Parliamentary group highlights benefits of improved housing options for older people

A cross-party group of MPs and peers highlight in a report published today (Wednesday 21 November) the opportunities to create movement in the housing market, improve the health of older people and create new housing options for younger people and families.

Housing our Ageing Population: Plan for Implementation (HAPPI2) Report (2012) is a result of a five month inquiry into the progress in implementing the recommendations and design criteria set out in a landmark 2009 report. Housing our Ageing Population: Panel for Innovation (HAPPI) (2009), was published by the Homes and Communities Agency on behalf of the Department for Communities and Local Government. The 2009 report called for a national effort to build new and better homes for older people.

The inquiry found there were far reaching benefits from developing good quality housing for older people, including a reduction in health and social care costs, as well as the freeing up of family housing.

Lord Best, who chaired the APPG inquiry, said: "All the political parties now agree on the urgent need to tackle the acute shortages of new homes. But the emphasis, understandably, is mostly on building for younger households: our response is that meeting the needs of the older age-group has the effect of also bringing much-needed family homes onto the market.
"For every older person that finds a desirable solution to their housing needs, it is estimated that four younger people could move into a family home.
"And this would obviously help with a sluggish housing market and improve the wider economy".

The report's key recommendations include:

• A Cabinet Office Task Force should bring together the Departments of Health and for Communities and Local Government to take forward the nationwide drive to build the homes needed by an ageing population
• The Department for Communities and Local Government should encourage and incentivise the private sector and registered social landlords to meet the rising demand of those seeking to move to elegant, functional, sustainable and manageable homes for later life
• The Department of Health should tailor its £300m Health, Care and Support Housing Fund to ensure more schemes are designed to HAPPI principles
• Private sector and registered social landlords, with government support, should develop a HAPPI kite mark to raise HAPPI's market profile
• Working alongside local authorities, the Homes and Communities Agency should lead in championing HAPPI to ensure that a clear targeted strategy for housing older people forms part of every local plan and that, where necessary, appropriate sites are brought forward specifically to fill any identified shortfall in market provision
• Planners should recognise the special nature of high-quality retirement housing in their requirements for affordable housing and for Community Infrastructure Levy charges
• Local housing and social care departments should give strategic priority to assessing and investing in older people's housing; and maintain accessible housing registers.

Lord Best added: "Many older people will understandably want to stay in their family homes. But for owner-occupiers who could gain from a move, we have to develop inspiring, generous, attractive and welcoming housing that meets their wants and needs."

Jeremy Porteus, director of the Housing Learning and Improvement Network, and Secretariat to the APPG inquiry, said: "This inquiry has shown that that the housing market has largely been off the pace when meeting the housing aspirations and lifestyle choices of a growing baby boomer generation. The race is now on to generate the new HAPPI homes and communities that an ageing population wants to buy".

He added: "The APPG recommendations need to be taken as seriously as those advocated by Andrew Dilnot on funding care and support. In fact, there is evidence that if we improve the design quality of our housing for older people this will reduce demand on more costly health and social care."