Housing options for older people in a reimagined housing system: a case study from England

Abstract

The housing options of older people now extend far beyond the traditional choice between staying put and making do, or moving to specialist housing or residential care. A flexible suite of options has emerged, centred on promoting independence and well-being. Valuable insights have been provided into the development, delivery, costs and benefits of these options. Light has also been cast on the experiences and preferences of older people. However, little is known about who gets what housing, where and why. This reflects a tendency within analysis to consider these different housing options in isolation. This study responds by situating the housing options of older people within wider debates about the reimagining of the housing system driven by the neoliberal transformation in housing politics. Taking a case study approach, it explores the gap between the ambitions of policy and realities of provision at the local level, relates this to the particular intersection of state practices and market mechanisms manifest within the case study and, in doing so, rises to the challenge of extending analysis of the impacts of the neoliberal approach on the right to housing to new groups and different settings.

A Systematic Review on Inter-Relationship of Residential Neighborhood Characteristics on Quality of Life of Elderly

“…Research that serves a function incredibly well through older adults is how we learned to improve technology-assistive resources and activities to keep them out of danger and strategies for independent existence within a neighborhood . Recognizing housing as more than a means of increasing value is significant, especially considering the well-established and largely acknowledged contribution of housing to health and wellbeing in old age (Robinson et al, 2020). While discussing the policy proposals that may be utilized to enhance the housing conditions of older people, an emphasis on the aspect that older people should be provided to live in the neighborhoods where they have resided during their adult lives is important (Donald, 2009).…”

Planning for Age-Friendly Cities

“…Developing age-friendly and inter-generational urban policies will provide better places to grow, live, work, play and age; and in consequence, narrow the social and health inequalities across different life stages. A wide range of opportunities for ageintegrated and age-targeted interventions in the built and social environment can foster social participation, community connections, and personal empowerment (Robinson et al, 2020).…”

Specialist housing for older people in an era of neoliberal transformation: exploring provision in England

“…Two notable trends in specialist provision by social landlords were associated with this new regime. First, there was a reduction in the provision of sheltered housing linked to the decommissioning of some older schemes and the redesignation of others as age-exclusive housing; housing exclusively for older people which is more suitable to their needs by virtue of location, type, design or adaptations, but where no specific support is available (Robinson et al, 2020). Redesignation was often pursued in response to pressures on revenue funding that prompted the removal of warden services from many sheltered schemes (Croucher, 2008).…”

“…This is at a time when demand outstrips supply and is likely to increase as a result of population ageing (International Longevity Centre, 2016). In response, it might be anticipated that new forms of state practice would emerge centred upon advancing the role of the market, particularly in places where 'leaving it to the market' is resulting in the undersupply of specialist provision (Robinson et al, 2020). However, no transformation has been pursued in the modest output of new specialist housing for older people delivered by the market; government interventions to encourage the market to provide new housing have focused on addressing the difficulties younger households encounter accessing owner-occupation (Best and Porteus, 2016).…”

“…Specialist housing is an integral part of the housing offer for older people in many countries. There is a strong preference amongst older people for 'staying put' and ageing in place in their current home (Robinson et al, 2020), but a move to specialist housing can sometimes represent the most effective means of accommodating the ongoing adjustments people need to make between themselves and their environment as they age (Means, 2007). Specialist housing developments are distinct from residential care or nursing homes in that they provide individual dwellings with their own front door.…”