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London Region Housing LIN

On this page you will find a range of Housing LIN resources from our London region as well as a selection of other relevant regional documents on housing and care matters.

If you found these of interest and/or would like some bespoke Housing LIN support, do visit our ‘Consultancy’ page to find out who we can help you. Or, if you have an example of practice that you would like to share and/or feature as a Housing LIN case study and/or would like to host a future regional meeting, email us at info@housinglin.org.uk

For the next regional Housing LIN sector showcase, please look under ‘Events’

Specialist Housing for Older People benchmarks by London Boroughs

As set out in the Mayor of London’s draft London Housing Plan (2017), this table gives the annual borough benchmarks for C3 specialist older persons’ housing 2017-2029.

Annual borough benchmarks for specialist older persons housing (C3) 2017-2029 (pdf - 252kb) (opens new window)

Regional Resources

Housing LIN Case Study (No. 172) Supported living homes for Wandsworth: Turning a dream into reality

Wandsworth Council has successfully completed its second supported housing development for young people with disabilities at Colson Way in Tooting. This project follows the success of Stag House in Putney Vale, which was shortlisted for Best Affordable Housing Development at the Inside Housing Awards 2021.

Becoming Intergenerational “grandfriends”

Explore how homes should offer more than just physical shelter; they should enhance social and emotional wellness in this blog by Di Newton, Co-founder at AHN Education and Training.

Starts at Home Day Member Update: Spotlight on Olive House

To coincide with Starts At Home Day 2024 - an opportunity to celebrate the value of care and support services and the difference that having a safe and secure place to call home can make to people’s lives - we're delighted to share a Member update from Anchor, featuring Olive House: 50 stylish apartments of rented housing with onsite care.

Creating homes that older people love

This blog by Francis Burrows, Former Director of Support and Service Development at Orbit Homes, explores the significant opportunities to improve housing for older people, emphasising the need to modernise outdated sheltered housing schemes in Bexley, London.

Resetting communal spaces – enabling the residents we would most like to engage to use and make the most of their communal spaces

This Housing LIN blog, written by Jo Stapleton, Partner on the Good Practice Mentors Programme at Age UK Camden, discusses how communal spaces in housing communities, such as residents' rooms, gardens and informal seating areas, are often underutilised by those who housing staff aim to engage, as well as tips to overcome this.

An IRC in Every Borough: ARCO’s Housing-with-Care Manifesto for Greater London

This manifesto from ARCO sets out a vision for housing-with-care in London, and the actions needed from the GLA, London Boroughs and Central Government to achieve this.

The John Morden Centre: An award-winning place of hope during a social care crisis

This Housing LIN Case Study (No. 171), written by Heather Bell, Associate at Mæ Architects, showcases The John Morden Centre, an award-winning place of hope during a social care crisis.

The Cost of Poor Housing in London: Housing Research Note 11

This research by Greater London Authority Housing and Land estimates the annual cost to the NHS of homes in poor condition in London. It also estimates the cost of repairing all the homes in the capital that are in poor condition, calculating how long it would take the savings to pay off the cost of repairs.

Towards an age friendly London: the Mayor's action plan

Based on the eight age-friendly domains identified by the WHO, the Mayor of London's report aims to identify, prioritise and develop key actions that need to be delivered to make London one of the world’s leading age-friendly cities.

Specification: Supported Housing Accommodation

Written by Richmond and Wandsworth Councils, this document sets out their expectations and requirements for all types of supported housing developments for different people groups.

Residential Amenity Space and Place Quality – Brent Council Supplementary Planning Document

This Supplementary Planning Document sets out a new ‘Place Quality Framework and Toolkit’ for major development across the London Borough of Brent. In meeting the council’s vision of “creating a healthy borough”, the SPD purposefully frames the assessment of design quality through quality of life impacts related to health, wellbeing, social sustainability and inclusivity.

Evidence Review: Housing and Health Inequalities in London

This evidence review, published by Institute of Health Equity, considers the evidence for housing interventions that support health and that can contribute to reducing health inequalities.

