HOUSING FOR FUTURE

NATIONAL REPORT ON HOUSING FOR OLDER PEOPLE LAUNCHED AT GREAT NORTHERN HAVEN

THE Great Northern Havern at Barrack Street was the backdrop for the Joint Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government to launch its new ‘Report on Housing Options for Older People’ last week.

Amid the glorious summer sun politicians gathered with those working in the field of caring for older people to celebrate the launch of new strategies for the care of an ageing population.

Rodd Bond, from the Dundalk based ‘Nestling’ project which was a key driver in the creation of the Barrack Street development led tours of the facility, outlining the design, resources and and adaptations made to ensure older people can live independently for longer.

Speaking at the ‘Great Northern Haven’, a unique housing development at Barrack Street, which uses cutting edge technology to provide accommodation for older people, Committee Chairperson, Maria Bailey TD, said, ‘ Ireland as a nation is growing older and living longer and this is something to be celebrated.

‘However, as the population of older people increases, Ireland will have to adapt its current housing policy to facilitate this change in demographics.’

She added: ‘We must begin the conversation about the changes in our society today so the future doesn’t surprise us.’

‘With this in mind, the Committee undertook a series of meetings and stakeholder engagement with the aim of publishing a report that would assist in the future planning in this area.’

‘ The report we have published makes eight practical recommendations, taking into consideration the health, social and economic needs of older people.’

The chairperson added: ‘In order for older people to live at home and in their own communities for as long as possible, we are recommending that the Housing Adaption Grant eligibility age be lowered from 66 to 60.

This would go a long way towards making homes more suitable for an older person and allow them to have necessary adaptions made in good time, rather than perhaps at a later time when a health issue develops, perhaps suddenly.’

The Committee also called for mechanisms to be developed which would incentivise and promote the construction of housing options and residential care facilities located in town centres or central locations within easy access of local services.

‘Isolation is a real concern for older people and it is important that housing developments for older people are within easy access of transport links and social opportunities.’

As part of the committee’s ‘ stakeholder engagement’ they met with several organ- isations involved in front line services and also representatives from Great Northern Haven, the Louth based development which offers a community alternative to residential care, incorporating a range of smart living technologies to make accommodation suitable for the older people who live there.

‘ This kind of innovation and creativity is what we want to encourage and promote in local communities right across Ireland. With the relevant Ministers, Departments, State Agencies and stakeholders, the Committee is fully committed to monitoring the progress being made on the on-going implementation of the recommendations contained in our report as well as other housing policy initiatives.’

The national report launched at the Dundalk development saw eight key recommendations being made including:

•housing typologies in housing developments be required to match the age demographic of the area in which the development is being proposed;

• that mechanisms be developed to incentivise and promote the construction of housing options and residential care facilities located in town centres or central locations within easy access of local services;

• that the Housing Adaption Grant eligibility be lowered from 66 years of age to 60 years of age;

• that a cost benefit analysis be conducted into the exact costs per unit and the corresponding long term savings of implementing universal design into all housing

• that funding be standardised across local authorities for the Housing Adaption Grant.