HLINks - Are you missing out on the Housing LIN weekly update?
Welcome to #Jeremytalks and our must-read weekly bulletin, HLINks, week-ending Friday, 21st May 2021.
This week was #DementiaActionWeek and, to coincide, we held a highly informative HAPPI Hour session with Care and Repair England, Foundations and the Royal College of Occupational Therapists sharing their insights into the recent APPG Inquiry report on housing and dementia, especially in relation to the recommendations on retrofitting and adapting our existing homes.
We also released two guest blogs, the first by the research team at the University of Stirling on their scoping work on Ageing Well with Assistive Technology for Stonewater Housing Association (more below too) and, the second, by Tetlow King Planning’s John Sneddon on the possible implications of the government’s proposed Residential Development Property Tax and what it could mean for our sector.
And, if you live or work in the Kirklees area, we also welcome your input into a new project that our consultancy team are commencing into the housing needs and preferences of older people from ethnic minorities.
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. We feature a range of items that we think will be of interest to you, including two new reports. The first, the aforementioned paper by the University of Stirling on the Stonewater Housing Association’s INVITE project, funded by the Longleigh Foundation, on Ageing Well with Assistive Technology. The second a new report by the Centre for Ageing Better’s The Good Home Inquiry on housing quality in England and its impact on older people.
Check all the latest news and register here to keep in touch with all our 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 with our highly regarded consultancy services, email ‘Jeremy talks’ at: info@housinglin.org.uk
You can also listen to #Jeremytalks… here
Stay connected and, above all, with lockdown easing even further, stay safe.
Jeremy
New Housing LIN Resources
This week we released two new guest blogs:
New HLIN blog reports on research into Ageing Well with Assistive Technology
This guest blog for the Housing LIN from the University of Stirling draws attention to their research project for Stonewater Housing Association, funded by the Longleigh Foundation, which was cited in the recent APPG Inquiry report into housing and dementia.
Published to coincide with this week’s Dementia Action Week, the blog and accompanying report about the INVITE project - Promoting INclusive liVing vIa Technology-Enabled support Project - explores how technology has enormous potential to support quality of life for older people, including those with age-related conditions such as dementia.
New Housing LIN blog explains the current consultation on Proposed Residential Property Development Tax
This new guest blog for the Housing LIN by Tetlow King Planning’s Managing Director, John Sneddon, explains the possible implications of the government’s proposed Residential Property Tax and what it could mean for the care and retirement living/extra care housing sectors.
His blog draws attention to the need to consider the proposals carefully; in particular, the potential operational challenges of running larger retirement/care village schemes where there are varying levels of care provided within the site. He also states that consultation proposals have the potential to impact on the viability of development and planning proposals alongside the already existing challenges of providing communal facilities in what is an ongoing commercial operation as opposed to standard housing.
Have your say
Older people from ethnic minorities housing needs and perceptions study
The Housing LIN has been commissioned by Kirklees Council to conduct a study into the housing needs and preferences of older people from ethnic minorities living in Kirklees. This research will make sure that the Council has the evidence necessary to plan for homes that meet the needs of all communities.
If you are able to help with this research by identifying individuals living in Kirklees to take part in this research, or would like to learn more, please email research@housinglin.org.uk
Coronavirus Update
With the easing of Covid-19 restriction rules that came into force last month and further relaxations from Monday this week, check out current the relevant sector guidance on the pandemic on our Coronavirus Info Hub along with a range of Housing LIN practice briefings for the sector and links to other useful information and websites.
And if you missed last month’s launch of the St Monica Trust/Housing LIN RE-COV Study, that ‘state of the nation’ report on COVID-19 and its impact on the retirement village and extra care housing sector, you can now download the presenters’ powerpoints and watch a recording of the HAPPI Hour session.
What else caught our interest?
- National Audit Office report: Initial learning from the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic
- ADASS report: The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on adults with learning disabilities and / or autism, their family carers and service provision: a rapid learning review
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
Ageing Well with Assistive Technology: Co-producing technology solutions with older people
This scoping review of the evidence by the University of Stirling forms part of the resources being published by Stonewater Housing Association’s INVITE project - Promoting INclusive liVing vIa Technology-Enabled support Project - into how technology has enormous potential to support quality of life for older people, including those with age-related conditions such as dementia.
Released to coincide with Dementia Action Week, the report reveals that involvement and co-production is relatively limited, and many studies go no further than the design stage for new pieces of technology. Nevertheless, there are useful points of learning from research which examines how older people engage with and use different forms of technology in their homes. In particular, it recognises the ways in which technology has to be continually adapted to fit everyday life is crucial in order to understand how we can most effectively work with older people to explore new possibilities – from designing technology, to planning services and putting technology in place.
What else caught our interest?
