Location, location, location! Hare Hill, Littleborough in Rochdale

Location, location, location!

Hare Hill, Littleborough in Rochdale:

The perfect location for extra care

This case study describes Hare Hill, Rochdale Boroughwide Housing’s

agship affordable housing development for the town’s ageing population.

The purpose built extra care scheme consists of 43 apartments and is

the rst scheme of its kind to be provided within the Rochdale area.

Drawing on HAPPI principles, Hare Hill has been designed to maximise

residents’ feeling of safety and security whilst also creating delineated

areas of life and social activity. The dementia friendly scheme is

supported by attractive communal facilities which are open to the

public, in combination with other

areas which are exclusive to the

scheme residents. The entrance

and community café serve as

focal communal areas, and

are prominently located at the

front of the scheme to welcome

people into Hare Hill, setting an

inviting and vibrant tone to the

scheme.

Written by Damian Utton, Director, Pozzoni Architecture Ltd. and

Peter Smith, Support and Independence Manager, RBH for the

Housing Learning and Improvement Network

June 2016

Case Study

12 4

Introduction

Hare Hill is RBH’s agship development and, as a purpose built extra care scheme, is the

rst scheme of its kind to be provided within the Rochdale local authority area. Designed by

Pozzoni Architecture Ltd, Hare Hill creates 43 extra care apartments for rent, comprising 41

two-bedroom and 2 one-bedroom apartments, and provides a hub of community support for

older people in the Pennines.

The location of Hare Hill is ideal and the design makes the most of its setting:

Close to the village centre, off a quiet cul-de sac•

Next to a well-tended public park, with a public library•

Next to a thriving bowling club and cricket club•

Next to well-tended allotments•

Not overlooked from neighbouring properties•

Views to the Pennines from many apartments•

RBH have another, smaller independent living scheme nearby, allowing those residents to •

benet from the resources at Hare Hill.

There is a public right-of-way to the park via the scheme car park: creating activity and •

interest with the scheme café beneting from the passing trade.

Parking and front-of-house areas open out on the park, affording a sense of connection, •

whilst the simple L-shaped footprint encloses the private garden.

Architecturally, Hare Hill takes its inspiration from the local vernacular and sympathetic

materials have been used, such as the local stone on the feature gables. The design was

developed with input from the Planning Ofcer, Highways Department, Secured by Design

(Police), Littleborough Civic Society and client working groups.

View of the front of Hare Hill extra care scheme

Background to the scheme

Location

The 0.5 hectare site is situated in Littleborough, off Inglis Street, between a park, allotments

and bowling green. The vehicular access to the site is from Hare Hill Road along Inglis Street.

Pedestrians can access the site along the same route or from the park. The only immediately

adjacent buildings are the houses on Henderville Street.

The previous use of the site was for Hare Hill Court, an outdated sheltered housing scheme

which had become unt for purpose and was demolished in 2010. The only remaining structure

on the site is a garage which will be demolished.

On the boundaries with the bowling green and allotments the site benets from mature

hedgerows. The boundary with the park has established trees and managed planting.

The site is well located for public transport. A bus route passes close to the site along Hare

Hill Road into the centre of Littleborough. Pedestrian access to the main centre where the

train station is located is approximately 400m away.

Analysis of the Hare Hill site

RBH had been in discussion with Rochdale Council Adult Care, Strategic Housing, the Health

Care Trusts and other local voluntary and private organisations in the Borough over several

years. A number of strategic needs assessments undertaken throughout the late 90’s and

early 2000’s by both the strategic health authority and local health and well being forums had

identied the need for around 155 extra care units in the borough. At this time the only extra

care available was through an existing HA Cat 2 provision, with Rochdale Council Domiciliary

Care Service providing overnight care. A number of previous funding bids through DH funding

had not been successful and it was recognised that there had been a lack of clarity of the

preferred model of extra care in the Borough.

RBH undertook a number of options appraisals on various existing independent living schemes

to ascertain potential and estimated cost of transforming existing Cat 2 provision to extra care.

However, each option appraisal failed to produce a preferred model with costs also coming

out very high. In 2009 / 2010 whilst RBH was still an ALMO, it embarked on consultation to

decommission and demolish a 2 story bedsit scheme built in the 1960’s mainly due to its lack

of viability to continue to provide services for tenants and their needs.

Part of the original promise made to the local community was that the land would be used in the

future to build accommodation of older people to continue to support the local demographics

of high concentrations of older people dependant on local support networks. In addition,

recognition that the site was an ideal location for an extra care scheme continued to support

this ambition. With the impending decision on stock transfer in 2011, RBH applied for funding

from the HCA under the 2012-2015 Affordable Homes Programme and was successful in

gaining grant funding of just under £1million.

