Industry Viewfinder
Making small changes through home adaptations and aids such as grab rails and walk-in showers, alongside repairs, could also help to avoid or delay the use of NHS and social care services (Ageing Better, 2017)
housing stock will be suitable for this changing landscape, saving lives, as well as public costs. Te success of these solutions are well-evidenced – the King’s Fund (2020),
for instance, reported that every £1 spent on improving warmth in homes occupied by vulnerable households yielded £4 in health benefits, while every £1 spent on home improvements to reduce falls lead to £7.50 worth of savings for the health and care sector. Further, making small changes through home adaptations and aids such as
grab rails and walk-in showers, alongside repairs, could also help to avoid or delay the use of NHS and social care services (Ageing Better, 2017). Te same report also made the case that installing home adaptations and undertaking home repairs in order to reduce falls on stairs could lead to savings of £1.62 for every £1 spent, and a payback period of less than eight months. Fortunately, this appeared to be well understood by our audience. When
asked if ‘the right’ products could help older tenants lead a happier life, for instance, 93% said yes, with just 6% saying no, and 1% being unsure. Ten, when asked if those products could help older residents lead a safer life, 95% said yes, with 4% saying no, and again 1% being unsure. Slightly less popular, but still clear, when asked if such products could help older tenants actually live longer, 87% said yes, alongside 7% no and 6% unsure. THE BARRIERS IN DOING SO With such a strong understanding of the looming crisis, along with the benefits of installing the already available products to help mitigate it in terms of our
“Would you agree with the institution of a ‘Good Home Agency’ – a local authority body to ensure access to information and advice, finance, home repairs, adaptations etc?”
housing stock, it is clear that there must be barriers to the adoption of such products if landlords and housing professionals have not begun to do so already on a wide scale – the latter demonstrated in our results above. In order to ascertain what these issues might be, we asked our respondents
what the main barriers to the adoption of products and services that can aid older residents are. Allowing them to choose as many options as they liked, the issues listed were numerous – one common among almost half of our
“What are the main barriers to the installation of such products?”
24 | HMMJune/July 2022 |
www.housingmmonline.co.uk
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