Doorstep Outreach A practitioner's guide to first engagement with older people

This report explains the 'doorstep' approach taken by the Ageing Better in Camden (ABC) Outreach Team to proactively find and engage with socially isolated older people that 'no one knows' in sheltered housing, including individuals who may be reluctant to access formal activities, help and support.

'It was a day of friendliness' Older people's views on outreach in sheltered housing

This report by Ageing Better in Camden (ABC), presents views of older people on the approach to sheltered housing outreach work developed by the ABC Outreach Team.

Melfield Gardens, Lewisham - an intergenerational housing scheme for older people and students, designed to a Passivhaus standard

This Housing LIN case study (no 163) explores Melfield Gardens in Lewisham. Winner of a 2021 Housing Design Awards, these 100% affordable homes for Phoenix Community Housing combine intergenerational living with HAPPI principles whilst targeting a highly sustainable Passivhaus standard.

Why city living for people in later life chimes

This Housing LIN case study (No 161) features Lifestory's (formerly PegasusLife) new retirement living development in Westminster, Chimes, in earshot of the bells of Westminster Abbey and Big Ben.

Research on Digital Exclusion since the Covid-19 pandemic 2020

This report by Lewisham Speaking Up (LSU) addresses the experience of digital exclusion during Covid-19 of people with learning disabilities. It conducted research to find out how people with learning disabilities locally are digitally excluded; what barriers they face and what support they need to get online.

Third Age City: Housing for older Londoners

This report makes the case for a stronger and more coordinated approach to providing homes for older Londoners that work for them.

Building Safe Choices: Our voices - LGBT+ later life housing demand in London

Tonic, Stonewall Housing and Opening Doors London teamed up to conduct much-needed research to better understand the housing, care and support requirements of older LGBT+ people in London.

Design Guidelines for inclusive, enabling environments for adults with complex needs

This viewpoint considers the current standards and typologies of specialist supported housing provision for people with profound and multiple learning disabilities.

GLA topic paper: specialist older persons housing

A GLA guide to the need for specialist housing for older people in London

The Mayor of London's Energy Efficiency Fund

The Mayor of London's Energy Efficiency Fund is a new investment fund, established by the GLA with funding from the European Commission, which will help achieve London’s ambition of being a zero carbon city by 2050.

Older people using IT to pass on housing and care information to their peers in Hackney

This guide by Care and Repair England describes how MRS Independent Living ran a series of seminars for older people on housing and care options with a plan to use information technology to develop peer to peer support in accessing online housing and care services

Ideas for action: Older Londoners influencing the Mayor's housing strategy

Part of a series of 'how to' guides, this guide describe the ways that local groups have gone about raising housing issues with decision makers in London.

Challenges to the Supplementary Planning Guidance 2017

This resource provides the response to the Mayor of London's Supplementary Planning Guidance in 2017 on affordable housing and viability, which has been challenged by four specialist retirement developers.

Better housing, better health in London Lambeth

Sheffield Hallam University's Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research have produced this report after investigating whether Lambeth's Housing Standard programme makes a positive impact on the health and security of Lambeth Council tenants.

Make London’s Boroughs Age Friendly!

Age UK London have produced this manifesto that identifies five key areas London's 2018 borough election candidates need to focus on in order to support older people in the city.

Are we ready for the boom? Housing older Londoners

This report from Future of London is the result of a six month project focused on deciphering areas to improve older people’s standard of living. Also provided are videos focusing on the older population of London.

Social Isolation in London

This report, prepared for Octavia by Ipsos Mori, presents findings from research on loneliness carried out on nearly 500 adults aged 15 and over in the Greater London area.

Community Building for Old Age: Breaking New Ground. The UK’s first senior cohousing community, High Barnet

This 2017 Housing LIN case study (no.139) focuses on the Older Women’s Cohousing group’s experience in active community-building.

Age UK London, Older Private Sector Tenants Programme

Three documents from Age UK London as part of their Older Private Sector Tenants Programme, giving advice through research and looking into the experiences of elderly private-renters.

