Should I stay
or should I go?
Julie Nicholas on fire-fighting lessons from Australia
for older people and housing in Wales
Since it was introduced the ‘stay or go’ bush-fire strategy
has saved hundreds of lives in Australia. It was implemented
after it became clear that staying to defend a well-prepared
home, or leaving for a safe place well before a fire threat
appeared, were the two best survival options for households.
Further studies concluded most deaths inside properties due
to bush-fires were because occupiers sheltered rather than
actively defended their homes. Families who thought about
risks in advance, made active decisions about how to respond
and had a plan ready for implementation survived the crisis,
those that did not were statistically much less fortunate.
I facilitated the recent ‘An ageing population meeting the
challenge’ session at TAI 2013, where we heard from four great
speakers: Sarah Rochira, the Older People’s Commissioner, Domini
Gunn, director of health and wellbeing at CIH, Jeremy Porteus,
director of the Housing Learning and Improvement Network and
Ilona Haslewood from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
It strikes me that the Australian ‘stay or go’ model sounded a
lot like the approaches the speakers were advocating to solve the
housing conundrum for older people in Wales. If we apply the same
rationale, then failing to plan to ‘defend’ your home adequately,
or deciding to leave it just as the risk peaks can be dangerous for
older people. Conversely making an informed housing choice in
advance, and then implementing strategies to support that decision,
is surely a better way to meet your housing needs as you age.
Benefits to health
We know the benefits to health provided through the provision of
good housing that meets needs, and consequentially we know
the negative well-being impact that results from poor housing
conditions. The recent JRF report on extra care found that housing
schemes developed for older people facilitate social well-being, and
are also of benefit when its services and resources are offered out
to the wider community. Carmarthenshire Council’s research found
huge health benefits in improving housing standards and making
adaptations. Deciding whether to ‘go in advance’, such as moving
to purpose-built older persons housing, or to ‘stay and defend’, for
example by fitting aids and adaptations to your home, seems to be
the key to a successful conclusion to a housing pathway.
In 1948, at the beginning of the NHS, 48 per cent of people died
before they were 65. That figure has reduced to less than 18 per
cent. On average one in three people over 65 lives on their own, for
people over 85 it is nearly one in two. Wales has a higher proportion
of people aged over 65 than the other UK nations, and the spread of
our older population is not level across local authorities; there is wide
disparity that will impact on service demand and planning.
Improved life expectancy is obviously a great outcome of the
welfare state. However, with that demographic change comes a
growing national responsibility to ensure that a good quality of life
for our older citizens is encouraged and maximized. Sarah Rochira believes that listening to what older people want is fundamental
to designing the new national strategy and that older people are
perfectly capable of deciding and knowing what they want.
The new strategy (available at http://wales.gov.uk/
consultations/olderpeople/older/?lang=en) aims to enable
full participation, promote engaged lives, combat discrimination
and inequality, develop age-friendly communities and encourage
recognition of the changes and demands of later life and,
importantly, plan and prepare for these changes.
Older people living in inappropriate housing will be, according to
Domini Gunn, the ‘next housing crisis’. Homes that are not safe, secure,
affordable and provide a place where we can manage long-term
health conditions and recover from illness threaten positive ageing,
particularly for low income and vulnerable households. Key to achieving
this housing will be joint planning with health and social care.
It is important to stress it is not the older person who presents
the challenge to Wales, it is the societal response, or lack of, that
is the issue. Jeremy Porteus agrees: ‘The majority of older people
live well into old age and we need to look at housing solutions that
both meet lifestyle choices and can be care-ready.’
By encouraging people to plan ahead, to think about the
conclusion of their housing pathway, and then ensuring there is
enough appropriate housing supplied for those who choose to
‘go’, as well as the available resources for those who wish to ‘stay’
to implement their ‘fire-plan’, will be fundamental to a successful
housing outcome for an ageing population.
Analysis of data shows that we are woefully ill-prepared to meet
the changing housing needs of people as they age. The majority of
our housing stock does not meet the principles of lifetime homes. The
impact on the individual and for other service areas is huge: we know
that emergency hospital stays increase clinical and psychological risks
and induce dependency for patients and that the NHS is experiencing
increased emergency admissions for older people as well as delayed
discharge of care, because these patients live in homes that no longer
meet their needs and so can not return to them.
