Housing Action to improve housing for disadvantaged older people in London

Care & Repair England continues to work with older Londoners to improve their housing conditions and living situations.

As a member of the London Age Friendly Forum (LAFF), Care & Repair England is co-ordinating work by the forum to shape the Housing Section of the Greater London Authority’s Plan for making the London ‘Age Friendly’.

The top housing priority set by the group is:

 ‘Supporting older Londoners to live safely and well in their existing homes, through better access to aids and adaptations; impartial housing information and advice; and home improvement support services.’

Copy of the Age Friendly London Housing Domain’s proposed Housing Action Plan available HERE

 

 

 

Why Housing & Ageing Action in London?

London is a city of great contrasts, with areas of immense wealth often not far from some of the most deprived areas in the country.

This inequality is reflected in the housing situations of older people, and in the massive disparities between life expectancy and healthy life expectancy between the richest and poorest places.

As a city with a young population facing many housing supply problems, the practical housing difficulties faced by ageing Londoners have been neglected. Whilst London property prices are the highest in the country, many low- income older homeowners are cash poor, surviving on very limited incomes in a city with high living costs.

As well as a concentration of older Londoners living in poor housing in the owner occupied sector, there is a growing problem of people ageing in poor quality, insecure and unadaptable private rented homes, and huge pressures on the availability of social housing.

Affording or organising home repairs, maintenance and adaptations is a challenge for very many older Londoners, and but only a few Boroughs now offer housing advice, information or practical repair/adaptation support services for their older residents. Our aim is to increase the number of older Londoners who have access to these invaluable housing services.

 

Connecting Housing, Health and Care in London

The London officer has pioneered ‘Housing Options’ workshops with older patients in a rehabilitation hospital to help to improve the process of discharge from hospital to home e.g. by providing patients with an opportunity to discuss the impact of their health issue for their housing sitation early on in the rehabiltation process and either make the necessary alterations to their homes well in advance of discharge, or make plans to find more suitable housing if necessary. The aim is to develop this into a replicable model that can be used in other hospitals.

Profiling and promoting existing good practice in linking housing help to the NHS and patients is also important. An example of our documentation of 'Integration in Action' profiles the Southwark Home Improvement Agency and handyperson service linking up with GP practices.