7th August 2012
A Commission, initiated by Gateway Housing Association, is carrying out an independent study into the needs of older people living in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.
The Commission is being supported by Altair, leading consultants in research, housing and regeneration. It is taking a strategic approach to planning future service development for current and future consumers. The approach includes consumer, political and provider perspectives.
It will also help Gateway develop new service models which have longevity and a degree of "future proofing", able to meet the needs not just of the existing older population but those of later generations too.
A key aim of the commission is an evidence-based approach to understanding the innovative approaches of other providers, including their critical success factors. As part of this work, the commission will look at which of these success factors might depend on local contexts and which might be transferable or adaptable to different settings.
It will look at innovative service development, including different types of leasehold retirement housing. As part of its successful Homes and Communities Agency bid 2011-15, Gateway plans to develop shared equity/ownership homes for older people.
These homes will be the first shared equity/ownership offer to older people in Tower Hamlets and Gateway wants to ensure that the scheme is a success, despite the specific challenges posed by the local economic and social environment - which have so far proved a deterrent to the private sector leasehold retirement home market.
The Commission is chaired by Don Wood, the former Chief Executive of London & Quadrant Housing Group and current Executive Chairman of London Housing. He commented:
"Older people play an important part in community life and it is essential that good housing provision is accessible to all older people. The Commission's task is to determine what investment is most suited to achieve that objective and I look forward to playing a part in helping to innovate and plan the future service development."
Sheron Carter, Chief Executive of Gateway said:
"Our decision to inaugurate an Older People'’s Housing Commission for Tower Hamlets which engages directly with the vision, aims and plans developed in the Council's draft strategy is ground breaking.
"If successful, it will help develop ideas and thought leadership within older people's services, contributing both to local service innovation and to future strategy development. This will impact significantly both in the Borough and more widely across the older people's services and accommodation sector."
The Commission's findings are due in autumn 2012.
