Hot off the press: HLINks – our essential sector news, including the refreshed COVID-19 briefings, three great new Housing LIN blogs, and more

#JeremyTalks ...

Welcome to Jeremy talks and my weekly piece to audio to coincide with the Housing LIN's free weekly bulletin, HLINks, week ending the 14th August 2020.

In this week’s edition we bring you a selection of new Housing LIN resources. First up, following the publication of the government's refreshed Supported Living guidance last week, we have updated two of our Covid-19 Practice Briefings to give greater clarity on the latest guidance and how best to implement it. They are Practice Briefings No1 on specialist housing and No3 on housing and dementia.

We also bring you three diverse guest blogs we released this week, as follows: On the homelessness front, the founders of social capital investors - Drum-London -share their thoughts on the use of temporary accommodation during the pandemic and how to learn from this to develop a sustainable long term housing solution.

We also published a blog by Tetlow King Planning’s Managing Director giving his take on the government's recent Planning White Paper. John Sneddon shares his disappointment that the White Paper failed to recognise the housing needs of our ageing population.

With the 75th anniversary of VJ day tomorrow, our final blog is by Housing 21's Vanessa Pritchard-Wilkes in which she draws attention to the resources available from the Royal British Legion and the National Memorial Arboretum to commemorate the end of WW2.

In this week’s HLINks you can also read our curated round-up of other relevant news and events on later life living through the lens of homes and communities, health and social care, design and technology, and planning matters. There is also a survey for you to take part in. We have teamed up with the Workhome Project to take the pulse of home working in the UK's social housing. Whether working in social housing or a tenant, please share your experiences under Covid and complete our survey by Friday, 28 August.

Check this out and register here to keep in touch with our news alerts and other notifications of your choice, sent direct to your inbox. And remember you can also follow us via our Twitter feeds: @HousingLIN and @HousingLINews.

Lastly, if you would like to talk to us about any matters highlighted, share learning about your work and/or require our expert advice and guidance, email ‘Jeremy talks’ at: info@housinglin.org.uk.

You can also listen to Jeremy talks… here

Best wishes, stay connected and be safe,

Jeremy

New resources from the housing lin

Housing LIN updates Covid-19 practice briefings

Over the last 5 months, as government advice and guidance has been published or changed, we have periodically updated our Coronavirus Practice Briefings.

We are therefore pleased to report that following last week’s update of the government’s guidance on supported living, and latest guidance on social distancing generally and for shielded groups specifically coming into effect this month, we have now refreshed two of our popular briefings.

Guest blog - Build, Build, Build – But Build Better: Tackling homelessness with quality and focus

COVID-19 has marked a step change in thinking across different disciplines and contexts, and the pandemic has prompted many of us to consider those more vulnerable than ourselves. This holds particularly true for the homelessness crisis and the government’s response via the Next Steps Accommodation Programme. In this blog, Theodora Beckett and Will Polisano from Drum-London point out the need to now ensure a sustainable solution for move on into permanent housing.

Guest blog - Planning for the Future White Paper: What future plans for housing our ageing population?

As reported in last week’s HLINks, it has been less than a week since the Government publication of the recent White Paper by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government called Planning for the Future. In this guest blog, John Sneddon, Tetlow King Planning’s Managing Director, outlines what the White Paper covers and also shares his disappointment that the White Paper failed to recognise the housing needs of our ageing population.

Guest blog - VJ day – a chance to learn more about VJ day whilst marking its 75th anniversary

This Saturday is the 75th anniversary of VJ Day (Victory over Japan), marking both the surrender of Japan and the end of the Second World War. On the day there will be a two minute's silence at 11am and televised coverage in the evening. In this guest blog, Housing 21’s Vanessa Pritchard-Wilkes shares how they will be remembering the day.

Coronavirus Update

Check out on our Coronavirus Info Hub for a range of Housing LIN practice briefings for the sector and links to other useful information and websites. Also, post or reply to questions on our discussion forum.

It allows you to share information, raise issues and ask questions to solve a tricky issue. For example, can you share your organisation’s COVID-19 risk plan in preparation for the 2nd wave or information about how you are engaging with residents?

Have your say

Take part in this Workhome Project survey on working from home

As a founding member of the Workhome Project, the Housing LIN is delighted to collaborate with the project to help find out more about you and your organisation’s experience of home-based work during Covid-19 for staff and residents. The deadline is next Friday, the 28th August 2020 at 4pm.

Participate in a research study “Urban factors affecting the life quality of the elderly in the context of intergenerational communities in the UK”

The purpose of the study is to help us understand practitioners' perception of urban factors affecting the life quality of the elderly and thus to propose a design strategy to promote liveable communities for the elderly in UK. The study will consider the views of people who work or have worked in the cohousing sector in the UK. The focus is on the perceived needs of older people and the design considerations of intergenerational communities.

Housing, Community, Disability, and Ageing

Opinion pieces and blogs:

Design, Construction and Technology

Opinion pieces and blogs

Health and care

This letter from David Pearson, Chair of the Social Care Taskforce, gives an update about the Social Care Taskforce Advisory Groups and the Terms of Reference for the 8 advisory groups. Included within this is a summary provided by each of the Chairs of the issues they have been considering. The Housing LIN’s Jeremy Porteus is pleased to be member of the group specifically looking at Good Practice, Guidance and Innovation. We look forward to reporting on the Taskforce’s findings.

Planning

Further to our guest blog, there have also been a number of responses to last week’s Planning White Paper. We have collated a selection as follows:

Planning tracker

Older People’s Care Development – Local Development Plan Monitoring

In association with Tetlow King Planning, this document monitors current local authority planning consultations that may be of interest for those seeking to develop housing for older people. The tracker is updated fortnightly.

Wales

Welsh government guidance on COVID-19 can be found at: https://gov.wales/coronavirus

Scotland

Scottish government guidance on COVID-19 can be found at https://www.gov.scot/collections/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance/

Forthcoming Events

​​​​​​​Getting ready for VJ Day on 15 August – Get engaged

Tomorrow is the 75th anniversary of VJ Day (Victory over Japan Day), marking both the surrender of Japan and the end of the fighting during the Second World War. We have been approached by the National Memorial Arboretum, who along with The Royal British Legion, are playing leading roles in the commemorations. They are looking for individuals from the Second World War generation who are interested in sharing their stories and memories from VJ Day. It would like to hear a range of stories from those who served in the Asia Pacific region and their loved ones, to those who marked VJ Day at home.

Housing LIN Events

Other events

In light of the coronavirus outbreak we have cancelled all our upcoming regional meetings and training courses until further notice. We are currently exploring how to hold these events online, so watch this space! In the meantime, we are pleased to be involved/support the following virtual events:

Next week

And next week, we look forward to featuring two new guest blogs. The first by LIFEstyle by ENGIE’s Paula Broadbent on Empowering our older generation by giving them energy to create their own future. The other by Honorary Professor at the University of Geneva, Roderick Lawrence is entitled, Housing Matters for All, and sets out how to accommodate a growing diversity of activities, lifestyles and needs in our housing.

The Housing LIN would like to thank Willmott Dixon for their support in producing this newsletter.