Market overview: extra care
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Overview
Extra Care housing is designed for older people and individuals with physical disabilities who want to maintain independence, whilst also having access to care and support. It offers self-contained apartments within purpose-built, accessible buildings that include communal facilities and 24-hour care services either on-site or available by call. Residents have their own front door and tenancy rights, allowing them to live safely and securely in a community setting, with the flexibility to increase or reduce care as their needs evolve.
Extra Care helps to prevent or delay the need for long-term residential or nursing care and is an important offer for Older People’s accommodation which the Council would like to develop.
Current situation
There are 16 Extra Care Schemes in the Bradford District, with a total of 809 units, comprising of 1- or 2-bedroom flats. The relationship that the Council has varies across these schemes.
Of the 16 sites, we have nomination rights at nine:
- 5 are supported by the Council’s in-house teams
- 2 are commissioned by the Council
- 5 sites where the landlord and the service delivery provider are the same
- and 4 sites which the Council does not contract with.
The delivery of Extra Care varies across schemes to meet local need, where the Council makes placements, all providers have now signed up to the same service specification, highlighting a shared commitment to performance and quality across the District.
Map of Extra Care in Bradford with 55+ population detail
The 12 green dots above represent schemes where the Council holds nomination rights.
The 4 red dots represent schemes where the Council doesn’t hold nominations rights.
Extra care is consistently utilised at around 98% occupancy, whilst residential and nursing provision is at 80%.
Following a full review of Extra Care services in the District, a more consistent approach to delivery has been rolled out and included a new contract and service specification which was launched on 9 April 2025. This includes:
- The introduction of a Nomination and Allocation process through which all Council allocations are made.
- The introduction of a ‘banding arrangement’ so that people can receive more flexible care.
- An equitable approach to the way we commission Nights and Background Support
Recognising that support delivered in Extra Care regularly varies each week to meet the fluctuating needs of an individual, our new banding arrangements for charging are being introduced. This supports providers to deliver care through a flexible model to meet individual need, and reduce the administration required to receive payments based on the below bands.
| Extra Care Banding | Description (weekly hours) |
|---|---|
| Low | Under 6 hours |
| Medium | 6.25 - 10 hours |
| High | 10.25 -15 |
| Very high | Hourly rate for care delivery above 15 hours |
Future demand
In Bradford, Extra Care is increasingly vital due to the District’s aging population. In 2025 Bradford’s over 75 population is estimated to be 41,875. By 2035 this is expected to have grown by 22% to 51,169, and by the year 2045 this is expected to have grown by 47% to 61,485.
National guidance benchmarking recommend 25 units of extra care per 1,000 people aged 75+. This means that we need around an additional 300 units in the next two years and will need a total of around 720 addition units by 2045.
We also have geographical gaps in provision. Consideration should be given to targeting areas with higher over 55 populations including Bingley Rural, Craven, Baildon, Idle and Thackley, Keighley and the Worth Valley and offering rental/ leasehold properties.
Ensuing appropriate housing options for people living with dementia is also important. The Council would encourage organisations to look at where they can provide appropriate and varied accommodation to meet the changing need of Bradford's population.
Commissioning intentions
Contracts for current Extra Care schemes will be in place until March 2030 with the option to extend by a further 12 months to March 2031.
We welcome approaches from providers interested in developing new Extra Care schemes that meet the needs highlighted above.
Contact information
For more information and support, or for providers who would like to informally discuss the service and opportunities available, please contact [email protected]
The Service Manager for this area is Alexandra Lorrison.
The Commissioning Manager for this area is Mary Surr.