A new halfway housing development for elderly people designed to let them lead independent lives but with professional back-up is being considered.

John Barritt, chairman of the Bermuda Housing Trust which has 184 homes spread across five locations, said the organisation wanted to develop a property that will allow over-65s to keep living in familiar surroundings and with dignity.

Mr Barritt, a former MP and One Bermuda Alliance leader, explained: “We at the trust are looking now at whether we can develop a sixth property that can become a model of what we now need in Bermuda that allows for a continuum of care as people move from independence to dependence.

“My view is that, if you asked a senior they would tell you they wanted to stay in their homes until the day they die, I think that’s true of all of us.

“What we have to do is to make sure that when we have a new development, it is one that allows for some transition through that stage.”

Mr Barritt, a lawyer, said there has been some “initial groundwork” and the trust has a “sense of what’s needed”.

He added: “We will reach out to groups like Age Concern, who are also on the frontline of dealing with seniors, and others, to help us design that which we think will meet those needs and I think it will be a little more advanced and certainly different than what we’ve had to this point.”

Mr Barritt said he was grateful for the support the organisation had got from Lieutenant-Colonel David Burch, whose public works ministry liaises with the BHT, and Kim Wilson, the Minister of Health.

Mr Barritt said the organisation’s statutory mission is to run schemes to relieve “poverty, suffering and misfortune” among elderly people by providing accommodation on “favourable terms”.

He added that the trust offered communities for older people who are able to care for themselves.

But Mr Barritt said: “That narrow interpretation doesn’t deal with the challenges that seniors face and that we face as a result because, while someone may join us as a tenant well capable of independent living, that needle will move sometimes from independence to dependence.

“What do you do in the interim to ensure that seniors are still having the quality of life that they want, and they deserve?

“You can’t simply be a landlord, you have to look at it in a wider perspective and that’s the big challenge that’s being thrown up today for us and I think is a reflection of the larger challenge that Bermuda faces as this demographic grows.

“What we need is a continuum of care because there’s no doubt in my mind ... what everyone wants is to be the author of their own lives and they want to be able to live as independently as they can for as long as they can.”

Mr Barritt admitted that some people would get to a point, especially if they suffer dementia, where it was no longer possible to live alone.

But he said that as long as individuals could — with help — avoid that, they could enjoy independent life.

Mr Barritt added: “It is far less expensive to do that and it enhances the quality of life for seniors and anything that enhances their quality of life, that makes people feel better about themselves, the less likely they are to continue to put any sort of burden on the health system,

“Government, I’m pleased to say, is moving in this direction in terms of what is provided under FutureCare and the Government’s standard health insurance.”

Mr Barritt said families needed to know services such as community-based personal and medical care were available and helped seniors to continue to live in their own homes.

Mr Barritt was speaking after the latest population projections report showed that almost 25 per cent of people on the island were expected to be 65 or older by 2026, up from just under 17 per cent in 2016.

Age Concern Bermuda said a strategy was needed to cut the cost of long-term care and help families to look after older relatives in their own homes.