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The looming disaster for our older population
Two recent reports have highlighted that the UK’s older population will face a housing crisis of epic proportions unless concerted action is taken now. Failure to act on the warnings would be a dereliction of duty, writes Martin Hilditch
You don’t need a degree in reading tea leaves to predict one of the biggest looming crises in the housing sector.
In fact, the figures are already out there that suggest what one of the biggest housing issues of the 2030s and 2040s is likely to be.
Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures published earlier this year show that households in the private rented sector (PRS) are getting older. The proportion of heads of household in the PRS aged between 45 and 54 jumped from 11% to 16% between 2007 and 2017 – an estimated increase of 384,000 households (this was the biggest percentage rise of any age group). The proportion of households aged 55 to 64 in the PRS is also on the increase.
Finally, attention seems to be focusing more on what the future holds for an ageing population in the PRS – basically, disaster unless swift and meaningful action is taken.
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This week, the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Ageing and Older People launched its report following its inquiry into decent and accessible homes for older people. It should be required reading for anyone who works in the housing sector – and, particularly, for the politicians who will decide their future.
The report gets straight to the heart of the matter. It says the MPs on the APPG are “especially concerned about people with low retirement incomes, for whom increasing rents and insecure tenancies can cause huge amounts of stress, made worse by the development of care and support needs when there is a lack of social or supported housing to move into”.
In part, this is an identification of an issue that is affecting people now – but the report makes it clear that much worse is to come unless there is decisive action.
Similar issues were highlighted in a fantastic forecast for accessible homes, published by Habinteg Housing Association earlier this year. That found that just 7% of housing stock in England offers “even the most basic accessibility features”. Its survey of every draft and adopted local plan in England found that less than half set a specific requirement for a proportion of new homes to meet any form of accessible housing standards. Basically, we aren’t building enough homes full-stop – but what we are building is unlikely to help our older population much in years to come.
This is a disaster that we are facilitating. There is plenty of interesting practice out there – Sheffield’s new council homes will all be built to Lifetime Homes Standards and Blackwood Housing in Scotland is investing in AI, to name but two. But those preparing adequately for the future currently stand out from the crowd.
Both Habinteg and the APPG’s reports contain interesting recommendations for change – such as asking the government to issue detailed guidance to councils on how they should reflect the housing needs of older and disabled people in their local plans or legislation to ensure all homes are built to Lifetime Homes Standards.
Today’s housing crisis was the predictable result of decisions made 20-30 years ago. It is a dereliction of duty to tomorrow’s older people if we ignore the warnings of today.
Martin Hilditch, editor, Inside Housing
