Designs for Later Life: New report calls for action on housing for older people
3 December 2009
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A new report has recommended that the design and development of new homes for older people must become a national priority if the UK is to avoid a future housing crisis
Launched today by the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA), in partnership with Communities and Local Government (CLG) and the Department of Health, the HAPPI (Housing our Ageing Population: Panel for Innovation) report calls for positive action in response to the UK’s ageing population.
With the number of over 60 year-olds projected to increase by 7 million over the next 25 years and much of the UK’s existing housing stock inaccessible or unsuitable, the lack of good quality homes for older people is a real concern.
The value of good design allows older people to stay at home for longer, avoiding falls and related treatment. HAPPI recommends specific components for the design of housing for older people which mirror the internal domestic environment of the housing industry in Europe, where apartment homes are a conventional part of urban culture. In Europe, older people experience the benefits of greater security and less maintenance, and enjoy the conviviality of shared space. Homes for older people should be at the heart of existing places and communities.
A well known face on the HAPPI panel is Aggie MacKenzie, journalist and presenter of Channel 4’s How Clean is Your House.
Commenting on the launch of the report, Aggie said: “What an ostrich society we are, acting as if old age and diminishing mobility belong to another world, they don’t.
I’m 54 and what this exercise has taught me if that if we getting oldies acknowledge the inevitable; we can plan for and be in control of where we live for the rest of our lives.”
The HAPPI panel is chaired by Lord Richard Best OBE, who said: “In retirement, space really matters: we spend much more time in our own home; we may want to have family or friends – or a caretaker – to stay; and our possessions from a lifetime need a home too.”
The pressure these statistics and growing trends will place on housing provision for older people and by extension their health, well being and lifestyle is analysed by the government- sponsored HAPPI report, which makes a series of recommendations including:
- The building of new homes for the ageing population becomes a priority for central government
- Local Authorities co-ordinate new efforts by housing providers and social and voluntary services to provide solutions to the problem
- Incentives for housebuilders to develop new types of housing for this burgeoning market
- Housing Associations maximise the potential of design and innovation in developing housing for older people
- Encouraging houseowners to free under-occupied family homes for sale and rent by providing attractive, spacious and manageable alternative accommodation
This report is the culmination of extensive investigations by a panel of experts, including representatives of residents and champions of older people’s causes. The panel met residents, engaged with stakeholders, and visited developments in the UK and abroad that have delivered successful and innovative housing ideas.
In a rallying call to the ‘younger old’ generation of over 50s, sometimes referred to as ‘Getting Oldies’, the report stresses the need for older people not to underestimate their contribution to society. – ‘As part of valuing ourselves more highly, we must take more responsibility by planning for the future and not just our next holiday.’
The HAPPI Panel was commissioned by Communities and Local Government as part of its commitments in the Lifetime Homes, Lifetime Neighbourhoods strategy, which aims to make homes and communities more age-friendly.
CLG will be working with partners, such as the Department for Health, to include a new category of Housing for Older People within the 2010 Housing Design Awards, to encourage innovative new ideas in age-friendly design.
Sir Bob Kerslake, Chief Executive of the Homes and Communities Agency said : “I am pleased that the HCA has been at the heart of this work as the ageing population is an issue we all need to take seriously and prepare for sooner rather than later. At the HCA, we will be looking closely at the recommendations the panel has made and will work with our partners to take some steps to address these.”
Communities Minister, Lord McKenzie said: "I welcome this independent report and want to thank Lord Best and the Panel of top experts for their commitment in undertaking this necessary work. The recommendations made in it will be an important platform that helps to stimulate new ideas for specialised homes that meet the needs of our ageing population.
"We need to be leaders in providing homes that will adapt to our needs as we age, giving us more choice about how and where we live as we grow older. That is why we will be encouraging pioneers of innovative age-friendly design by introducing a new category of Housing for Older People within the 2010 Housing Design Awards."
Care Services Minister, Phil Hope, said: "People tell us they want to stay independent by living in their own homes for as long as possible. But we all face the prospect that one day we may need help with everyday tasks – this is where the smart use of design and technology can help.
Installing equipment like an anti-wandering device to wake someone up if their elderly partner is sleep walking is the kind of innovation we want to see. That is why we are driving forward plans as part of the Personal Care at Home Bill.”
The HCA_UK twitter feed is: http://twitter.com/HCA_UK
Ends
Notes to Editors
- Earlier this year the HCA - appointed a HAPPI panel to search for innovation in the current housing offering and to recommend future reform to government policy.
- The panel were advised by Design for Homes, Levitt Bernstein Associates and Pollard Thomas Edwards Architects. Panel members include: Lord Richard Best, Chair of HAPPI; Roger Battersby, MD of PRP Architects; Dr John Belcher CBE, former chief executive of Anchor Trust; Vera Bolter MBE, leads a senior citizens health action group; Antony Hamilton, Hanover Housing Association resident; Peter Maxwell, Head of Enabling (Public Buildings) for CABE; Sir Richard MacCormac CBE, Chair of MJP Architects; Aggie MacKenzie, journalist and TV presenter; John Penton MBE, architect; Professor Anne Power CBE, LSE Professor of Social Policy; Tony Pidgley, Chair of The Berkeley Group regeneration company; Judith Torrington, reader in architecture at University of Sheffield; and Dru Vesty MBE, board member of HCA.
- The full report, executive summary and panel biographies can be found here. Film case studies are available to view on the HCA YouTube channel.
- The Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) is the single, national housing and regeneration agency for England. Its vision is about creating opportunity for people to live in homes they can afford, in places they want to live and for local authorities and communities to deliver the ambition they have for their own areas. The HCA brings together English Partnerships, investment functions of the Housing Corporation, and the Academy for Sustainable Communities, with major delivery programmes of Communities and Local Government.
- The Housing Design Awards promote excellence and sustainability in home design and are delivered by a partnership involving CLG, National House-Building Council, Royal Institute of British Architects, Royal Town Planning Institute and Homes and Communities Agency, and are managed on behalf of the partners by Design for Homes. They are also supported by the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment.