Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether a) there has been an estimate of the number of unoccupied retirement flats across the country and b) can they can clarify whether developers are receiving Government grants to build more.

My Department has made no estimate of the number of unoccupied retirement flats across the country.

The government does not provide dedicated funding for the construction of new retirement housing. Grant funding from the Social and Affordable Homes Programme can be used to deliver specialist and supported social and affordable housing for older, disabled or vulnerable people, where schemes meet programme requirements.