Lifetime homes: the issues
To avoid a housing crisis, we must ensure that all new homes can last a lifetime and cater for occupants at all stages of life.
The UK’s housing stock is woefully inadequate in catering for the needs of older people. Many houses and flats are built to inflexible designs, which means adapting a property to be age-friendly is difficult and expensive.
The result is that many people have to leave their homes and communities because their house or flat can no longer provide them with a safe and secure enrionment.
But simple changes at the design stage can make future adaptations much easier and less expensive.
The Lifetime Homes Standard is a set of measures developed by the Habinteg Housing Association and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
If built in to new homes, they could allow people to stay in their homes and communities for much longer. The Greater London Authority is piloting the standard across London.
With the number of people over 65 set to increase to over 15 million in 25 years time, this problem is only going to get more pressing.
The Lifetime Homes standard gives us the opportunity to change our housing habits now for the benefit of millions in the future.
What we want
Read more about our campaign aims.
What you can do
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