Housing Policies for Older People

The debate about housing and old people is very lively. The supply of public sector sheltered housing, of the conventional type, certainly that managed by local authorities, has fallen off, but there is much talk about: extra care sheltered housing, privately built sheltered housing ‘staying put’ projects, community or dispersed alarm systems, about shrewd financial projects which will release the capital locked up in an old person’s own house. Traditionally subsidies related to the cost of providing dwellings but now the bricks and mortar subsidy has been changed into a means tested form of income support for the poor. There are a number of interesting issues involved in elderly owner occupation which are indicative of wider housing policy themes. The English House Condition Survey like previous surveys demonstrates clearly the links between age of housing and poor housing conditions. Elderly owner occupiers are more likely to be living inpre-1919 housing than younger owner occupiers.