HLINks - This week’s essential news, views, resources and upcoming events from the Housing LIN

#Jeremytalks

Welcome to #Jeremytalks and my weekly piece to audio to coincide with the Housing LIN's weekly bulletin, HLINks, week ending Friday, 18 December. This is the last issue of 2020.

What a year it has been, dominated by Covid-19! Despite this, if you are a regular reader, you will know that we have been very productive on all fronts. However, we are taking a well-deserved winter news break and will be resuming HLINks on Friday, 8 January 2021.

But before we sign off for the year, this week has been another hive of activity. All the presentations and recordings from last week's virtual Summit are now available on our website.

We are also delighted to announce that we have teamed up with St Monica Trust to undertake ground-breaking research to study the true impact of Covid-19 on retirement villages and extra care housing schemes across England. Funded by the Dunhill Medical Trust, the RE-COV project is surveying the sector to understand their experiences during the pandemic, including the effectiveness of measures taken to protect the health and well-being of residents and staff. Sticking with Covid, Professor Marmot's influential Review was published this week, setting out the national evidence on health inequalities exposed by the pandemic, including housing.

On the policy front, the inaugural Housing LIN TAPPI Inquiry's inception meeting took place with the first of four Inquiry sessions being held in the New Year. At the same time, it was the final hearing of the APPG on Housing and Care for Older People Inquiry on housing for those living with dementia. Sponsored by Anchor Hanover, the Inquiry's report will be launched in February 2021.

In this week’s HLINks, you can also read about our latest Inspirational Achievements – the latest chapter on the transformation of Central & Cecil’s Dora House into an affordable, contemporary 55+ offer in St John’s Wood. And also take tour of our curated round-up of other news and events on later life living with regard to homes and communities, health and social care, design and technology, planning matters and more, including reference to the new RICS report on almshouses, a model of community housing for an ageing population, and social enterprise Zinc’s report on start-up innovations in later life.

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

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 our consultancy services can assist you, email ‘Jeremy talks’ at: info@housinglin.org.uk.

You can also listen to #Jeremytalkshere

Thanks for listening, stay connected and, above all, be safe over this festive period.

Jeremy

New Housing LIN resources

Inspirational Achievements - Putting residents at the heart of our new development

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Our latest #InspirationalAchievements tracks the progress of the redevelopment of Central &Cecil’s (C&C) Dora House in St John’s Wood, London, and how this is leading the way in raising the later-life living aspirations of residents, even during the pandemic. It follows up on our first ever features and the early Chapters of capturing the major transformation taking place in the capital.

Housing LIN Summit 2020 – Reaching for the Top

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Celebrating outstanding innovation, latest research findings, leading practice developments and sector thought-leadership, all the HAPPI Hour presentations and recordings from last week's Summit are now available for all to see on the event's microsite.

Coronavirus Update

With new stronger localised tiered arrangements now in place nationally, until Christmas, 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.

Useful guidance & information

And a reminder that the Department of Health and Social Care have extended their series of webinars on the new test and trace arrangements for the extra care and supported living sectors. More at: DHSC Extra Care and Supported Living webinar series throughout December

Lastly, do post 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

Specialised Supported Housing: guidance for local government and NHS commissioners

LGA

Important new guidance has been produced by the Housing LIN for the Local Government Association, supported by NHS England and NHS Improvement, about a category of supported housing referred to as ‘Specialised Supported Housing’ (SSH), particularly lease-based models of SSH. The guidance is designed to assist local government and NHS commissioners with commissioning and managing SSH.

Building ventures to improve the quality of later life

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This report by Zinc and commissioned by the Dunhill Medical Trust captures why, where and how to innovate in later life. It summarises key learning points from the perspective of innovators, researchers, older adults, and other experts who are building or supporting later life start-ups.

Almshouses: a model of community housing for an ageing population

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This research for RICS takes a future-focused approach to almshouses, looking at recent developments to inform housing provision in the 21st century. It explores their distinct and valuable contribution to housing older people to inform built environment and housing professionals, including architects and surveyors, funders, local authority housing and planning officers, prospective partner organisations, Homes England and the UK government.

