New research from Age UK shows more older people are findings themselves trapped in homes ill-suited to their needs.
According to the findings, which have been published today, 47% of people aged between 66 and 74 have moved house since turning 50, however the majority are struggling to find homes suited to them.
Polling commissioned by Age UK revealed that over a third (36%) of respondents aged 66 and over said they were worried about the affordability of their homes in the years to come, which equates to 4.4 million people.
Meanwhile, accessibility was discovered to be a concern for 42% of respondents and 35% said they’re worried about the condition of their house. What’s more, security issues were flagged by 29%.
‘At the moment we are miles behind where we should be when it comes to the provision of good quality, easily adaptable homes suitable for our ageing population, but the sooner the government addresses this the quicker we will catch up,’ Caroline Abrahams CBE, charity director at Age UK, said. ‘The fact that more than three quarters of all the growth in the number of households in the next twenty years is projected to come from the over-65s should be a wake-up call for everyone with an interest in the future of housing in our country.’
To give context into just how much older people are struggling with their homes, one local Age UK adviser shared the case of a woman living on the seventh floor of an apartment block.
‘The lift only goes to the 5th floor and so she can’t leave,’ the advisor explained. ‘She only goes out to go to the hospital, and the ambulance men carry her down.’
Against this backdrop, the charity is calling on the government to ensure that new mainstream housing developments incorporate features that make them suitable for ‘an ageing population’.
‘Our priority should be to ensure that mainstream housing is suitable for an ageing population and that the new mainstream homes being built under the government’s ambitious plans can flex to meet the needs of people as they age, especially the significant numbers who choose to relocate in the 50 to 75 age group, many of whom will not move again,’ Abrahams continued.
‘The insights we have gained through this research into the views of older people about their housing also shows how important the state’s financial help with aids and adaptation is. Helpfully, the budget for this has increased in recent years but Age UK remains of the view that we could and should be getting more value from the money being invested: for example, because of delays in the system too many older people wait far too long to get the showers and other adaptations they need to enable them to stay living decently in their own homes.’
Photo by Alex Boyd via UnSplash
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