Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to encourage older people with care needs to move to (a) homes and (b) communities with supported living services.

This Government is committed to supporting older people to live independently for as long as possible, including through providing them with a better choice of accommodation. We committed to ensuring we bring forward more homes that meet the needs of older people, as set out in the Housing White Paper. We will consider the important role of housing in our upcoming Social Care Green Paper. This is due to be published by summer 2018.

The Disabled Facilities Grant helps older and disabled people to live independently and safely in their own homes through funding adaptations. Government has invested over £1.6 billion into the Grant, providing around 250,000 adaptations by the end of the 2017-18 financial year.

We announced on 31 October that funding for sheltered and extra care housing will remain in the welfare system, with some new but proportionate cost controls. This will enable providers to continue investing to meet the growing demand for this provision from older people. We also support this investment through our Affordable Homes Programme and the Department of Health’s Care and Support Specialised Housing (CASSH) Fund.