With the successful stock transfer completed in 2012 and RBH becoming the rst housing

mutual to be owned by its tenants and employees a year later, and the remainder of the

funding requirement able to be developed within a 30 year business plan, RBH’s ambitions

started to be realised with the appointment of Pozzoni to help develop its plans.

Client brief and objectives

RBH aspirations for the scheme revolved around achieving integration of the scheme with the

local community: steering away from conventional concepts of ‘care homes’, and creating a

dementia friendly independent living environment that welcomes people of all ages to partake

in the scheme as a true community hub.

To achieve this, RBH needed to create facilities which did not duplicate existing local amenities

and design exibility into the front of house facilities, to meet with varied requirements. Also

pivotal to this aspiration was the need to delineate the public and private areas of the scheme,

ensuring that the apartment entrances are set apart and remain private, without any risk of

intrusion or disturbance from the busier parts of the scheme.

It was important to ensure that residents felt safe and secure, and with this in mind the

design ensured that access to the resident areas from both within the scheme and outside

entrances was controlled through secured access. This enabled the front of house areas to

be accessible to the community for a good part of the day and evening whilst continuing to

maintain resident security.

Design response

Hare Hill successfully addresses the clients’ objectives of creating a vibrant community hub

and a home for the people who live there, and responds to the recommendations of the HAPPI

Report.

The apartments have been designed to support the Independent Living concept, allowing

residents to receive care within their own home, without the need to move into a care home

should their care requirements change. Indeed, many residents have moved into Hare

Hill from care homes, as Hare Hill meets their care needs whilst also allowing them to live

independently.

The 41 two-bedroom, and 2 one-bedroomed apartments are designed to allow exibility of

use, with the option to adapt the second bedroom as a second living space, ofce, guest

bedroom, or to allow couples to sleep separately if required. The scheme has been designed

to meet all the HCA standards as set out in Standards and Quality in Development, Lifetime

Homes compliant and Fully Secured by Design accredited (parts 1 & 2), NHBC requirements

and elements of the wheelchair housing design guide. The Lifetime Homes compliant layouts

mean that adaptations to the apartments can be made with minimal disruption.

There are different views from each at:

long views of the hills, views across the

allotments, park, or of the bowling green.

The upper oor levels also have either

a generous window or a walk-in glazed

corner bay.

Three ground oor apartments have a patio

door which opens directly on to the secure

communal garden within the courtyard, and

another eight have semi-private patios to

the rear of the building, which have specially

designed privacy screens between the

dwellings.

A window has been provided between the kitchen and the communal corridor to allow a

connection. Some residents enjoy this feature and have personalised the window space,

whereas others have obscured the view. Either way, the option is there, and the windows allow

borrowed natural light into the corridors.

The wide recesses at the apartment entrance doorways, some of which have built-in upholstered

seats, help to break up the corridors and also provide social areas that encourage interaction

between residents. The corridors benet from natural light, either from windows situated at

either end or from borrowed light through the stairwells and rooms.

Assistive technology, telehealth and access to a variety of IT based services all combine to

assist residents and make the delivery of care easier for staff.

There are a number of design features that have been included specically in order to make

these apartments comfortable for older people and those with disabilities:

There are recesses at the entrances to each apartment which include built-in seating to •

act as resting places. These door recesses also include features allowing each resident to

personalise their entrance to aid recognition.

Approach to the site from the park

The double bedrooms have a connecting door into the shower room for ease of access. •

There is also a door into the shower room from the hallway.

The hallway is generous and has two stores off it – a tall store for coats, vacuum cleaner •

etc. and a separate airing cupboard for bedding, towels etc.

The living area has the lounge at the end with a window for plenty of light and a view out.•

Further into the room there is space for dining next to the kitchen.•

The kitchen has been separated off from the lounge/dining area by a wall with a large •

opening, while the worksurface returns to further enclose the space and provide a wall to

put a table against. This all helps to screen the kitchen without blocking out the light from

the window at the end of the room.

A number of features were included to help those with dementia:

The use of ‘memory boxes’ and kitchen windows allows residents to personalise their own •

apartment entrance using personal trinkets or objects, and greatly helps them to orientate

themselves and encourages interaction.

Different colour themes are used on each oor with complementing décor, soft furnishings •

and artwork.

Within the apartments the spaces have been laid out so that the toilet is visible from the bed.•

There is a circular route within the secure garden space.•

The single point of access from the outside, which is through the communal space, allows •

residents and the bistro staff to keep an eye out for residents.