London Draft Housing Strategy – for consultation

The Mayor of London’s draft Housing Strategy is being consulted upon over the next 3 months. Find out more and have your say at...

Homes for Londoners: Affordable Housing and Viability Supplementary Planning Guidance 2017

The new Mayor of London's draft Supplementary Planning Guidance (SPG) provides guidance on a wide array of affordable housing-related issues

Extra Care: Gathering residents' experience of living in extra care housing in Lambeth

This Healthwatch Lambeth Extra Care Review used Enter and View to visit five of the borough's extra care housing schemes to find out whether residents have a good quality of life.

Does living in a retirement village extend life expectancy? The case of Whiteley Village

This joint report by the International Longevity Centre - UK and Cass Business School investigates the possible benefits of retirement village life with respect to life expectancy, using Whiteley Village...

Health care & people who are homeless - Commissioning Guidance for London

This commissioning guidance by the London Homeless Health Programme aims to support commissioners in London's clinical commissioning groups to improve health services for people who are homeless. It...

Homes for Londoners: Affordable Homes Programme 2016-21 Funding Guidance

This new guidance specifies the circumstances in which the Mayor will make funding available under the Mayor of London's £2.171 billion Affordable Homes Programme to achieve 60,000 affordable homes on-site...

Regenerating the Aylesbury: Inter-generational urban extra care housing

This Housing LIN Case Study no 126 focuses on a challenging intergenerational mix of housing on the Aylesbury Estate, Walworth, in south London, that requires progressive levels of privacy across shared...

Better planning for car ownership and well-being in old age

This Housing LIN Briefing seeks to connect the body of knowledge around the significance of car ownership in achieving well-being for older people to those making particular decisions that may impact...

A London manifesto for housing in later life

A YouGov report commissioned by McCarthy & Stone More reveals that more than four in ten Londoners aged 55 and over believe there is a lack of suitable accommodation in the capital to downsize to....

Mayor of London's Housing Supplementary Planning Guidance

Boris Johnson, the mayor of London has published new planning guidance to encourage all market players "to think innovatively" about delivering housing in the capital. The Housing Supplementary Planning...

Ageing London: How do we create a world-class city to grow old in?

Findings London's population is expected to grow by 1.5m people to 8m by 2030. This report from the Mayor of London's Design Advisory Group highlights that part of the projected growth is increasing...

Accommodating Growth: Ageing London

This 2015 presentation provides information on the Mayor of London's Design Advisory Group and the specific working group looking at ageing in London. It gives useful background information and suggested...

Review of Extra Care Services

This report and accompanying film by Healthwatch Lambeth explores residents' experience of living in extra care housing and seeks to find out whether extra care residents have a good quality of life;...

Building Better End of Life Care: North London Hospice

This Housing LIN Case Study no 114 strikes a balance between good hospice design and understanding the way services for people at end of life and their carers are delivered holistically. Set in a suburban...

Peabody - Older People's Strategy 2015-2020

This report by London based housing association, Peabody, highlights the impact of an ageing resident profile in their general needs and specialist housing stock. It demonstrates how they need to plan...

Meeting London's Housing Need

This briefing paper from the House of Commons Library estimates between 50,000-80,000 new homes need to be built in the capitol a year to keep up to date with its growing population. Some reasons behind...

London Draft Interim Housing Supplementary Guidance (May 2015)

The Mayor of London has published the Draft Interim Housing Supplementary Planning Guidance (SPG) for public consultation which ends on 7 August. The draft Housing SPG provides revised guidance on how...

Minor Alterations to the London Plan - Housing Standards and Parking Standards

On 11 May 2015, the Mayor of London published a six weeks public consultation on two sets of Minor Alterations to the London Plan. Namely, on Housing Standards and on Parking Standards with a view to...

Further Alterations to the London Plan

The Mayor of London has launched a city-wide planning strategy to deliver the economic, environmental, transport and social improvements that London will need over the next 20 years. The latest version...

An Age Friendly City - How far has London come?

