A paper examined ways of enabling older people, and those with long-term conditions, to 'downsize' to more appropriate general accommodation. It considered the barriers to moving, the challenges to be addressed, and some solutions.
Source: Janet Sutherland, Viewpoint on Downsizing, Housing Learning and Improvement Network/Department of Health
Links: Paper
Date: 2010-Dec
A report examined the housing needs of older people in rural areas.
Source: Rural Housing, Older People and the Big Society, Housing Learning and Improvement Network/Department of Health
Links: Report
Date: 2010-Dec
A report highlighted areas of positive practice within the Supporting People programme, with the aim of helping local authorities when making difficult decisions about future service provision. The importance of seeking to maintain a strategic and managed approach, even in the face of resource and time constraints, was critical.
Source: Supporting People: Supporting Service Change in a Time of Pressure – Sharing lessons for service reconfiguration and decommissioning, Chartered Institute of Housing
Links: Report
Notes: The Supporting People programme provides housing-related support services to enable vulnerable people to live independently.
Date: 2010-Dec
A study examined the extent, scale, and regional distribution of a wide range of housing-related support for those at risk of domestic violence. It looked at access to housing advice, refuge provision, other specialist accommodation, access to settled accommodation, and the role of floating support.
Source: Deborah Quilgars and Nicholas Pleace, Meeting the Needs of Households at Risk of Domestic Violence in England: The role of accommodation and housing-related support services, Department for Communities and Local Government
Links: Report
Date: 2010-Nov
A factsheet examined the question of whether there was a market for extra care housing in the private rented sector; and, if so, what role it might play within the spectrum of tenure and care choices available to older people.
Source: Lawrence Miller, Private Rented Extra Care: A New Market?, Housing Learning and Improvement Network/Department of Health
Links: Factsheet
Date: 2010-Nov
An independent study found that the savings to other services of the Supporting People Programme in Wales (providing housing-related support to vulnerable people) 'far outweighed' the cost of the scheme.
Source: Mansel Aylward, Kerry Bailey, Ceri Phillips, Keith Cox and Eleanor Higgins, The Supporting People Programme in Wales: Final Report, Welsh Assembly Government
Links: Report | Summary | WAG press release | NHS Wales press release
Date: 2010-Nov
A report examined the housing challenges that would face young people in 2020 and the likely influences on their housing options. A linked paper summarized evidence from four projects led by young people aged under 30, examining their experiences of housing and setting out the changes that young people felt would help them make the right housing choices. A second linked paper considered the need to revise policies so that they reflected the risks and obstacles specific to young people in the housing market.
Source: David Clapham, Kelly Buckley, Peter Mackie, Scott Orford and Ian Stafford, Young People and Housing in 2020: Identifying key drivers for change, Joseph Rowntree Foundation | Kathleen Kelly, A Young People's Charter on Housing, Joseph Rowntree Foundation | Julie Rugg, Young People and Housing: The need for a new policy agenda, Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Links: Report | Paper (1) | Paper (2)
Date: 2010-Nov
An audit report in Wales said that 'little progress' had been made in improving the planning and delivery of housing services for people with mental health needs. Strategic planning remained of poor quality; and joint planning between local health, social care, and housing service providers was not always effective. The Assembly Government's monitoring of the delivery of its housing targets had also been ineffective.
Source: Housing Services for Adults with Mental Health Needs, Wales Audit Office
Links: Report | WAO press release | NHS Wales press release | BBC report | Public Finance report
Date: 2010-Nov
Researchers assessed and forecast housing need in England, in terms of a range of housing outcomes that included overcrowding, homelessness, and unsuitable accommodation. They sought to develop a statistical model that could be used for estimating housing need at both national and regional level.
Source: Glen Bramley, Hal Pawson, Michael White, David Watkins and Nicholas Pleace, Estimating Housing Need, Department for Communities and Local Government
Links: Report
Date: 2010-Nov
A report provided an interim assessment of a pilot that provided seven schemes designed to test a range of enhanced housing support packages for teenage parents.
Source: Sarah Johnsen and Deborah Quilgars, Teenage Parent Supported Housing Pilot Evaluation, Research Report RR050, Department for Education
Links: Report
Date: 2010-Oct
An article examined key findings from a multidisciplinary study of 10 remodelled extra care schemes for older people. It said that the absence of a clear national definition of 'extra care' made it difficult for older people, their relatives, and social workers to decide whether an extra care scheme was appropriate.
