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Social housing for older people and those with disabilities
Housing for older people and those with disabilities is provided by both public authorities and housing associations. In addition, programmes such as Supporting People have helped to meet specific housing needs of older and other vulnerable people to give them the opportunity to continue to live in their own homes. Housing for people with variable needs is currently mainly classified as very sheltered, sheltered, medium dependency, wheelchair and ambulant disabled, although figures can vary from year to year as dwellings may be adapted to suit the particular needs of tenants, or re-classified by providers. In addition, some local authorities have difficulty providing figures for particular types of housing, resulting in counts that fluctuate over time.
Until 2007 the amount of very sheltered accommodation had shown consistent increases every year, rising from about 700 in 1996 to 5,100 in 2007. 2008 sees a drop back to 3,500, similar to 2005 levels. Similarly, figures for sheltered accommodation have fallen slightly to 32,800 after remaining fairly constant between 1996 and 2007 at between 33,000-35,000 units. The less specialised medium dependency housing has shown an overall drop from 17,600 to 12,900 units since 1996. Housing adapted for wheelchair use by those with disabilities has increased from 2,300 in 1996 to 5,700 in 2008.
Chart 10 shows the 2007-08 provision of social housing for older people in relation to the number of people aged 65 and over living in each local authority area.
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