- Inside Housing article: The Thinkhouse Review: are we ready? Safe and suitable homes for our ageing population
- Red Brick article: ARCO’s Sam Dalton asks is this to be the cross-party decade of housing-with-care?
- Centre for Ageing Better personal story: Trevor's voice - the need for suitable homes
- National Residential Landlords Association blog: Landlords can make a huge difference to their tenants’ lives by adapting their properties
Design, Construction, Planning and Technology
Housing policy and poor-quality homes
A new report by CaCHE (the Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence) for the Centre for Ageing Better’s The Good Home Inquiry presents a series of recommendations on addressing housing quality in England and its impact on older people. It highlights the need for a national strategy to prevent the further deterioration of England’s housing stock and to put in place a series of policies needed to ensure people’s homes are in good repair, energy efficient, and accessible.
What else caught our interest?
- RCA/Invisible Creations news item: RCA’s Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design announces partnership with Invisible Creations® to improve the lives of older people | Royal College of Art
- Policy Connect news: Policy Connect launches Smart Homes and Independent Living Commission
- Med Tech Innovation News article: Tunstall Healthcare’s Zillah Moore on technology-enabled care during the pandemic and how it can support collaboration
- Rethink Partners blog: Getting out the good biscuits: building trust and engagement to implement culture change
- Central & Cecil YouTube film: Dora House timelapse
- Fast Company article: ‘The silver tsunami is coming’: Inside the quest to help seniors age at home
Health and Social Care, Mental Health and Learning Disability
What caught our interest?
- The Mercers’ Company report: Understanding befriendingA study of befriending schemes for older people
- ByLine Times article: Ten Years On from the Winterbourne View Scandal, A Human Rights Approach to those with Complex Needs is Still Missing
- Skills for Care webresource: Advice and resources for supporting mental wellbeing among the social care workforce
- SCIE webresource: Prevention in social care
Housing and Dementia
This week is #DementiaActionWeek or #DAW2021. Do follow for latest news and tweets on dementia
APPG on Housing and Care for Older People Inquiry Report
Did you miss this recent APPG Inquiry report?
Watch and listen again to the launch of the new report on housing and dementia here and be inspired by Wendy Mitchell as she shares her personal story about living with dementia.
And remember if you missed our HAPPI Hour sessions on housing and dementia, the recording and presentations are now available.
What else caught our interest?
- The Guardian article: Social care cuts mean thousands with dementia taken to A&E, charity says
- Housebuilder news: McCarthy & Stone launches Dementia Friend intiative
- Inside Housing: Dementia action starts at home – Comment by Vanessa Pritchard-Wilkes
Wales
For Welsh government guidance on COVID-19, visit: https://gov.wales/coronavirus
Scotland
We are pleased that Housing LIN will be holding its first Scottish HAPPI Hour on Thursday, 27 May 2021 next week. The programme is now live and we are taking bookings below.
And for Scottish government guidance on COVID-19, go to https://www.gov.scot/collections/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance/
Events
Our Spring HAPPI Hour series is now live
Have we got exciting news for you! Our Spring HAPPI Hour programme is now live and we have some excellent sessions coming up.
Next week Thursday we will be holding our first Scottish HAPPI hour, where we'll feature the Scottish Federation of Housing Association’s paper & recommendations for delivering Housing with Care & Support in the future.
And, if you missed it last week, we have now also announced our June HAPPI Hour programme. They include sessions with:
- NHS England, the LGA and Octavia on the new Anticipatory Care Framework
- Clarion Group, Southway Housing Trust, South Yorkshire Housing Association and MHA on healthy ageing and strategic approached to housing for older people, and
- Tonic Housing, One Housing, Anchor Hanover and the LGBT Foundation on cohousing and extra care housing for older LGBT communities.
Also, following our HAPPI Hour session with ADASS and the Home Office on the EU Settlement Scheme, they have announced a new series of upcoming webinars. We look forward to organising another housing one with them over the summer.
And remember that if you've missed one of our previous HAPPI Hour session, slides and recordings can be found in the archived events seciotn of our website.
Other events supported by the Housing LIN
In next week’s HLINks
Next week we will be introducing 2 more guest blogs.The first by Sue Weston on the recent HAPPI Hour in which we discussed the recent Archbishops of Canterbury and York’s housing report and another by ExtraCare Charitable Trust’s Engaged Lives Project Officer, Michael Roberts, about their Engaged Lives guide which ties in neatly with our #CollaborAGE directory of collaborative housing.
And if you have not joined any of our HAPPI Hour sessions, next week’s is the inaugural Housing LIN Scotland webinar where we will be looking at the future of housing with care and support.
And finally, we look forward to introducing readers to Sally Taylor-Ridgway, the Housing LIN’s new Digital Communications, Marketing and Events Officer who starts next week
The Housing LIN would like to thank Willmott Dixon for their support in producing this newsletter.