A former care minister says that Surplus Land owned by NHS should be utilized in building dedicated housing for the aged.
Paul Burstow MP, leader of the think tank Demos’ review of residential care, has said that adapted flats and retirement villages were required as well as conventional care homes such as Lynwood Retirement Village Surrey . It is suggested by the review that discounted prices could be offered and that planning rules be relaxed to encourage investments.
Care providers, in return, could be required to make contributions to council care.
To accomplish this, the proportion of the new complexes set aside for state-funded care would be given quotas. This model reflected the presently used section 106 laws for ensuring property developers are building housing that’s affordable.
The number of people living in adapted housing known as retirement complexes or extra care apartments are much more smaller than the about 450,000 people currently living in residential care homes in England.
Genuine Choice
According to Mr. Burstow, the term residential care had been “fatally damaged” by current scandals about neglect and abuse in homes and thus needed to change. Another solution that will aid care homes would be offering residents ‘tenancy rights’ which gives them more influence in how the homes are run when they move in.
He said that housing with care will become increasingly essential in enabling us remain independent as we live longer lives. He also said it was important for the government to wake up to this reality now and begin creating the proper incentives which will ensure disabled and older people are given a genuine choice when the time comes for them to move.
Mr. Burstow said that ‘housing with care’ will become increasingly important.
An estimated less than 40% of land the NHS holds is being used for medical buildings and hospitals.
Though the Department of Health admitted it’s not giving the incentives called for by the Demos report, it says it is working to free up land.
NHS land with the capacity for more than 10,000 homes has been sold since 2010. However, what would have been used for housing for older people wouldn’t have been all of it.
Dr Dan Poulter who’s the Health minister feels what’s been done is appropriate according to him. “We agree that the NHS can make better use of surplus land. That is why we have a programme to identify and sell surplus land.”
Age UK gave a publication of the review and called for every new home to be built to the standard of lifetime homes, meaning that as people aged, the homes will be easily adapted by making simple introductions such as level-access showers and grab rails.
It would cost about £1,500 extra at the building stage to adapt a standard new house design according to government research.
The charity called for immediate action because thousands of older people were facing delay in being discharged from hospital as they were waiting for home adaptations that are more difficult to accomplish in older properties.
Caroline Abrahams, director of Age UK said the country would be saved millions and the nonsense of older people having to linger in hospitals for longer periods due to delays in fitting adaptations like ramps and grab rails would end if all new housing were easily adapted.