Providing excellent housing for older people in Kent and Medway

More than 40 senior housing, health and care services professionals met in Ashford to look at fresh and ambitious ways of delivering better housing provision for older people living in Kent and Medway.

Organised by the Kent Housing Group (KHG), the conference heard that a Task & Finish Group has been set up to create a “delivery mechanism” for better housing for older people.

KHG Chair Brian Horton said: “Today we want to explore what good looks like, identify good practise and make enough progress to ensure we can get pilot projects set up to deliver on our ambitions.”

Supporting KHG at the forum were senior staff from planning consultancy Stantec and award-winning housing design architect PRP, who helped to deliver two workshops where delegates were encouraged to push the boundaries when considering how to provide excellent housing for older people in the county.

The first workshop asked what typologies are most needed to encourage older residents to ‘right size’ and free up under-occupied housing, plus how can opportunities for older people’s housing be increased (for example through developer’s s106 contributions and planning policies)?

Contributions in the lively debate which followed included; many older people are happier after moving into suitable accommodation – how do we hear their voices?; recognise and respond to challenges around downsizing, possessions, carpets, curtains etc; ensure older people have enough information they need to make informed choices; a lack of data needed to influence planning policy; and the point that communities change (local shop/pharmacy shuts) so a development with facilities nearby may become a development with none nearby.

The second workshop posed the question: What does good design look like? What are the main priorities for the design of new sustainable new ‘Age in place’ developments? And how can consistency and quality be achieved?

Warming to the task, delegates added a wealth of contributions and ideas, including:
The need for enough car parking for residents, visitors, care workers etc.
Give choice, more or less communal living to suit individuals.
Help people understand the tech, underfloor heating, ASHP, ventilation, etc.
The need for ample storage space.
Is a good quality guest suite needed?
Provide seats in communal areas that are easy to get up from.
Control or limit service charges.
Big range of needs and aspirations in 55-100 year olds. Younger cohort do not want grab rails and nobody wants a hospital/institutional feel.
Need for a design guide that flexes based on number of homes.

Next steps

The conference was told that KHG has a mandate from the chiefs executives and leaders from every local authority in Kent and Medway to develop proposals around housing for older people.

Ashford Borough Council Chief Executive Tracey Kerly – who attended the conference – is representing the CEO and Leader groups on the KHG initiative. With her strong background in housing, Tracey is the lead on housing matters at the Kent chiefs group.

Brian Horton said the next steps will include identifying a project manager for the work; create a clarity of ambition; seek public sector land to create affordability; and to seek funding for this work via our Housing For Older People Task & Finish Group.

“Not doing anything is not an option and the human resources will be put into this to ensure we make progress. We’ll knock on doors of everybody to get the land to deliver these schemes. Homes England is on our Task & Finish Group and we will make a case if we find funding is going to be a barrier. We will not be restricted by what is considered normal now, we will pull levers to make things happen.

“There is a collation of the willing behind this and there is real momentum to make genuine progress,” Brian Horton told delegates.

For further information about the event please visit this Kent Housing Group webpage here, or to see more Kent Housing Group news please visit here.  

The Kent Housing Group is the ‘collective voice’ of the housing sector in Kent and Medway. It has representation from all 12 Kent local authorities, Medway Council, 13 housing associations, Kent County Council and Kent Public Health. KHG also has representation from organisations who work in partnership with social housing landlords, including the Kent Housing and Development Group, Homes England, the National Housing Federation, the National Landlords Residents Association and the South East Housing and Development Group. www.kenthousinggroup.org.uk