Developing an evidence base for housing and related services for older people

This case study report commissioned by Aksa Homes (part of New Charter Housing Association) and the Oldham Housing Investment Partnership, explores the attitudes to the housing, care and support needs of older people within BME communities (particularly those in the Bangladeshi and Pakistani communities), and considers whether the next generation of older people will have a different outlook to their parents and grandparents.

Conducted by independent consultants, PDW, the study focuses in on a number of key questions and comes up with a series of recommendations that may be of interest to Housing LIN members. These include:

• whether people would prefer to remain in their homes and the reasons behind this.
• what barriers or constraints people face (real or perceived) in moving to specialist housing.
• issues and preferences around location, housing type, size and design.
• whether present locality and housing type matches aspiration and suggest further development in terms of numbers, tenure, size and type.
• the support needs of the local population over the next 10 -15 years, and
• how Aksa Homes and other providers can adapt their services to reflect any changes in family structures and cultural/religious values.