Published on Monday 16th of November 2020
Covid-19 has brought to the forefront what the sector has known for years; housing and care for older people has long been under-invested. It requires a new way of joined up thinking to meet the needs and aspirations of older people, and their relatives, and realise the potential for growth in new age friendly homes.
Specifically there is a need to:
- Increase supply of ‘age friendly’ and specialist housing, including housing-with-care.
- Help and encourage older households to age-proof their existing homes through maintenance, improvements and adaptations.
- Make available a comprehensive and independent housing options information and advice service to help older people reach and implement decisions about their home.
This joint report by EAC and CACI highlights the need to increase supply of specialist housing, particularly at the Mid-Market level. With a more challenging housing market looming, against an undersupply of housing stock, there is an opportunity here to unlock homes by providing older people greater choice that best meet their needs and aspirations.
CACI and EAC plan to work together to provide the data and analyses that investors, planners, commissioners and developers need to identify opportunities to provide ‘age friendly’ housing for those many older households who, because of where they live or their financial circumstances, are currently very poorly catered for.