Source: Fay Wright et al., 'What is the "extra" in extra care housing?', British Journal of Social Work, Volume 40 Number 7
Links: Abstract
Date: 2010-Oct
Two linked reports said that supported housing providers were failing to respect the tenancy rights of learning-disabled people.
Source: Alicia Wood with Rob Greig, Steve Strong and Claire Hall, The Real Tenancy Test: Tenancy rights in supported living, National Development Team for Inclusion | Alicia Wood and Rob Greig, Supported Living: Making the Move – Developing supported living options for people with learning disabilities, National Development Team for Inclusion
Links: Report (1) | Report (2) | Community Care report
Date: 2010-Sep
An article used data from the British Household Panel Study over the period 1991-2007 to examine the factors associated with residential mobility among people aged 50 and over. Those in late middle age (50-59) and those aged 90 and over were most likely to change address. Migration was strongly associated with changes in partnership, health, and economic status during the previous 12 months.
Source: Maria Evandrou, Jane Falkingham and Marcus Green, 'Migration in later life: evidence from the British Household Panel Study', Population Trends 141, Winter 2010, Office for National Statistics
Links: Article
Date: 2010-Sep
A paper examined changes in older people's home circumstances, including moving home. It looked at what helped or hindered the transition, as well as changes experienced when people stayed put. Older people without adequate resources, especially if in poor health, needed more support with housing decisions.
Source: Katherine Hill and Liz Sutton with Janet Harvey, Housing Transitions: Older people's changing housing needs, Department of Health
Links: Paper
Date: 2010-Sep
A report examined the impact of population ageing on housing in Scotland. The main impacts were on changing demands for housing supply and the housing stock; on support for people to remain at home; and on adaptations to housing stock. Each of these types of housing need was projected to rise rapidly as a result of population ageing.
Source: The Impact of Population Ageing on Housing in Scotland, Scottish Government
Links: Report
Date: 2010-Jul
A report examined the intermediate housing market (designed to bridge the gap between renting and owning). Although the intermediate market provided a good housing option for the few households who managed to access it, it was largely unaffordable or unsuitable for low-income families who could not access social housing.
Source: Nicola Hughes, The Forgotten Households: Is intermediate housing meeting affordable housing needs?, Shelter
Date: 2010-Jul
A report highlighted the role that local councils played in addressing the housing needs of an ageing society. Housing could contribute to better service integration, better outcomes for older people, and greater efficiency. Addressing the housing needs of older people could substantially reduce the demand for, and cost of, health and social care.
Source: Good Homes in Which to Grow Old? The role of councils in meeting the housing challenge of an ageing population, Local Government Association
Links: Report
Date: 2010-Jul
A report said that an estimated 284,000 additional homes were required in Wales between 2006 and 2026. 183,000 of these were in the market sector and 101,000 in the non-market sector. In addition, there was an existing backlog of unmet housing need that was estimated at 9,500 households.
Source: Housing Need and Demand in Wales 2006 to 2026, Welsh Assembly Government
Links: Report | Shelter Cymru press release
Date: 2010-Jul
A report examined housing issues affecting unpaid family carers. It highlighted successes and challenges in existing practice and commissioning, and called for policy changes.
Source: Peter Fletcher Associates Ltd, Carers and Housing: Addressing their Needs, Princess Royal Trust for Carers
Links: Report
Date: 2010-Mar
A report examined housing-related support services in Wales. It said that high-quality services were crucial given the vulnerability of users; and, in many cases, support services made a real difference to the quality of service users' lives. Yet defining, measuring, and commissioning for 'quality' were less straightforward in this field than in others. This could make achieving high quality more challenging than in other service areas.
Source: Delivering Quality in Housing-Related Support: Views from the sector, Housemark Cymru
Links: Report
Date: 2010-Feb
The government responded to a report by a committee of MPs on the Supporting People programme (provision of housing-related support services to enable vulnerable people to live independently). It welcomed the report's endorsement of the decision to remove the 'ring fence' from the programme in order to devolve decision-making and control over budgets to the local level.
Source: Government Response to the House of Commons Communities and Local Government Select Committee Report into the Supporting People Programme, Cm 7790, Department for Communities and Local Government/TSO
Links: Response | MPs report
Date: 2010-Jan
A report called for more support to help elderly people remain in their homes. More investment should be focused on preventing hospital admissions and reducing the number of elderly people who had to be cared for in nursing homes.
Source: In Your Lifetime: A vision of housing, care and support for an ageing society, National Housing Federation
Links: Report | NHF press release | Inside Housing report
Date: 2010-Jan
