Conversations we need to have: Our later lives and housing options
Four new audio podcasts from the award-winning, Later Life Audio and Radio Co-operative (LLARC) run by older people feature conversations we all need to have about housing as we get older. Hosted by housing consultant and LLARC member Moyra Riseborough, the conversations focus on issues that older people and their families sought help with from The Elderly Accommodation Counsel*.
Conversational colleagues are Professor Rose Gilroy, Barbara Douglas and Esther Salamon, all of whom are fully engaged in developing new and different, housing options
These podcasts include:
Housing matter - conversation on extra cash from our homes (opens new window)
This episode focuses on options for getting extra cash. They talk through the pros and cons for several older home owners thinking of taking a lodger; moving to live in a holiday Park Home and renting out the main home; renovating a flat and finding a tenant or, converting an outhouse into a holiday let.
Housing matters - moving closer to family when we are older (opens new window)
This episode is about moving to live closer to families, why we do or don’t want to and the practicalities especially when moving areas. We hear real stories of older people in private rented, social rented and owner-occupied properties and assess their realistic options for moving, if they want to.
Housing matters - tricky issues - leaving hospital and our housing (opens new window)
This episode considers the dramatic impact of a hospital stay on the housing and living choices of a selection of older people and their families. It makes hospital discharges tricky. They talk through likely options and stress why we all need independent accuracy so we can make informed decisions.
Housing matters - an overview of housing options as we get older (opens new window)
And finally, this episode takes a stark look at housing options in later life for people who are not well heeled and the desperate need for everyone to do a bit of homework. They stress why over 55’s in private renting should register for social housing, why being a home owner is not the panacea and, how to deal with unrealistic expectations of retirement housing. They reflect on growing financial challenges for people holding interest only mortgages or shared equity mortgages when incomes are decreasing. They discuss why we need more radical and imaginative solutions that provide accessible housing in mixed income, multi-generational and mixed tenure communities.
You can find the podcasts here (opens new window).
*During 2021 and 2022 Moyra and colleague Cecilia Brodigan contributed services to EAC’s housing advice line. Sadly, EAC are no longer able to fund this service. Their excellent website is still operating https://housingcare.org
And for more information please contact: moyra@rrca.co.uk