Just 5% of England’s housing stock is fully accessible for older people despite rapid growth in the number of people over-65, a report has warned.
Think tank IPPR North said housing and health must be better aligned to deal with the challenges of an ageing population, with greater support for people to adapt their homes as their needs change.
This could include making it easier for GPs to prescribe adaptations through disabled facilities grants, which are administered by local authorities.
It said housing must reflect ‘societal changes’ by ‘locking space standards and Lifetime Homes standards into building regulations and ensuring they are conditions of any publicly funded housing developments’.
Bill Davies, IPPR North Research Fellow, said: ‘Older people are the fastest growing age group in our population but the English housing market is failing to provide good quality homes that will allow them to continue to live independent lives.
‘If we aspire to build over 200,000 homes per year, it is essential that we think harder about who these homes are for, and who is going to buy them. House building that reflects the space and accessibility that older people want is essential if we are to support people to live independent lives, free up large family homes, and control the costs of social care.’