In other News

Opinion pieces and blogs

Design, Construction and Technology

Housing Design Awards 2021

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.

TAPPI (Technology for an Ageing Population: Panel for Innovation)

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We were delighted to host this week’s TAPPI inception meeting with invited panellists. Funded by The Dunhill Medical Trust, and with a backdrop of Covid, we are following the footsteps of HAPPI to leap into technology for our ageing population with this new panel of innovation.

The first of four Inquiry sessions and virtual regional tours, chaired by Professor Roy Sandbach, will formerly commence in the New Year.

In other News

Opinion pieces and blogs

Mental Health, Learning Disability, Health and Care

Build Back Fairer: The COVID-19 Marmot Review

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Professor Sir Michael Marmot, Director of UCL's Institute of Health Equity, has published a new landmark report setting out the evidence that a generation of children and young people are at risk of worsening health and having shorter lives post the COVID-19 pandemic. In his latest report, he notes that in England the excess death rate linked to COVID-19 is higher than anywhere else in Europe.

And, in relation to housing, Chapter 7 includes a section on the impact of COVID-19 containment on housing inequalities. It makes references to the condition of properties on wellbeing, access to outdoor space, the need for decent quality homes, housing affordability, and homelessness and rough sleeping.

In other News

Dementia

Housing and Dementia

APPG Housing and Care for Older People

The final session of the APPG on Housing and Care for Older People’s Inquiry into the housing experiences of people living with dementia tool place this week. We are now digesting the evidence presented to produce a final report for the APPG for a February 2021 launch.

While the APPG’s current call for evidence is formally closed, do email us any last minute examples of innovative practice for the Inquiry Panel’s consideration at: dementia@housinglin.org.uk

Planning

Planning tracker

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Older People’s Care Development – Local Development Plan Monitoring

In association with Tetlow King Planning, this document monitors current local authority planning consultations that may be of interest for those seeking to develop housing for older people. The tracker is updated fortnightly.

Research opportunity on communities, cohesion and resilience

A new research and policy collaboration from the British Academy and the Nuffield Foundation will award over £500,000 in research funding to identify practical solutions to increase the cohesion and resilience of local communities in the UK. Following our recent CollaborAGE Directory, let us know if you would like to collaborate with the Housing LIN in making a submission. Email us at: info@housinglin.org.uk

In other News

Wales and Scotland

Wales

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Welsh government guidance on COVID-19 can be found at: https://gov.wales/coronavirus

Scotland

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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

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We are now working on a new #HAPPIHour events programme and look forward to sharing details of our exciting schedule of webinars early in the New Year.

Other events supported by the Housing LIN

We are pleased to be involved/support the following virtual events:

DLF launches adaptations webinars

DLF logo

The DLF is running a series of free webinars over the winter period featuring techniques and advice for assessing for major adaptations.

Presented by DLF Trainers and leading OT practitioners in the field of adaptations the talks are based on DLF's level five 'Home Adaptations for Professionals' training course.

A final message

At the end of last year, the Housing LIN's Jeremy Porteus wrote a blog setting out his vision for 2020 and keys asks for this past year. Looking back on year we have all had, despite the significant impact of Covid-19 on all our lives and the resultant challenging environment faced, the Housing LIN has held on to these asks. From producing guidance on specialised supported housing and contributing to a new national statement of expectations; from reframing HAPPI for work readiness in the light of the pandemic to digital transformation and exploring new 'tech ready' TAPPI solutions; and from creating more resilient communities and embedding CollaborAGE, the Housing LIN has worked tirelessly to help influence national and local policies and guidance and to inform, consult and support practice development. We look forward to building on these with you to frame a new vision for 2021 that address and respond to the challenges ahead.

Please note that this week’s HLINks is the last of 2020 and we will be resume our weekly bulletin on Friday, 8 January 2021.

Lastly, the Housing LIN would like to thank Willmott Dixon for their support in producing this newsletter.

Stay connected, stay well and, above all, be safe over the festive period. Seasons’ Greetings from everyone at the Housing LIN!