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

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that new builds are accessible to older people and people with disabilities.

Answered by Baroness Swinburne - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)

I refer the Lord Bishop to the answer given to Question UIN HL8422 on 26 June 2023.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 5 July 2023 to Question 191359 on Housing: Disability and Older People, what guidance his Department published in 2019 for local authorities on (a) assessing the size, type and tenure of housing needed for different groups in the community and (b) planning for those who require supported housing.

Answered by Rachel Maclean

In 2019, the government published Guidance on Housing for Older and Disabled People, to help local authorities plan for the housing needs of these groups.

Among other things, this guidance set out the range of needs local authorities should assess, as well as the evidence that local authorities can consider when identifying the housing needs of older and disabled people.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that accessible and adaptable homes are available for older and disabled people.

Answered by Rachel Maclean

Planning rules already mean that councils must consider the needs of older and disabled people when planning new homes. The National Model Design Code provides tools and guidance to local councils for producing design codes; it details how the ten characteristics in the National Design Guide can be translated into design standards in local design codes. My Hon Friend will want to know that the Government has set out its intention to mandate higher accessibility standards for all new homes by raising the minimum standard in Building Regulations in England in due course.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure there is a sufficient supply of accessible and adaptable homes for older and disabled people who require such housing.

Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)

I refer the Hon. Member to the answers give to Question UIN 183870 on 11 May 2023, to Question UIN 187138 on 12 June 2023 and to Question UIN HL8422 on 26 June 2023.

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

To ask His Majesty's Government what recent steps they have taken to ensure there are enough accessible and adaptable homes available for those older and disabled people who need them.

Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)

I refer the noble Baroness to my answer to Question HL8422 which was answered on 26 June 2023.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what guidance his Department provides local planning authorities on supporting (a) elderly and (b) disabled people with their housing needs.

Answered by Rachel Maclean

The National Planning Policy Framework sets out that local authorities should assess the size, type and tenure of housing needed for different groups in the community, including those who require supported housing, and reflect this in planning policies. We also published guidance in 2019 to help councils put policies in place to achieve this.

In addition, as part of our recent consultation on a revised National Planning Policy Framework, we proposed additional wording which would explicitly set out that local authorities should plan for the needs of older people, including for retirement, housing with care and care homes. We will be publishing a government response to the consultation in due course.

The Government has established an independent Older People’s Housing Taskforce and asked it to examine how to improve house options for people in later life and to make recommendations to Ministers. The taskforce is expected to make its report to Ministers in the spring of 2024.

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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they will take to ensure that (1) older people, and (2) people with disabilities, can live in suitable housing.

Answered by Lord Greenhalgh

This Government is committed to ensuring older and disabled people can access homes that best suits their needs.

We work closely with the Department of Health and Social Care to provide capital funding to incentivise supply. This includes investing £11.5 billion in the new Affordable Homes Programme, which includes delivery of new specialist or supported housing for older, disabled and other vulnerable people. We have also committed £573 million for the Disabled Facilities Grant each year from 2022-23 to 2024-25 to support eligible older and disabled people to adapt their homes to suit their needs.

As announced in the Levelling Up White Paper, we will shortly launch a new government taskforce to look at ways we can provide better choice, quality and security of housing for older people.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent assessment he has made of the role of (a) maintenance and (b) continued supply of single-story homes in the ability of the housing market to meet national policy and guidance requirements on the provision of sufficient accessible housing suitable for the disabled and elderly; and what recent steps he has taken to help ensure that the housing needs of the disabled and elderly are taken into account in national planning decision-making.

Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

This Government believes that offering older people a better choice of accommodation to suit their changing needs can help them to live independently for longer and feel more connected to their communities.

In 2020, we consulted on options to raise or make accessibility standards of new homes mandatory, recognising the importance of suitable homes for older and disabled people. We are currently considering responses to our consultation and next steps will be set out in due course.

As set out in our National Planning Policy Framework, local authorities should already assess the types of homes needed for different groups within in their community and reflect this in their local planning policies.

We continue to drive up the supply of new homes, by diversifying the market; investing in affordable housing; and increasing land supply for new homes by investing in infrastructure.