A report entitled Older People’s Care in Social Housing: A Manifesto for Change has been published. The report has been written by Altair and is sponsored by Housing 21, The Guinness Partnership and Devonshires Solicitors LLP.
As the report says, over a quarter of tenants in the social housing sector are aged over 65 and that number is expected to increase significantly with an ageing population. 700,000 people aged over 65 receive care to help them live well, but only one in seven live in specialist, integrated housing with care, with many others receiving care in their homes, provided either privately or by not-for-profit care providers.
The report is based on research which has identified four goals the sector must work towards to support tenants in living well with age:
- Leadership
- Integration
- Innovation and
- Communication.
To achieve those goals the report identifies 10 actions prioritised from urgent to medium term. The three most urgent actions are:
- Each provider commits to taking action to enable older people to remain independent in their homes, whether as an enabler or as a provider of housing with care services. Providers review this strategic role regularly (Leadership)
- Providers work to deliver on the objectives of the social care and social housing white papers (Leadership) and
- Local authorities work with registered providers (RPs) on potential offers, provide RPs with greater certainty over care packages and incentivise growth by providing land for new housing and care developments (Integration).