**5. Health implications**

So how can meeting the housing needs of our ageing population be turned from a challenge into an opportunity?

The pressure now on individuals, local authorities and health services is to keep people in their own homes for as long as possible rather than enter the care system… but inadequate suitable housing militates against that. If these individuals cannot be supported to live safely in their own homes, they will have to go into care. And while some may be able to pay for themselves, a large number will not… placing the burden on our already-overstretched local authorities.

I view social care, health and housing as three legs of a stool, each of which needs to be in place (and equal in length) for the stool to remain upright. The solution is a coordinated, dual approach: more specialist housing with care and support plugged in, together with making our mainstream housing fit for purpose for the needs of an ageing population. It will require time, commitment and a relatively modest investment, but it will not just be this generation that will benefit, but every generation to follow.

However, given the opportunity to put in place basic "lifetime standards" as a pre-requisite for all new housing, so occupiers could age in place close to their existing support network, Government has opted instead to bow to market pressure and leave it to individual authorities to decide whether developers need to make that small additional investment based on how this would affect a scheme's viability [17].

There are bright spots. The London Plan for instance requires local authorities to ensure that 90% of homes meet "Category 2" standard for accessibility [18] – broadly equivalent to the old "Lifetime Homes" one. But outside of London, less than a quarter of new homes are required to meet the standard. London are also showing the way on wheelchair accessibility, requiring 10% of new housing to meet that higher standard. The Liverpool Local Plan (adopted January 2022) also includes these 90% and 10% figures. If those local authorities can see the benefits of these requirements, why cannot others?

The Government is currently "consulting" on the subject [19], and making some positive noises; we can but hope… but we all know what happens to consultations – especially if there are vested interests to overcome – and not helped by regular ministerial changes at the top. Like others who believe in accessibility standards being
