HLINks - This week’s essential news, views, resources and upcoming events from the Housing LIN
Welcome to #Jeremytalks and my weekly piece to audio to coincide with our must-read weekly bulletin, HLINks, week-ending Friday, 29 January 2021. I can’t quite believe that it is the end of the month already!
In this week’s round up, we lead on the new Housing LIN briefing, following last year’s joint survey with the Workhome Project, on the state of our sector’s readiness for supporting staff and residents working from home during the first lockdowns.
And, on the technology front, the TAPPI Inquiry issued a call for examples of innovative practice. We are keen to hear from you how the use of technology has transformed how you operate, design and build new or retrofit existing homes and/or deliver better outcomes for your customers.
In this week’s HLINks, you can also take tour of other news and events on later life and independent living with regard to homes and communities, health and social care, design and technology, planning matters and more.
Check these out and register here to keep in touch with all 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, @HousingLINews and @HLINConsult
Lastly, if you would like to talk to us about any matters highlighted in this week’s issue, share learning about your work and/or discuss how you can engage our highly regarded consultancy services to assist you, email ‘Jeremy talks’ at: info@housinglin.org.uk
You can also listen to #Jeremytalks… here
Thanks for listening, stay connected and, above all, be safe during the lockdown.
Jeremy
New Housing LIN Resources
Findings from the Housing LIN survey of home-based work in Housing Organisations
To better understand the effect of Covid-19 on the housing sector, the Housing LIN launched a survey back in the autumn of 2020 to identify and capture the impact and examples of home-based working during the first stages of the pandemic for their staff and residents, including older adults and disabled people.
In collaboration with the Workhome Project, we aim to use the results of the survey to inform and influence national policy, including the Social Housing White Paper, spread the practice of innovative approaches of home working across the housing social sector, and make recommendations for the social housing sector.
Coronavirus Update
With new stronger national lockdown in place, check out our Coronavirus Info Hub for the latest government guidance, a range of Housing LIN practice briefings for the sector and links to other useful information and websites.
Final call: National survey launched to learn from pandemic’s impact on retirement housing sector
As reported last month ahead of the new lockdown announcement, we have partnered St Monica Trust in this extensive piece of research funded by the Dunhill Medical Trust. The deadline for completing the RE-COV survey has now been extended to the end of January. If you manage retirement villages or extra care housing and would like to take part, click on the link below or email us at: research@housinglin.org.uk
Compassionate Communities for Extraordinary Circumstances: Using diaries to capture bereavement support during the Covid-19 pandemic
This booklet captures the diaries of Cruse Bereavement Volunteers (BVs) offering bereavement support to clients across the UK or volunteer Bereavement Supporters (RBSs) offering peer support to fellow residents within their ExtraCare Charitable Trust’s retirement village communities in England during lockdown.
Other useful reports
- Government guidance: COVID-19: guidance for supported living
- MICRA report: COVID-19, Inequality and Older People: Developing Community-Centred Interventions
- Centre for Ageing Better/The Physiological Society report: A National Covid-19 Resilience Programme: Improving the health and wellbeing of older people during the pandemic
- County Councils Network report: Coronavirus: How counties are combating the spread of the virus and leading efforts to rebuild
Lastly, do 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 or information about how you are engaging with residents remotely?
Housing, Community, Disability, and Ageing
Cabinet Office’s Disability Unit Survey
The Cabinet Office is developing a National Strategy for Disabled People with publication expected this spring.
To help the government with understanding the barriers that disabled people face and what it may need to focus upon to improve the lives of disabled people, they are seeking the views people with disabilities to know more about their experiences.
If you are a disabled person, a carer or parent or as someone who has an interest in disability issues, please complete the online survey by 13 February 2021. The survey is also available in other formats.
And in other news
- HM Government Policy Paper: Loneliness Annual Report
Opinion pieces and blogs
- LLARC radio Housing Matters: Episode 10 #HousingMatters: Intergenerational Housing with Moyra, Stephen and Esther
- Centre for Ageing Better blog: The Good Home Agency? How we can make England’s homes safe, comfortable and energy-efficient
- Home Renaissance Foundation film: Lord Best on People, Care and Work in the Home
- Property Week article: Leasehold uncertainty for retirement sector
Design, Construction, Planning and Technology
Research into Part M Access to and Use of Buildings
MHCLG have published the research they commissioned from PRP Innovate on Part M access to and use of buildings by disabled people. The document is in two parts.
