Object

Representation ID: 44761

Received: 03/10/2021

Respondent: Churchill Retirement Living and McCarthy Stone Retirement Lifestyles

Agent: Planning Issues

Policy HW1: Health & Wellbeing
We welcome the Council's commitment to the health and wellbeing of its residents. As detailed in our representation to Policy HOU 2 the demographic profile of the Black Country is ageing with the SHMA identifying a requirement for 4,907 additional units of sheltered housing and 604 units of extra care accommodation by 2039.
An ageing population inevitably results in an increase in frail individuals and persons with long term health issues. There is a commensurate pressure on care and health services accordingly with many local authorities spending over a third of their budgets on adult social care currently.
It is well established that poor housing can exacerbate health problems in old age, with enormous resultant costs to the NHS and social care. For example:
Falls - Public Health England statistics show that in 2017/18 falls accounted for 335,000 hospital admissions in England of people aged 65 and over.
Cold Homes - Millions of older people in the UK are living in homes that are too cold. A cold home can cause chronic and acute illnesses and lead to reduced mobility, falls and depression.
Social Isolation - 1.5 million people aged 50 and over are always or often lonely, researchers have calculated. Loneliness makes it harder for people to regulate behaviours such as drinking, smoking, and over-eating, which in turn have their own significant negative outcomes.
Specialist older persons' housing has been developed with the needs of the elderly in mind, enabling them to remain independent for longer. These homes are designed to be warm and with features to alleviate the physical impact of ageing (such as level access throughout) and offer opportunities for residents to access support, care, and companionship. The recently published Healthier and Happier Report by WPI Strategy (September 2019) calculated that the average person living in specialist housing for older people saves the NHS and social services £3,490 per year.
The respondents commend the Council for recognizing the key role that specialist older persons' housing plays in the health and well being of the Black Country within sub-clause c) of this Policy. We are however concerned that the housing needs of the elderly are not considered within the housing policies which is addressed in our representations to Policy HOU2.