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Real action on older people's housing ‘thin on the ground’ says chair of MPs committee
Ministers have been criticised for “thin on the ground” commitment to action following its response to a report on the housing of older people.
Clive Betts, chair of the Housing, Communities and Local Government (HCLG) Committee, said more “real action” was needed in response to the committee’s call for a new national strategy around the housing needs of older people as the country grapples with an ageing population.
A 73-page report it published in February said ministers should “bring together and improve the aspects of policy affecting housing for older people and, recognising the link between housing and health, be closely linked with the Social Care Green Paper and the government’s future work on social care”.
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However, in a response today the government said: “We have set out a strategy to make the housing market work and make sure it works for all parts of our community, including older people.
“In our Housing White Paper Fixing our Broken Housing Market we recognised that there is a fundamental need to do more to ensure that more homes suitable for older people are being built as part of our overall ambition to increase housing supply.”
Mr Betts said: “In their response to the HCLG Committee’s report, the government appears to recognise in theory the link between housing and health and social care. However, the commitment to action appears rather more thin on the ground.
“It’s vital that the government takes the meaningful steps to address the issue of housing to older people’s health and well-being and its consequent links to the social care and health care systems. The real test will be the government’s upcoming Social Care Green Paper and it is crucial that it takes the opportunity to make integrated proposals for housing and social care. As a committee, we will await this green paper with interest.”
The committee also called for the government’s National Planning Policy Framework to be changed to encourage more development of accommodation for older people.
However, the government said today it had already strengthened the policy and highlighted the revised framework published in July. It added: “The revised National Planning Policy Framework also includes a wider definition of older people in the glossary that includes those approaching, as well as over, retirement age.
“This will enable plan-making authorities to plan for the needs of people seeking to move to more suitable accommodation at an earlier age.”
It added that more guidelines will be published “shortly” on how local authorities should plan to meet the needs of older and disabled people.
The government also hinted that Dame Judith Hackitt’s post-Grenfell review of building regulations and fire safety could have wider implications for housing for older people.
The government said: “Although the focus [of the Hackitt Review] is on fire safety and high-rise buildings, that review may raise issues which have wider implications for the building regulations and building control system.”
Ministers stressed they are taking the agenda around housing need for older people “very seriously” as the country faces a “rapidly ageing population”.
The number of over-85s in England is expected to double to nearly 5% of the population in the next 25 years.
