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CIH Cymru – A blurred vision for housing older people in Wales

Almost three years on from the recommendations of the Expert Group on Housing An Ageing Population, progress on implementation is still too slow, says Matt Kennedy

 Older people make our society a better place just be being in it.’

Matt Kennedy, Chartered Institute of Housing CymruVery few people will have been left in any doubt that the Welsh Government recognises the massive value older people bring to communities across Wales following Jane Hutt’s contribution at the CIH Cymru and Erosh Older People’s Housing Conference.

This was underpinned further by the minister’s comments about a new plan to further progress the ability of older people in Wales to live well. Whilst both the narrative and enthusiasm from the Government is really positive in this area, there may be a risk of losing focus on what we already know would make a difference.

It has been three years since the Welsh Government’s Expert Group on Housing an Ageing Population produced its report setting out clear recommendation for supporting the housing needs and aspirations of older people. The group’s report focussed on understanding the housing desires of older people; supporting the right choices to be made; enabling older people to live independently with confidence, placing homes for older people as a priority within the planning system, and making housing more affordable by incentivising change in the market.

The panel reflected that:

‘To “do nothing” is not an option since “doing nothing” will only exacerbate the problem and render many public services unsustainable in the longer term. The Expert Group would like to see Wales being more ambitious – a place where public, private and third sectors work well together to innovate and co-create.’

Since the publication of the expert group’s report in February 2017 there hasn’t been significant progress across these recommendations. Tracking how we’re currently doing at meeting older people’s housing needs against demographic projections, ensuring easy access to a pan-Wales information and advice service to support older people with decisions linked to living well in later life, auditing the accessibility of current housing stock and assessing the scope for further adaptations are just some of those actions that await addressing.

What seems clear is that any future plan, in whatever guise it takes, needs to draw heavily on the work of the expert group and at most tweak some of these actions for the contemporary policy environment. Such a plan, much like the affordable housing review, needs a clear resource placed behind implementing it.

The affordable housing review’s recommendations will help make some progress on those actions above. Local authorities will be looking to gain more granular data on the housing needs of their local populations. Challenges will remain ,however, around the meaningful involvement of older people in informing how their housing needs are served.

Add to this the increasing number of older people set to live in the private rented sector and further thought is needed about how private landlords and older tenants will be supported to thrive in homes that may need to change and adapt to meet their needs. And with the potential reduction in ‘intergenerational equity’ over the much longer-term, what could this mean for how future generations of older people’s housing aspirations are met? Some of the answers are well-rehearsed and we need an approach which sees cross-party support to delivering real tangible levers for change.

Matt Kennedy is policy and public affairs manager at CIH Cymru


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