Rural Housing for an Ageing Population: Preserving Independence

This UK report presents the findings of our All-Party Parliamentary Group’s latest Inquiry: Rural Housing for our Ageing Population: Preserving Independence, the fourth in this series of “HAPPI” reports covering different aspects of housing and care for older people. Our underlying concern is with the growing numbers of older people in rural communities who will face a huge challenge to their independence and wellbeing if their homes are no longer suitable. Their needs can be met by both small village developments – perhaps six bungalows on an unused scrap of land – or by larger scale retirement schemes in towns close by. While we concluded that both these solutions can work well, we were particularly keen to remove the barriers to helping people remain in their own locality. We recognised that there are extra costs of delivering care to those in rural areas, we were clear that tailor-made homes will, of themselves, reduce the need for care at home and help older people stay well for longer.