- Part One reviews the evidence base for accessible housing and looks at the robustness of the data on benefiting the public purse and
- Part Two reviews the effectiveness of current guidance for buildings other than dwellings
Housing Design Awards 2021
We are proud to sponsor these awards organised by Design for Homes and, in particular, draw attention to designing a range of HAPPI-inspired, beautifully designed housing that meets the needs and aspirations of an ageing population. To take inspiration from HAPPI and past winners, view our dedicated design hub webpage.
Inside Housing Development Awards 2021 - Housing for Older People category
Ocean Media have opened entries to celebrate the very best residential developments across the UK from the past two years, including housing developments for older people. The deadline for entries is: 18 February 2021.
Opinion pieces and blogs
- AT Today article: Local authorities should introduce more telecare services to support the elderly, report suggests
- UWE blog: Getting public health evidence into planning policy
- Disability News Service: Ministers sat on accessible housing research for up to four years
Mental Health, Learning Disability, Health and Social Care
Call for papers for Special Issue on Intermediate Care
The Journal of Integrated Care is preparing a Special Issue on Intermediate Care. Their call for papers is now open with submission deadline by 30th April 2021. For details on submitting a research paper, case study or review on your experience of designing, commissioning, delivering, enabling or evaluating transitional and intermediate care services, click on the link below.
Housing and Dementia
The recording of Foundations’ recent Dementia Inclusive by Design workshop can now be accessed here.
Foundations are also working with Habinteg and Anchor Hanover on a new guide for working with housing associations on adaptations. They need the views of people working in local authority private sector housing/environmental health teams and HIAs. Take part in this survey to share your views here.
And the RTPI South West are holding an event on Planning for Inclusive Environments on 11 February which may be of interest. The webinar will discuss dementia and neurodiversity with personal accounts of people living with dementia or an impairment.
Lastly, the final session of the APPG on Housing and Care for Older People’s Inquiry into the housing experiences of people living with dementia tool place last month. We are now pulling together the evidence presented and submissions received to produce an Inquiry report for the APPG launch next month.
Wales and Scotland
Wales
For Welsh government guidance on COVID-19, visit: https://gov.wales/coronavirus
Scotland
Scottish government guidance on COVID-19 can be found at https://www.gov.scot/collections/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance/
Events
Preparing our Spring HAPPI Hour series
We are now working on a new HAPPI Hour programme and look forward to sharing our full Spring schedule of webinars in the coming weeks. Following a very successful first session on Alsmhouses on Thursday this week, you can now sign up to our 2nd HAPPI Hour of the year.
HAPPI Hour - Community-led housing: resilient communities
Following their publication of the Housing LIN Viewpoint next week, it takes place on Thursday, 25 February 2021 and will be exploring how community led housing and cohousing schemes have managed during Covid with researchers from the LSE and University of Bristol.
Supporting people with learning disabilities at the edges of social care in social housing and the private rented sector
The University of Bristol and the University of York are conducting a research to understand the ways that people with learning disabilities who are on the edges of social care can be better supported to access and enjoy living in their own tenancies in the community, when this is their choice.
To provide evidence and to share understanding about the housing circumstances of people with learning disabilities, research partners, the Housing LIN and Learning Disability England, are organising a series of regional virtual roundtable events during January and February 2021.
In next week’s HLINks
And, in next week's news, we look forward to issuing a new Housing LIN Viewpoint by the LSE and other University partners on their work on what collaborative housing offers in a pandemic. We also publish a new guest blog on the work of Share and Care and their work on Homesharing and intergenerational living and, following his presentation at our Summit2020, you can listen to Motionspot’s Ed Warner being interviewed on the LLARC radio station.
Lastly, the Housing LIN would like to thank Willmott Dixon for their support in producing this newsletter.