Meeting the Housing Needs of an Ageing Population

This report by the Public Policy Institute for Wales (PPIW) presents a series of recommendations on the challenges that population ageing poses for housing needs in Wales and what the Welsh Government might do to meet them. The report follows a Public Policy Institute for Wales (PPIW) evidence review on the current state of older people’s housing in Wales.

The report of recommendations calls on the Welsh Government to implement short term measures and adopt a long-term strategy to provide ‘future-proofed’ and ‘age-sustainable’ housing solutions to solve the growing housing shortage facing older people in Wales.

The report recommends that the Welsh Government develop a housing strategy addressing older people’s housing requirements, review planning policies and procedures to include older people’s accommodation and identify brown-field sites suitable for housing with care developments, particularly in rural areas.

In order to increase housing finance options, the report recommends that the Welsh Government promotes integrated working and funding for housing with care and independent living across health, housing and social care sectors; maintains public investments in existing home adaptations, community-support and independent living initiatives; and reviews new products and services. The report also emphasises that all new housing with care provisions should reflect Welsh “Quality Kite Mark” standards (e.g. life time home, accessibility and eco-sustainable, innovative design features).