Action promised on housing for disabled & older people
Wednesday 17th March 2021
A Scottish government pledge to provide more housing tailored for the needs of older people and those with disabilities has been welcomed by organisations working in the sector.
Scotland suffers from a shortage of adapted homes, with the number of disabled people on council housing waiting lists soaring to more than 17,000 in recent years.
A new government plan has promised to address the shortfall in a new 20-year strategy that pledges a ‘step change’ in the availability of accessible and adaptable homes.
Proposals include reviewing and ‘streamlining’ the current system for adaptations, after a 2018 report found more than 60,000 disabled people were waiting for changes to their home.
All new homes will be required to meet new building standards, set to be consulted on and introduced in the coming years, that will include accessibility rules.
Meanwhile Housing for Varying Needs (HVN) – the design guide for new properties that sets out how to meet the needs of older people, people with disabilities and wheelchair users – will be reviewed “within the next two years”.
This review will consider designing all social homes so that they meet the HVN standards.
Jill Pritchard, a Housing Occupational Therapist (OT) who is Vice Chair of Horizon Housing Association, said the “ambitious” proposals could lead to a major shift in independent living if realised:
“The combination of a tenure neutral Accessible Housing standard, the review of Housing for Varying Needs and the streamlining and acceleration of the adaptations system will make a significant impact on the ambition that everyone who wants to live independently in a home of their own can be enabled to do so.”
Ms Pritchard, who is also Chair of the Housing Learning and Improvement Network Scotland, which works to promote housing to meet the needs of an ageing population, said OTs working across housing, health and social care were well-placed to help deliver the strategy.
The plan also commits to greater linkages between housing services and health and social care, hinting at more sharing of funding between the two areas.
It pledges to bring in ‘mechanisms for shared resources across health and social care in a phased way to ensure best use of health, social care and housing funding and deliver integrated services on the ground.’
Alison Keir, Scotland Professional Practice Lead for the Royal College of Occupational Therapists (RCOT) said : “We are delighted that the publication of this plan considers housing as part of Scotland’s health and wellbeing indicators as good housing is hugely important as a wider determinant of our health.
“RCOT look forward to occupational therapists being involved in the policy development and implementation to make the aspiration of Housing to 2040 a reality for the citizens of Scotland.”
Derek Feeley’s review of adult social care, which reported early last month, said more had to be done to adapt housing so people could live independently for longer.
Individuals the review spoke to felt the ‘process of getting adaptations and improvements done is so complex that even professionals struggle to navigate it.’
It suggested a national care service be established that would work effectively with other services such as housing that are vital to health and wellbeing.
Caroline Rooks, Housing Policy Officer at Age Scotland, welcomed the ambition in the strategy but said it would have to come with major funding over the next two decades.
“While this strategy is very top line, Age Scotland is pleased to see that the Scottish government will be consulting on a new Housing Standard this year,” she said.
“This will be an opportunity to improve important issues such as minimum space standards, future proofing homes, and to bring these standards in line across all tenures. This should bring a great tangible benefit for older people and their housing options.
“It should also mean that new build properties will be built to standards that are suitable for people with accessibility needs, which would be a significant shift from the current model.
“Alongside these changes, we would need to see the government providing serious financial support to adaptations so that all households can not only afford to make the changes they need, but also have access to services at a local level that can provide professional help to fit the adaptations they need.
Ms Rooks added: “The strategy recognises the need for health and social care and housing professionals to work jointly together to provide the person-centred approach that is needed for people to live well independently.
“We are pleased to see that the Independent Review of Adult Social Care’s recommendations had been taken into consideration and that the Housing to 2040 strategy is proposing ways in which the different services can work together at both a national and a local level.
“This is great to see in theory, but it will take a lot of concerted effort for this to become the case in practice. If this joint working does become the reality in all local authorities then we will see vastly improved outcomes for older people.”
Read more: Investing in appropriate homes ‘pays back threefold’; How homes of the future can fix ‘shameful’ disability gap
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