HLINks - Are you missing out on the Housing LIN weekly update?
Welcome to #Jeremytalks and my weekly piece to audio to coincide with our must-read weekly bulletin, HLINks, week-ending Friday, 5 March 2021.
This week we published two new guest blogs. The first is by Sue Weston on her reflections from the recent launch of the APPG report on housing for people for dementia, and the second by Anchor Hanover's Nick Sedgwick on their partnership with Re-engage and supporting residents with their 'BeSupportive' lockdown loneliness calls which have proved a success in maintaining a vital connection with people experiencing loneliness and isolation.
In this week’s HLINks, you can also take a tour of other news and events on later life housing and independent living with regard to homes and communities, health and social care, design and technology, planning matters and more, including two new reports, relevant for our sector. The first of these is a report by the Centre for Ageing Better, Getting our homes in order: How England’s homes are failing us. It explains how the majority of people have spent more time at home than ever before and highlights the impact of poor living conditions on people’s physical and mental health. The second report by London based Octavia Hill Housing Association, 'Better lives for older people’, identifies the effectiveness of outreach, befriending and activity engagement services in reducing the experience of loneliness and isolation amongst older residents.
And, of course, with the Budget on Wednesday and Covid in mind, there was disappointment that there was nothing specific set out for adult social care in the Chancellor’s statement. While there was news of the extension of Stamp Duty (something the Housing LIN had called for), there was nothing specific to stimulate the market for purpose-built housing for older people for rent or for sale.
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
And on the social media front, we are recruiting for a Digital Communications Intern. If you are a recent graduate, take a look at our recruitment pack.
Finally, 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.
Jeremy
New Housing LIN Resources
Re-engage and Anchor Hanover join forces to tackle the crisis of 'lockdown loneliness' in older people
This blog by Anchor Hanover’s Nick Sedgwick gives an overview of their partnership with the charity Re-engage and how this enabled them to reengineer their ‘BeSupportive’ volunteering programme to provide a companionship call programme to address the loneliness and isolation felt by residents during the pandemic.
Saving money on care by investing in housing
Further to last month’s launch of the new APPG inquiry report on housing and dementia, this blog by Sue Weston, a former Commissioner, emphasises the interdependency between Housing, Social Care and the NHS in supporting people with dementia and how getting this right prevents the need for higher cost services.
We are recruiting
Housing LIN Digital Communications
We have an exciting opportunity to join our small team in Bristol as a full-time post for a year to support our highly regarded housing learning and improvement programmes. It's a great early career position for someone who wants to make an impact and quickly gain experience working in a dynamic company passionate about communicating innovations and examples of good practice in meeting the housing and care needs of older people and people with disabilities. The closing date is next Friday, 12 March 2021.
Coronavirus Update
With the Prime Minister’s announcement this week of the 4 steps to unlock the current national lockdown, 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.
We have also identified the following items as useful reads.
- Extra Care and Supported Living Settings Testing guidance
- HM Government: New campaign encourages the nation to keep going and stay at home
- HM Government updated guidance: COVID-19: guidance on shielding and protecting people defined on medical grounds as extremely vulnerable
- Financial Conduct Authority: Finalised guidance FG21/1 Guidance for firms on the fair treatment of vulnerable customers
Do also post any 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
Getting our homes in order: How England’s homes are failing us
This new report by the Centre for Ageing Better reveals that despite the increased recognition of the impact that our homes have on our health, it's currently estimated that there are 4.1 million homes in England that do not meet basic standards set by government. The report captures experiences of people 50-70 who live in poor-quality homes and makes the link with Covid showing that the majority of people have spent more time at home than ever before and poor living conditions have had an impact on people’s physical and mental health.
Better lives for older people
This report by Octavia Housing identifies the effectiveness of outreach, befriending and activity engagement services in reducing the experience of loneliness and isolation amongst older residents, and the overall effects that it has on their social and emotional lives. It explores several aspects in which the services affect older people, such as through improved self-esteem and improved access to support services.
APPG for Terminal Illness Inquiry into Housing and fuel poverty at the end of life
The All-Party Parliamentary Group for Terminal Illness is conducting an inquiry into the impact that the experience of housing and fuel poverty has on people living with terminal illness and people at the end of life. It has identified 5 key areas it wishes to examine. The deadline for submitting a response to its call for evidence is Friday 2 April 2021.
