greater proportion of all people who require care and support.

We want to substantially increase the number and range of ECH schemes in West Sussex, particularly in areas of high demand and low supply. Our aim is for 20 new ECH schemes in the next 20 years.