LOCALGOV Update - 25.2.19

Another need to address the "accessible housing crisis" through the local Plan......

Britain faces ‘accessible housing crisis’, charity warns

An elderly persons charity has warned that Britain is on the verge of an ‘accessible housing crisis’ due to planning policy failures.

Just 7% of UK homes meet basic accessibility standards, according to the English Housing Survey, despite national rules stating that a proportion of every development should include accessible homes.

The Centre for Ageing Better argues that the lack of accommodation fitted with features like level access entrances, walk-in showers or handrails is due to a national planning policy which is ‘fragmented’.

The charity says that the Government’s planning policy provides ‘no clear guidance’ to councils, who are responsible for delivering accessible housing, and that there is no standardised way to assess current and future need for accessible homes in an area.

They also said that local plans which would deliver accessible homes are often rejected.

A YouGov poll, commissioned by the Centre for Ageing Better, has revealed that nearly half (48%) of the population do not think society does enough to enable people to live independently and safely at home as they grow older.

This finding is supported by the fact that one in five homes in England is deemed ‘non-decent’, with non-decent homes disproportionately lived in by people in later life.

‘The woeful state of today’s housing stock is amongst the worst in Europe,’ said Dr Anna Dixon, chief executive of the Centre for Ageing Better.