Cabinet Office’s Disability Unit Survey
And remember, 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, the Cabinet Office in preparing a National Strategy 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 23 April 2021 if you would like to inform the development of the strategy. The survey is also available in other formats.
Other news and blogs
- Inside Housing Comment: Wherever older people live, they need the right care and support in place
- Tonic Housing news: UK’s first LGBT+ retirement community given green light to open in 2021
- Church Times article: Housing reform cannot be left to the Government alone, says Archbishop of York
Design, Construction, Planning and Technology
TAPPI: call for written submissions extended
Further to the call for evidence for examples and research on 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, the deadline has now been extended to the end of March 2021.
Housing Design Awards 2021 – deadline extended to 3 March
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.
Health and Social Care, Mental Health and Learning Disability
Less than 6 months to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) – Are you prepared?
The UK government has introduced a new form of immigration status to enable eligible European Union citizens, European Economic Area citizens, or Swiss citizens currently living in the UK or resident in the UK before 31 Dec 2020, to stay in the UK after the end of the transitional withdrawal period on 30 June 2021.
For anyone who hasn’t yet seen this, the Home Office have produced a EUSS toolkit Local authority toolkit specifically aimed at Local Authorities. And for more information, please visit the ADASS dedicated EUSS webpage below. We have also teamed up with ADASS to run a HAPPI Hour session for Housing LIN members on 11 March 2021.
We have also teamed up with ADASS to run a HAPPI Hour session for Housing LIN members on 11 March 2021.
Other news and blogs
- The Independent article: Collapse of social care could force more elderly people out of their own homes
- HSJ article: How ICSs could offer fresh hope on public health, inequalities and prevention
Housing and Dementia
APPG Inquiry report on housing and dementia
Missed this last month? Watch and listen again to the launch of the new APPG Inquiry report on housing and dementia here and be inspired by Wendy Mitchell as she shares her personal story about living with dementia.
Lastly, following Sue Weston’s guest blog for the Housing LIN, readers may also find Norman McNamara’s blog, ‘Dementia – Just trying to find my way home’ of interest.
Wales and Scotland
Wales
This week, the Welsh Government announced additional capital funding for its’ 2021/2022 Social Housing Grant programme, bringing the total to £250m.
Also, a reminder that the Welsh Government also has two important consultations out, highly relevant for Housing LIN Cymru members. They are:
- Strategy for an ageing society: age friendly Wales (deadline 15 March 2021)
- Improving social care arrangements and partnership working (deadline 6 April 2021)
And 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. However, you can already sign up to upcoming HAPPI Hour sessions.
As highlighted earlier, we are also partnering ADASS to run a session on the EU Settlement Scheme and implications for the care sector next week on 11 March 2021 and the following week, on the 16 March, a year on the outbreak of Coronavirus, and following the release of their major report last week, a session with Central & Cecil Housing Trust entitled, ‘One year on: being innovative and flexible in the face of a pandemic'.
We are also delighted to hold a session chaired by the Rt Revd Dr Graham Tomlin, the Bishop of Kensington and Vice-chair of the Church of England recent influential report commissioned by the Archbishops of Canterbury & York 'Coming Home: Tackling the Housing Crisis Together' on 15 April.
And following the launch of the latest APPG Inquiry report, we are holding 2 HAPPI Hour sessions on design, and adaptations and technology. These are taking place on 22 April 2021 and 13 May 2021 respectively.
Other events supported by the Housing LIN
We are pleased to be involved in the following virtual events:
- SCIE webinar: Future options for housing and care - Monday 8 March 2021, 10.30 - 11.30 am
- CADR - Centre For Ageing & Dementia Research Conference 2021: A time of change; A time to change? - 23, 24 and 25 March 2021
- TSA's International Technology Enabled Care virtual conference - 22 to 25 March 2021
In next week’s HLINks
And, in next week's news to coincide with #IntegenerationalWeek, we look forward to a new guest blog by Laura Wigzell at Motionspot’s Fine & Able and her insights into how people are beginning to think further ahead and reassess their housing priorities and options for later life. Lastly, following a YouGov poll on the public perceptions of retirement housing, we are waiting for a new report from Shakespeare Martineau solicitors on the findings.
Lastly, the Housing LIN would like to thank Willmott Dixon for their support in producing this newsletter.