Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effect on the personal, social and economic well-being of older people of moving into accommodation designed to meet their needs.

This Government believes that building more affordable homes for people, whatever their age, will lead to a housing market that meets everyone's needs. That’s why we have doubled the housing budget. We now have the largest affordable housing programme for 40 years, with £8 billion set aside to help build 400,000 affordable homes over the next five years.

Under the National Planning Policy Framework, local authorities must plan for everyone in their community. That means Local Plans should address the needs of older people as well as families with children, people with disabilities and other households – while recognising that these households may overlap.

In the context of our ageing society, we recommend that Local Plans are drawn up over an appropriate time scale, preferably a 15-year time horizon, to take account of longer term requirements.

We also published a data sheet setting out information and statistics on older and disabled peoples’ needs to act as a starting point for local authorities wishing to develop suitable policies. We produced further planning guidance to make clear how councils can plan ahead to meet the needs of an ageing population, and consider the types of homes they would need to build locally.