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Home > Scoping Paper > Meeting the region's needs for specialist and
supported housing
Regional Priority 3: Meeting the region's needs for specialist
and supported housing
Current demographic projections suggest demand for many types of
supported housing will continue to grow considerably in coming years.
For example, research by Lancaster University's North West Regional
Research Laboratory for the North West Regional Assembly and others
forecasts that by 2021, 19% of the region's population will be aged
65 or over, and 2.2% will be over 85. This compares with figures
of 15.6% and 1.8% for 1996. The research also includes projections
of the numbers of disabled people in the North West (e.g. a 10.8%
increase in the numbers of Disability Living Allowance claimants
from 1996 to 2021, and an 11.1% increase in Incapacity Benefit claimants
in the same period).
With substantial variations evident in all of these trends between
different parts of the region and between different ethnic groups,
it is essential for local authorities and other agencies to understand
future trends in relation to different needs groups in their areas
of operation. For example, as the North West Regional Assembly point
out, disabled people have considerably reduced choices about where
they live, especially when they require accommodation that has been
built or adapted to meet their specific needs, and they are frequently
dependent on housing provided by registered social landlords or
local authorities. However, the scale and complexity of supported
and specialist housing needs makes this area a challenging one for
strategy development - covering the range of older people, people
with learning disabilities, people with mental health problems,
people with physical disabilities or sensory impairments, victims
of domestic violence, vulnerable young people, people who have chronic
alcohol or drug addiction and ex-offenders.
The Supporting People regime aims to move revenue funding for the
provision of supported housing to a more strategic and robust basis
than had been possible under the fragmented funding arrangements
in previous years. With the new arrangements having been formally
put into place only on 1 April, these are early days, but they do
offer the prospect of a more comprehensive spread of high quality
support to a variety of vulnerable groups within the community,
better integrated with wider local strategies, and underpinned by
a sound understanding of local patterns of need.
Priority 3.1
Providing appropriate capital funding for specialist housing
provision to meet clearly identified needs, in line with local strategic
priorities.
Questions
What is the role of a regional housing strategy in relation
to supported and specialist housing provision ?
Should investment in these areas simply be determined by comparing
current provision with patterns of need, or should it link to regeneration
strategies ?
More work
The information base currently available on the levels of provision
and need for supported and specialist housing is inadequate - it
is not clear at regional level what the North West's problems and
priorities are. Demographic trends, particularly in relation to
the ageing population, are suitable for analysis, and this work
was commenced through the Lancaster University study. We need to
understand the implications for future patterns of demand for different
types of housing across the region. We also need to pull together
the local strategies developed through the Supporting People process
to help identify key regional priorities.
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