The ‘stay or go’ model could provide a good finale to the housing
pathway of many older people; as housing professionals we know
that preparation, prevention and service user involvement always
provide better outcomes for citizens than a fire-fighting approach.
Julie Nicholas is policy and public affairs manager
at CIH Cymru
Wales and the modern
private rented sector
Julie Nicholas explains why CIH Cymru holds its second PRS summit in July
My friend told me a story recently.
Her brother, phoned her last month and
asked: ‘You work in housing; my new
tenant moves in on Saturday, if they get
a shock off the dodgy kitchen light, am
I liable?’
‘Yes,’ came the reply ‘yes, you are!’. My
friend’s brother is one of the new breed of
‘accidental’ or ‘reluctant’ landlords in the
private rented sector (PRS). It is estimated
that 40 per cent of PRS landlords own
or manage a single property, which
includes those who have inherited or
moved away from a property they are
either unable or unwilling to sell. These
‘accidental’ landlords have contributed
to the substantial growth in the last
decade of the PRS, which now accounts
for 14 per cent of housing in Wales. These
landlords sit alongside the growing number
of small buy-to-let investors, seeking a
better return on their savings than more
traditional options can currently provide.
Together with the medium to large
portfolios of professional private landlords,
as well as the potential contributory growth
from institutional investors, as championed
in the 2012 Montague report, there is a
wide assortment of landlord groups to be
found in the modern PRS, with varying
levels of management and professional
competence; all offering accommodation to
the general public.
Complaints
With anecdotes like my friend’s, it is
perhaps no wonder that that PRS tenants
represent a disproportionately high number
of complaints’ to Shelter Cymru services in
Wales. Policy manager Jennie Bibbings says:
‘The PRS makes up less than 20 per cent of
all the housing in Wales but they contribute
more than 30 per cent of all the problems.’
The modern PRS is diverse in nature, a
‘sector of extremes’; the National Landlord
Association (NLA) reports(1) that 70 per cent
of tenants have stayed for over two years
in their current tenancy, with a high levels
of customer satisfaction(2), and yet 40 per
cent of PRS housing in the UK is classed as
having ‘unfit’ or ‘defective’ standards(3).
System stewardship
It is clear that the PRS does now provide an
increasingly important part of the answer
to the housing supply question, particularly
for Generation Rent. Welsh Government
has been clear about its inclusion of
the PRS within its ‘system stewardship’
approach; intending to introduce several
pieces of new legislation including
proposals for mandatory registration and
accreditation, homelessness discharge
into the sector, as well as tenancy reform
through the new Renting Homes (Wales)
Bill. It is seeking to improve the PRS by
increasing sectorial knowledge, supporting
landlords to build capacity and improving
consumer protection. The Welsh Local
Government Association is also committed
to improve partnership working with its
PRS improvement project, publishing an
online improvement toolkit in 2012 and
commissioning further research.
CIH Cymru is holding our 2nd PRS
Summit in 2013, in partnership with
the NLA. As the home of professional
standards, CIH Cymru believes that
delivering a quality product and service
should be the aim of everyone in the
housing industry, cross-sector. By
developing professional capacity through
support, knowledge and training we can
help make that goal a reality for the PRS,
to build robust businesses and deliver a
quality product across the nation.
And what happened to the new tenants
of my friend’s brother? Fortunately, having
a sister working in the housing industry
meant that he was able to follow her advice
and ensure an electrician checked the
house and remedied any problems before
the new household moved in. Presumably
not every ‘amateur’ PRS landlord has such
a conveniently located housing professional
for a sibling; sometimes legislation is the
best way to go.
CIH Cymru’s annual PRS Summit
is on the 15th July 2013 and will
be of interest to private landlords
operating in Wales, local lettings
and management agents, tenants
and local authority partners.
To book your place at the PRS
Summit please visit: www.cih.org
(1) CLG Private Landlords Survey 2010
(2) NLA Tenants Index Q1 2012
(3) UK Housing Review 2011/12; Pawson & Wilcox: 2012