A study by King's College has found that London has become more adapted to an ageing population in the last seven years, but there is still some way to go before the city can be called 'age friendly'....

Getting the housing offer right for older people: Dreywood Court, Romford

This Housing LIN Case Study no 91 looks in detail at the local strategic objectives for investing in extra care housing and the outcomes achieved to improve access to quality onsite care and support...

A HAPPI partnership - delivering quality housing for older people in Hackney

This Housing LIN Case Study no 79 examines the HAPPI principles applied at Buccleuch House, a 41 home purpose-built apartment scheme for older people in Clapton Common, Hackney. The scheme is an interesting...

Homes for older Londoners

'Homes for older Londoners' calls for the Mayor to push for more specially build retirement housing to accommodate an expected doubling of the number of Londoners over 85 over the next twenty years....

'Halton Court' Quality design attracts downsizers

This Housing LIN Case Study no 77 takes a detailed look at Halton Court, an award winning 170 unit purpose-built housing scheme for people over 55 developed by Viridian Housing at Kidbrooke Village....

Roden Court: Integrating community, integrating care

This Housing LIN Case Study no 75 takes a detailed look at Roden Court, an award winning extra care housing scheme. The scheme of 40 units is integrated within a partially high-rise, urban housing development...

Care and Support Specialised Housing Fund - London

The Department of Health have now announced the successful bids for Phase One of the Care and Support Specialised Housing Fund (CSSHF) administered by the Greater London Authority in London. The Housing...

Widening the spectrum of retirement housing in Tower Hamlets

This report from Tower Hamlets Older People's Housing Commission, supported by Gateway Housing Association, captures its work to make a positive contribution to local strategy development. As well as...

Specialist housing options for older people in London

The London Assembly Housing Committee have set up a review on Specialist housing options for older people in London. Using our SHOP@ data, we predict that there is a current shortfall of 7,737 units...

The role of the planning system in delivering housing choices for older Londoners

This 2012 study looks specifically at the role of the planning system in helping to ensure that older Londoners have a choice of homes that they can afford and which meet their requirements

The Supplementary Planning Guidance for London, November 2012 - Implications for older people's housing

This Housing LIN Practice briefing is a summary of the Mayor of London's Supplementary Planning Guidance and the implications for older people's housing.

Housing Supplementary Planning Guidance

The Greater London Authority have published their Supplementary Planning Guidance (November 2012) which provides detail on how to carry forward the Mayor's view that "providing good homes for Londoners,...

Debating London's Homes - Are they fit for our lifetime?

Consultation response to the Mayor's Draft Revised London Housing Strategy from the Older People's Debate 23rd February 2012

Trees Extra Care Housing - Highgate

This Housing LIN Case Study no 53 provides an overview of the development of the HAPPI award winning Trees Extra Care Housing scheme in Highgate, London, the relationships of the partners involved, the...

London Housing Design Guide (interim)

The London Development Agency has published the new London Housing Design Guide, which sets a new benchmark for housing design in London. All housing built on London Development Agency land is expected...

Extra Care Housing and Personal Budgets

This Housing LIN Workshop Report describes the scenarios, and identifies a set of key questions and issues, aided by the feedback from a recent workshop on the subject, hosted by the South East and London...

Choice, control and independence: Personalising block contracts in supported housing

This interim report on a Supporting People project, jointly funded between Look Ahead Housing and Care and LB Tower Hamlets, is one of the first to report on the idea of personalising services and giving...

Supporting Diversity in Tower Hamlets

Housing LIN Case study No 7 - A description of Sonali Gardens, an Extra Care scheme for Bangladeshi and Asian elders in Tower Hamlets.

Shared Ownership for people with disabilities

This Housing LIN Case Study No12 provides details about a specialist shared ownership scheme managed by Notting Hill Home Ownership for people with disabilities. It describes how the scheme works, provides...

Valuing older people - the Mayor of London's Older People Strategy

Published by Greater London Authority, the Mayor of London's vision of a London where older people have choice and control over their lives. The strategy covers many aspects of older people's lives and...