§ Mr. Andrew Bowdenasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what action Her Majesty's Government have taken to improve the housing conditions of elderly people since the publication of his Department's house condition survey.
§ Sir George YoungShortly after the house condition survey was published we increased the maximum rates for intermediate and repairs grants to 90 per cent. until the end of March 1984. There is also a maximum rate of 90 per cent. for improvement grants for applicants in hardship. It is hoped that elderly people will be able to take advantage of these higher grant rates.
In addition a number of agencies, public and private, have been established over the last few years, to help elderly householders overcome the problems they face in improving their homes. The Department is currently looking at these initiatives.
§ Mr. Andrew Bowdenasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what is his policy towards elderly home owners who may wish to move into public sector housing which is more appropriate for their needs.
§ Sir George YoungThe allocation of local authority housing is a matter for the discretion of individual local authorities.
§ Mr. Andrew Bowdenasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether his Department is monitoring any experimental housing schemes designed to help elderly people remain in the community.
§ Sir George YoungThe Department has research in progress to monitor a number of experimental schemes, such as the provision of alarm systems and wardens, to enable elderly people to remain in the community. The Department is also represented on the steering group for the University of York's research into Anchor Housing Trust's "Staying Put" project.
§ Mr. Andrew Bowdenasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether his Department is supporting any research into elderly people's attitudes towards and needs for particular kinds of housing provision.
§ Sir George YoungMy Department's research programme includes two relevant projects, one of which is a study of innovative ways of helping elderly people to remain in the community in both the public and private sectors. The other is a study of initiatives enabling elderly owner-occupiers to utilise the capital value of their home 41W to provide themselves with housing more appropriate to their needs. Both projects contain assessments of elderly people's attitudes to the suitability of the accommodation in which they reside and to other possible alternatives.
§ Mr. Andrew Bowdenasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on his Department's policies for building housing specifically designed for elderly people.
§ Sir George YoungThe majority of elderly people want to remain in their own homes, providing that those homes are or can be made convenient for them. For those who need to move the principal requirement is for the construction of small, warm and conveniently sited dwellings close to local amenities and services. For some there will continue to be a need for sheltered dwellings offering a degree of support and supervision.
I believe there is great scope for private house builders, public authorities and the voluntary sector to work together to help elderly people to avail themselves of the variety of opportunities that now exist to improve their housing circumstances.
In making housing investment programme allocations, we continue to encourage local authorities to concentrate resources on those in special need, such as the elderly and disabled. Substantial provision is also made in the Housing Corporation's approved development programme for housing for the elderly provided by housing associations.
§ Mr. Andrew Bowdenasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will assess the contribution that housing policies can make to care in the community of elderly people.
§ Sir George YoungThe Government fully accept that the availability of appropriate housing for elderly people —whether by adaptations of their existing dwellings or the provision of purpose-built accommodation—has a distinct and valuable part to play in contributing to the care of elderly people in the community. My Department is encouraging housing authorities to involve themselves fully along with social services departments in jointly-planned arrangements to enable elderly people to continue living in convenient housing in the community, with the aid of such support services as they require.