A recent report from the National Housing Federation is setting out an alternative view to enhance housing for older people in the face of austerity.
Capital budgets for housing development have been severely curtailed. Revenue budgets for social care and housing-related support are under ever-increasing pressure. Care and support needs are increasing as the population ages, and expectations are rising as people rightly demand more from their housing and care. Local authorities and housing providers could easily assume from the current climate that it will be ever more difficult to ensure that their older tenants are well housed and properly supported.
However, ‘Breaking the Mould’, a report by the National Housing Federation (NHF), describes a number of the business opportunities that an ageing population brings.
The report argues that housing associations should build larger, more accessible flats and houses which are attractive to older owner occupiers who want to move to an easier-to-manage home, but are not attracted to traditional models of older people’s housing.
It offers examples of how care, support and other practical services such as handyperson or ‘help at home’ services can be developed and offered to all older people in all types of tenure, including people who would pay for such a service from a trusted provider.
This report is part of a broader movement to enhance the housing options available to people in later life and to effectively ‘break the mould’ of older people’s housing. The ‘Breaking the Mould’ project, celebrating the 75th anniversary of the NHF, is about encouraging all local authorities and housing providers to consider the future of housing, care and support for older people. This report is one of many project outputs providing associations with the building bricks to do so.
You can download a copy of the report, or you can find out more information on the project and associated regional events on the NHF website.
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