Dr Anna Dixon, Chief Executive at the Centre for Ageing Better, said:
“This £3 billion towards the building of 30,000 new, affordable homes is hugely welcome – but it is imperative that we grasp this opportunity to ensure these new homes are fit for the future and meet our needs as we age. In the coming years there will be many more older households.
“Currently just 7% of our housing stock meets basic accessibility requirements. Unsuitable housing can cause problems for people with disabilities and cause injury and falls. This has an impact on both individuals and our health and care services.
“Most of us want to live at home for as long as possible, independently and safely. And yet very few affordable and accessible houses are being built to enable people to do that. If we don’t act on opportunities like this to ensure our new housing is accessible we are simply storing up problems for the future.”
