The recommendations made by the Older People’s Housing Taskforce, which includes recommendations by RIBA, are being pushed by the HAA
An open letter has been written by the HAA, urging the rapid implementation of the older people’s housing recommendations.
As the number of older people keeps rising, the HAA emphasise the importance of including them in the 1.5m homes target.
The older people’s housing recommendations were published last year
In November 2024, the Older People’s Housing Taskforce published Our Future Homes: Housing that promotes well-being and community for an ageing population.
The document held the taskforce’s findings of their country-wide survey, investigating where housing for, and the lived experience of an ageing population was lacking and required improvement.
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), a member of the Housing Made for Everyone coalition, had previously discussed and called for new homes for an ageing population, and many of the taskforce’s findings echoed RIBA’s.
The taskforce’s report had four key aspects as recommendations:
“Think housing”
Most people desire to have their own homes for as long as possible. Physical and mental health do not always allow for this, and as these needs change, age-friendly housing can offer a better quality of life. This includes rightsizing to more appropriate housing for the individual or family and releasing underused rooms.
As such, more age-friendly housing will need to be constructed, and homes will need retrofitting to adapt to changing needs. The government has committed to this through increased funding for the ENABLE Build scheme in the recent £3bn support package.
“Address ageing”
While everyone ages, it can be difficult to see ourselves in this way, and making decisions for an aged future can be left until it is too late. The report states: “We tend to see senior citizens as a homogeneous group, despite today’s wide age span, and we need to recognise that growing diversity demands a range of housing options. A one-size-fits-all approach just will not work.”
“Promote wellbeing”
An approach that prioritises prevention is key, and so an environment that is already safe will prevent incidents or degradation that could see the elderly need a hospital, directly benefitting the health system by reducing the patient load as well.
“Create inclusive communities”
Incorporating the community in these processes can reduce feelings of isolation in the elderly, open up discussion of the other three messages, particularly “address ageing,” and enable people to look out for each other, stay active, and thrive in a local community with easy-to-access care and support.
The HAA open letter reaffirms the need for housing
The HAA’s open letter is contains the names of many industry experts and professionals, including:
- Mario Ambrosi, director of communications and marketing – Anchor
- Hilary Burkitt, policy manager – Independent Age
- Dr Rosalie Callway, projects and policy manager – Town and Country Planning Association
- Sarah Davis, senior policy and practice officer – Chartered Institute of Housing
- John Galvin, chief executive – Elderly Accommodation Counsel
- Tracy Harrison, chief executive – Northern Housing Consortium
- Holly Holder, deputy director for homes – Centre for Ageing Better
- James Lloyd, director of policy and communications – Associated Retirement Community Operators
- Christina McGill, director of social impact & external affairs – Habinteg
- Lisabel Miles, housing policy manager – AgeUK
- Bruce Moore, chief executive – Housing 21
- Nick Phillips, chief executive – Almshouse Association
- Jeremy Porteus, chief executive – Housing Learning and Improvement Network
- Abdul A Ravat, head of development & relationships - The Abbeyfield Living Society, chair of the National Housing Federation Older Person’s Housing, and lead for Ageing Well with BME National
- Joan Rutherford, Older People’s Housing Champions
- David Sinclair, chief executive – International Longevity Centre-UK
- Paul Teverson, director of communications – McCarthy Stone
- Lauren Walker, Professional Advisor – Royal College of Occupational Therapists
- Tony Watts OBE, Age Action Alliance
The letter is addressed directly to the deputy prime minister, Angela Rayner. Within the letter the HAA further emphasise that implementing these recommendations can raise living standards through specialist housing, adaptation of existing homes, and ensuring new housing has quality-of-life considerations for older people.
They argue this will also cause increases in disposable income and GDP. The letter also portrays these recommendations as being more easily implemented through the incoming Housing Strategy, Planning Bill, and Affordable Housing Programme, in turn boosting construction for the 1.5m home target.
A final key point in the open letter is the support these recommendations can provide in eliminating hospital backlogs, citing a lack of appropriate support in older people’s homes being the cause for many of them to be in hospitals in the first place. These recommendations would also increase wellbeing of older people, reducing the likelihood that they will need hospital trips altogether.
On urgency, the letter reads: “The need for swift action is more pressing than ever. The UK’s ageing population is growing rapidly and is increasingly diverse. Delaying the implementation of the Taskforce’s recommendations will only increase the strain on health and social care systems and further marginalise older people.”
The full open letter can be read here.
