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Guest blog from Care and Repair England: What kind of northwest do we want?
Posted On 09/03/2009
A good starting point would be for the North West to lead the country in creating homes and communities that are 'age-proof'.
The ideas and ideals of lifetime homes and lifetime neighbourhoods that are good places to live whatever a person's age are gaining increasing recognition, but have yet to be realised on the ground in England. Applying the World Heath Organisation's guidelines for Age Friendly Cities to all of the North West would be a world first - so what's stopping us?
Most of our towns and cities were designed when the population was completely different in terms of its age profile. In 1900 one person in every 25 was over 60 - today that is 1 in 5 and moving towards 1 in 4. And we know that 53% of household growth in the North West over the next twenty years will be people over 65 - yet our housing plans and strategies don't begin to address this social revolution.
A warm, safe adapted home is key to a decent older age - yet the North West has more unfit private homes than any other Region, many occupied by the oldest members of our communities.
In this economic climate a pragmatic approach to the issue would be to utilise the slack in the building industry by using the skills, by channelling support and funding into major retro-fitting and improving the thermal and decency standards of homes in the North West. That way, not only would we be contributing to reducing carbon emissions, addressing fuel poverty, improving the housing and hence the health of the occupants, but also making good use of the skills of the North West work-force and giving some economic future for the building trade.
Alongside climate change, demographic change is the biggest challenge to be addressed in every aspect of daily life. So let's put the two together and put the North West ahead of the game.
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