Not Enough Homes Being Built For Older People

The number of people aged 85 and over will more than double in the UK over the next 25 years. With an ageing population will come additional pressures on services and resources – and one area of specific concern is housing. Inappropriately designed and located housing can cause discomfort and suffering for older people, increasing the chance of accidents and falls in the home, fuel poverty and exposure to the cold – as well as increased isolation and loneliness. Recent research suggests the cost to the NHS from older people being poorly housed is over £600m a year. While some of the issues may be remedied with home improvements and adaptations, there is a need for more specialist accommodation for older people. Read more on The Conversation website.

https://theconversation.com/not-enough-homes-being-built-for-older-people-new-research-93602

The Government Has Left Older People's Sheltered Housing In Limbo

Anxiety around the government’s proposal to cap housing benefit for tenants in sheltered housing has been growing ever since it was mooted, almost a year ago. The announcement on 15 September by the work and pensions secretary Damian Green did nothing to quell those fears. Indeed, older people and providers of specialist housing are now faced with an even longer period of uncertainty. Possibly the most shocking thing about the lengthy statement is the fact that it managed to omit any mention at all of older people. Read the full statement on the Parliament website.

Government Too Focused On Homeownership

Government is too focused on home ownership as an answer “no matter what the question is”, the president of the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) has said. Geraldine Howley, speaking at the annual CIH presidential dinner in London , called on the government to “think again” about a number of areas of its housing policy. Ms Howley said: “We must have a better housing solution for people unable to meet their housing needs in the market. “Government’s strategy is too focused on homeownership as the answer no matter what the question is.” Ms Howley criticised the government’s plans to introduce a Local Housing Allowance-linked housing benefit cap for the social sector, saying it “risks long-term damage, especially to supported and specialist housing”. Read more on the CIH website.

Housing Benefit Cap Would Be The Death Knell For Supported Housing

Housing groups are anxiously lobbying the Government to reconsider proposals to cap Housing Benefit for new tenants in supported housing at Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates. Supported housing provides specialist accommodation for older people, the mentally ill and people with disabilities. Experts warn that the LHA rate is insufficient to meet the housing costs of tenants in supported housing, and could leave schemes on the brink of collapse or only open to wealthier tenants. Around half of housing associations and social landlords provide supported housing, with 110,665 new tenancies granted in 2014/15. However, news of the new cap has resulted in supporting housing providers placing a hold on new developments. Read more on the Welfare Weekly website.

Thousands Of Homes Face RTB Exemption

Housing associations could exempt hundreds of thousands of homes from the Right to Buy extension, including any built as a result of a planning obligation. Five housing associations - Riverside, L&Q, Sovereign, Saffron Housing and Thames Valley - launched a Right to Buy pilot last week, providing the first evidence of how the voluntary deal is likely to work. The landlords are free to decide which properties to exempt. Those excluded will include homes built under a Section 106 deal or for any form of specialist housing.This freedom is likely to apply when the full Right to Buy (RTB) extension is rolled out in April - with Section 106 homes set to remain exempt in most cases. Read more on Inside Housing.

No Blanket Exemption For Supported Housing

The government has decided against exempting all supported housing from the 1% rent cut, an official document has confirmed. An impact assessment of the policy said “a complete exception for supported accommodation has been considered but is regarded as disproportionate”. Providers of ‘specialised supported’ accommodation are unlikely to have to reduce rents by 1% over four years, as laid out by the Welfare Reform and Work Bill. However, sector figures have said very few properties are classed as ‘specialised supported housing’. Such housing usually has to offer ‘a high level of support’ for residents, receive no or negligible public subsidy, and have been commissioned in line with local health, social services or Supporting People strategies. Download the Impact Assessment from the Parliament website.

Toolkit Helps Councils Plan Housing for Elderly

A consortium of housing providers has launched a toolkit to help local authorities plan for housing an ageing population. Housing in later life: planning ahead for specialist housing for older people is designed to highlight the benefits of specialist housing for older people and to encourage planners to join up housing, planning and social care policies. Download the toolkit from the Housing LIN website.