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Project: Intergenerational Living Development

Business Case

Intergenerational Living Development is a PHC-serviced project to investigate, develop and demonstrate a repeatable model for high-quality, affordable intergenerational housing. The concept begins with the possibility of two or more related households living within a deliberately designed residential environment that provides both genuine independence and selected shared facilities. An initial architectural concept uses an H-shaped arrangement, with separate residential wings for different generations connected by shared living space and opening towards common outdoor facilities. This is an initial design hypothesis rather than a prescribed solution. The wider project will examine how architecture, land use, shared infrastructure, financing, ownership, legal structures and community arrangements could combine to provide younger households with secure and attractive homes while enabling older generations to contribute capital and remain independent, involved and supported. The intention is to develop more than a single family home. The project will investigate whether the principles can be turned into a repeatable development model capable of supporting individual family projects, multi-family communities and larger developments in the UK and internationally. PHC Service will maintain the project evidence base, Concerns, Actions, decisions, specialist inputs, lessons learned and readiness information. Architects, planners, lawyers, financial advisers, developers, engineers and other disciplines will remain independent specialist services contributing to the project as required.

1. Project Context

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Project Context
Project 519, Intergenerational Living Development, is an early-stage PHC project exploring a practical model of intergenerational housing. The concept responds to pressure on younger households seeking secure and affordable homes, and to the opportunity for older generations to use property, capital, experience or support capacity more effectively. The project is currently at concept and framing stage. Sponsorship, governance, site, funding, tenure structure, planning route, cost baseline and operating model are not yet established.

2. Current Position and Gap to Target

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Current Position and Gap to Target
The current position is a promising but immature concept. There is no approved business case, no confirmed site, no settled design, no formal delivery organisation, no approved budget and no tested affordability model. The gap to target is therefore substantial: the project must move from an idea about intergenerational living to an evidence-based proposition that can be costed, governed, legally structured, planned, funded and operated.

3. Operating Opportunity

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Operating Opportunity
The operating opportunity is to create a housing model that combines private independent living with carefully designed shared or connected elements. If proven, the model could support younger households, reduce isolation or underuse of older-generation assets, and provide a more flexible alternative to conventional separate housing or informal multi-generational living. The opportunity depends on proving that privacy, affordability, legal clarity and operational responsibility can all be maintained.

4. Problem Being Solved

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Problem Being Solved
The project seeks to solve the problem that many families face a poor choice between unaffordable independent housing and shared living arrangements that may lack privacy, financial clarity or long-term resilience. It also addresses the inefficient use of housing wealth and space across generations. The project must avoid assuming that the architectural concept alone solves the problem; the real test is whether the housing, ownership, funding and operating model works in practice.

5. Proposed Investment Logic

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Proposed Investment Logic
The proposed investment logic is to fund only the next feasibility stage at this point, not commit to development. Investment should be used to define the need, test options, obtain planning and legal advice, develop affordability and cost assumptions, assess stakeholder demand and identify a credible delivery route. Larger capital commitments should follow only if the project can demonstrate a viable option, clear governance, realistic costs and an acceptable risk profile.

6. Expected Benefits

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Expected Benefits
Expected benefits include improved access to affordable and secure housing for younger households, better use of older-generation resources, reduced isolation, stronger family or community support, and a replicable model for intergenerational living. Early project benefits should include clearer decisions, controlled assumptions, stronger evidence and a defined route to business case. These benefits are not yet proven and should be tested through feasibility work.

7. Cost and Resource Needs

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Cost and Resource Needs
Cost and resource needs are not yet established. The immediate requirement is likely to be modest feasibility funding and targeted specialist input, including housing need analysis, planning advice, architectural option testing, cost consultancy, legal and tenure advice, financial modelling and stakeholder engagement. A full development budget should not be asserted until site, design, procurement route, risk allowance and operating model are defined.

8. Why Governance Support is Needed

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Why Governance Support is Needed
Governance support is needed because the project currently contains several high-impact uncertainties: sponsor ownership, funding route, legal model, planning feasibility, affordability, resident proposition, cost exposure and operational accountability. Without formal governance, there is a risk that assumptions become treated as decisions. Governance should provide decision rights, challenge, risk ownership, evidence standards and approval gates before commitments are made.

9. Recommendation

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Recommendation
Approve the project to proceed only to a controlled feasibility and option-appraisal stage. The recommended next actions are to confirm the accountable sponsor, define the feasibility scope, establish a simple governance and control structure, produce a needs statement, test design and tenure options, develop early financial assumptions, engage key stakeholders and return with an evidence-based recommendation on whether to progress to a full business case.