Housing Minister Grant Shapps’ announcement that local councils should help pensioners downsize into ‘more suitable accommodation’ to free up much needed family homes should be applauded. Under the proposals, local authorities would take responsibility for maintaining and renting the vacated properties at affordable prices, handing any profit back to the elderly owner. The Government believes [...]
Category Archives: Uncategorized
The country needs ‘joined up’ thinking on housing.
December 1, 2011 – 9:50 am
We welcome the Chancellor’s decision to raise the state pension by £5.35 in Tuesday’s Autumn statement. The soaring cost of living, combined with low interest rates and poor returns on savings has hit pensioners hard in the past 18 months. This move goes some way to alleviating their struggles in the current difficult economic climate. [...]
Why are the needs of the retired ignored in ‘Get Britain Building’ campaign?
November 23, 2011 – 5:09 pm
Yesterday’s government announcement that it will ‘Get Britain building’ with a series of measures to boost homeownership in the UK will no doubt help some people struggling to get onto the housing ladder. The building of new homes is at its lowest levels since World War II and with rents and house prices remaining high, [...]
Hoarding of Housing by Elderly is not out of choice as there is little appropriate alternative housing
October 19, 2011 – 3:23 pm
Today a new report from campaign group Intergenerational Foundation highlighted the high levels of under-occupied homes and the growing divide between the ‘haves’ – older property owners and the ‘have nots’ – young people struggling to get on to property ladder. However, it failed to mention that ‘home hoarding’ by the elderly is often not [...]
Come and talk to us!
October 4, 2011 – 1:16 pm
October is promising to be an exciting month. We have a series of open days planned across the UK throughout the month and we are running a nationwide radio advertising and press campaign to support them. Tune into your local gold FM radio station over the next two weeks for dates and times or ring [...]
Catch 22 Housing Crisis won’t be solved unless government invests in retirement homes
August 31, 2011 – 1:43 pm
This week’s report from The National Housing Federation highlighted a number of serious issues blighting the UK housing industry. It stated that the UK’s ‘chronic’ undersupply of homes is reaching crisis point; and whilst the government wants to embark on a £4.5bn project to build 170,000 affordable homes over the next four years, developers are [...]
Retired renters need lifelong tenancies
August 11, 2011 – 11:05 am
New figures released today from the Homelet rental index show a 16% rise in the number of retired people aged between 66 and 70 who have sold their homes to rent over the last 12 months. This rise in demand for renting in retirements certainly supports the trends we are seeing. We have witnessed a [...]
The impact of the rioting
August 9, 2011 – 4:04 pm
Like most people, I was shocked and saddened by the appalling scenes of riots and looting across London and other parts of the UK. One of our developments in South London was in lock down last night in expectation of the troubles, with elderly residents worried about their safety. Fortunately, the majority of our developments [...]
The costs of looking after the UK’s ageing population
August 5, 2011 – 10:05 am
New figures out this week from the Office of National Statistics confirmed we will all be living much longer, but that there will be a serious price to pay. According to the figures, a third of baby girls and a quarter of baby boys today will live to be over 100 years old. Additionally, there [...]
Affordable Homes Programme pushes ahead with no mention of the elderly
July 21, 2011 – 4:27 pm
The government announced at the end of last week the successful bidders in its ‘Affordable Homes Programme 2011-15’, with Housing Minister Grant Shapps revealing the 146 housing associations, local authorities and other providers who will be delivering 80,000 ‘affordable’ new homes through a £1.8 billion government scheme. Of the 80,000 new homes, 29 per cent [...]
