APPG on housing and care for older people launches inquiry into “housing for those living with dementia"

Housing for those living with dementia is the subject of a new Inquiry launched today by the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Housing and Care for Older People.

Supported by Anchor Hanover, the Inquiry will hear evidence over the coming months and make recommendations to Government early next year on how to ensure housing policy reflects the needs of the rapidly rising number of people with dementia. There are currently around 850,000 people with dementia in the UK, according to the Alzheimer’s Society. This is projected to rise to 1.6 million by 2040. Two thirds of these are not living in residential care but in their own accommodation, and our study will consider the policies and practices that can enhance independence and quality of life. 

The APPG is seeking evidence covering: 

• the links between housing, health and social care to improve the journey of people affected by dementia;
• the design of new homes;
• ways to increase supply of specialist dementia-friendly properties;
• changes and adaptations to existing properties to enable people to live well with dementia at home; and
• the role of innovative technology to improve the delivery of better care and support.

It is also seeking written submissions of to inform its report, which will make recommendations to central and local government and provide guidance for housing providers. These are being collated by the Housing LIN, Secretariat to this APPG inquiry. The Inquiry welcomes submissions by Tuesday, 30 June 2020. These should be emailed headed ‘APPG Inquiry’ to: [email protected].

The APPG membership of Parliamentarians will include: Peter Aldous MP and Lord Richard Best, Co-Chairs, APPG on Housing and Care for Older People, Rt Hon Damian Green MP, Baroness Kay Andrews, Baroness Liz Barker, Ruth Cadbury MP and Lord Ben Stoneham

The APPG will also be supported by a panel of specialists:

• Jane Ashcroft CBE, Chief Executive, Anchor Hanover
• Sarah Pickup, Deputy Chief Executive , Local Government Association
• Professor Dawn Brooker, Director of the University of Worcester, Association for Dementia Studies, University of Worcester 
• Kate Lee, Chief Executive, Alzheimer’s Society
• Bruce Moore, Chief Executive, Housing 21
• Damian Utton, Architect, Pozzoni architecture

APPG and Inquiry Chair Lord Best said: “Our APPG sits at the nexus of Housing, Health and Social Care. From this perspective we hope to contribute to the thinking of policy-makers and practitioners – with particular relevance in the context of the Social Care Green Paper – to support older people with dementia living in their own homes.”

Anchor Hanover Chief Executive Jane Ashcroft CBE said: “As England’s largest provider of older people’s housing and care, we know that appropriate housing can radically improve the wellbeing of those with dementia and have significant benefits for the wider community. The inquiry will make an important contribution to this urgent debate.”

To find out more about the inquiry, visit www.housinglin.org.uk/APPG-Housing-and-Dementia.