Does the housing sector really listen to the voice of older people? …And why does it matter?

I was delighted to present and lead a discussion on how to magnify the voices of older people in the South West at the Housing LIN’s Leadership Set awayday in St Ives this month. This blog gives a summary of my presentation.

The short answer to the first question in the title is: “It’s patchy.”

And the rather longer answer to the second question is: “Nowhere near enough, if the sector really wants to make sure they design and develop products that meet the needs and aspirations… not just of today’s older population, but future generations too.”

Yes, there are some excellent charities out there speaking up on behalf of older people – especially when it comes to getting media coverage and talking to the Government. But I would contend that they are still not the direct voice of older people themselves regionally, let alone nationally.

At a national level, we lost that umbilical cord when the Government closed down the English Forums on Ageing in 2015, before which we had a direct line of communication with senior ministers and civil servants, helping to inform their strategies and upcoming legislation.

The charities’ housing focus is also primarily on the needs of those at the sharp end: people unable to afford to maintain their homes or heat them properly, or private renters finding themselves increasingly squeezed by rising rents.

But as highlighted in the recent Housing LIN/Ipsos report on the housing preferences of older picture, the bigger picture is that nowhere near enough new specialist housing is being built to accommodate an ageing population. On top of that, the housing sector has not built enough accessible “lifetime” homes that allow people to remain independently in their homes when they lose mobility… and successive Governments have failed to ensure they do.

Horizon lines

10, 20, 30 years into the future are the horizon lines we should be focussing on, when there will be far, far more older people than now to house… and today’s older generation could be playing a key role in helping the Government, local authorities and developers achieve that – if they would listen to our lived experiences and ideas.

While the Housing LIN and organisations such as Age UK and the Elderly Accommodation Counsel were represented, it was telling that when the Government appointed the membership of Older People’s Housing Taskforce there was no direct representative from the very constituency they were meant to be helping.

Whatever happened to “Nothing about us without us?”

But then, overarching strategies for an ageing population are few and far between at a local level and non-existent at a national one. In Wales and Northern Ireland they do have their own Commissioner to pull together all of the threads within Government, and take forward the input of older people. Not so in England and Scotland.

At a local level, those cities – notably Leeds, Manchester and Newcastle – where local government really does listen to their older populations are age-friendly beacons of what can be achieved, because they hear from their older residents how housing really does play a key role in people’s health and wellbeing. But elsewhere, consultation with older people’s reference groups is far too thin on the ground.

Who should they speak to?

I’ve been involved in writing about and campaigning on later life issues since 1986 and the last few years have not been kind to the forums in this country… with council cut backs followed by Covid. But there are groups locally that can be tapped into, many of which belong to the Age Action Alliance network which I run. And where there aren't, local authorities would have no problem in creating one.

The Older People’s Housing Champions is a national network of regional experts who can act as a starting point too. Our manifesto, developed in 2017, focuses on solving problems what would often have ramifications beyond housing… and I’d argue is still relevant today.

1. Home adaptations assistance should be mandatory, delivered quickly and efficiently and be a core part of future integrated health, social care and housing systems;
2. There should be nationwide provision of practical, affordable housing repair and adaptations services – including home improvement agencies and handyperson services - for older people in all housing sectors;
3. Small “healthy at home” grants or low-cost loans for essential repairs and improvements should be made available for disadvantaged older people, resulting in benefits both for individuals and society;
4. Local authority house condition audits should be re-introduced alongside private sector housing renewal programmes to tackle disrepair and prevent existing housing stock decline;
5. Build all ordinary housing for all ages - all new homes should be built to accessible standards and be suitable for further adaptation;
6. Build more innovative mainstream housing of a design and size that is particularly suitable for later life;
7. Build a wider range of specialist and supported housing for those with later life care and support needs;
8. A national source of independent, specialist, housing, care and finance information, combined with impartial local one-to-one advice and support is urgently needed for older people and their carers, and professionals;
9. A register of accessible, adaptable housing would help older people locate suitable homes quickly when their needs change; and
10. Older people – experts through experience – need to be engaged and involved in developing and delivering housing strategies and solutions for later life at all levels locally and nationally.

Local authorities have a particular challenge. There is plainly a disconnect between what many of them think is needed going forward to meet the challenges / opportunities of an ageing society… and reality. More of them need to establish direct connections with older people in their areas to gain this understanding.

Developers, meanwhile, need to do their homework… engaging with older people well before the outline planning stage… making this a co-design project.

That would help give them evidence to get past planning – and demonstrate they are meeting a social need, which would assist in s106 negotiations. It would also help embed a development more favourably with older people locally… and help ensure that what is built is sold/rented.

Older people invariably feel that they no longer have a meaningful voice. But older people do have opinions. Often strong ones.  They also have lived experiences which are worth tapping into. And they are usually quite happy to share them – if you ask them in the right way.

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To access a range of other resources on housing for an ageing population from across the South West curated by the Housing LIN, visit our dedicated pages at: https://www.housinglin.org.uk/Regions/SouthWest/

And for more about Age Action Alliance, visit: http://theageactionalliance.org/

And, if you found Tony’s blog of interest, check out a range of other news, views and resources on freeing up accommodation on the Housing LIN’s dedicated page here.