Community Facilities

The communal areas, which are open to the public, and the private areas which are for

residents only, are separated and well dened. The bistro and lounge state their intention to

welcome the public by overlooking Hare Hill Park, and are visible on the approach along Inglis

Street.

The residents’ main lounge and hobbies room are beyond the secure line, meaning that

they are resident exclusive, and give direct access onto the private garden space. The quiet/

meeting room is nearby but has a more private outlook over the garden and is more intimate

in scale. The more private of the residents’ facilities, like the assisted bathing, are located on

upper oors in amongst the apartments for a more homely and domestic feel. A reminiscence

and memory suite has been created on the rst oor utilising the space of a large “empty

room” which was designed into the scheme to enable residents to decide on its use once the

scheme had opened.

Integration with the community has been achieved through engaging a local college and

school to become involved with the garden; and the café is popular with the park, library

and bowling green users. Care was taken when selecting the facilities to provide within the

scheme, and where a facility was included for its value to the scheme, like the hair salon and

treatment room, businesses from the village were encouraged to come in and use the facilities

rather than starting up new businesses. In addition, the scheme has integrated with the local

allotments society with regular sessions now in place for residents to have the help of the

allotment users to help them to “grow their own”.

The inclusion of a garden shed in the communal gardens has now enabled a “Men (and

women) in Sheds” programme to be developed which helps bring some of the men and women

together to undertake garden and DIY activities.

Flexibility was created both within the communal and residential facilities by using underoor

heating, freeing up the wall space. A furniture store was included to allow table and chairs to

be cleared away to accommodate different activities. The division of space within the largest

space – the communal lounge and bistro, is dened by oor nishes, not walls, allowing the

spaces to ow into each other and to allow for larger events. In the residents’ area, the hobby

and lounge areas are linked but can be divided to make two separate spaces.

Facilities include:

Landscaped gardens and areas to grow plants and owers•

Welcoming, modern social spaces with information screens •

Community café popular with the users of the local amenities – library, bowling green, •

allotments and park

Outside seating and dining area overlooking the park•

On-site hairdresser•

Treatment room for visiting therapists to provide a variety of health and beauty treatments•

Plan of communal facilities

Bathroom for hydrotherapy and help with bathing•

Residents’ hobbies room and lounge which are linked for exibility of use but have a •

partition for separating them off

Quiet lounge – a smaller more intimate space also used for meetings •

Scooter store with automated entrance•

Laundry facilities, which are well used and popular as a social space•

Access to the local amenities – library, park and bowling green•

The commercial kitchen caters for the café and can also provide meals for residents should

they not wish to cook for themselves, and these can be taken to individual apartments.

The communal areas are extremely well used and create a natural, social environment for the

residents. These facilities help residents to form friendships and this is testied to by the way

that residents look out for each other, fostering a true village community.

Accessibility and mobility

The building is wheelchair accessible throughout and each apartment is designed to meet

‘lifetime homes’ with future adaptability in mind.

The corridors have wide recesses at the apartment entrance doorways to ensure freedom of

mobility for all residents.

Both the individual apartments and non-communal areas feature a secure door entry, promoting

security and privacy for residents.

Residents are encouraged to leave their outdoor scooter in the store provided and use walking

aids or wheelchairs within the scheme. The scooter store features an automated entrance to

make accessibility as easy as possible.

Within the landscaping, raised planting beds allow everyone to get involved in gardening and

the opportunity to grow fruit, vegetables and herbs.

Staff needs

The communal area features a generously sized staff ofce, for both the care and management

staff. The large space available encourages integration and collaboration between team

members. Additional ofce space has been provided within the second oor and can be utilised

for future requirements.

The staff room provided at the rst oor features a picture window over the allotments, providing

a restful space to take a break. There is also a shower room for staff use only provided

adjacent to the staff room.

Stafng at the scheme

In addition to the Rochdale Council commissioned care service at the scheme, RBH has a

36.25 hours per week scheme manager to support tenants in tenancy management, together

with an out of hours response service to respond to non-care issues. In addition, a 36.25 hours

per week scheme caretaker is in post to also take on a low level handy person role to assist

residents with low level DIY such as hanging pictures, building at packs, or taking curtains

down for washing. These are all aspects which RBH identied as being issues to residents in

maintaining tenancies and independence.

Assistive Technology and Telehealth

Assistive technology, Telehealth, and access for older people to a variety of IT based services

such as broadband and wireless networks has been integrated into the scheme where

possible. Access to IT based services allows people to live more independently and to access

low level support from voluntary and community based services.

Specic assistive technology features include:

The latest in hard-wired warden call technology on a Cat 6 cabling platform. •

The capability for WIFI to be bolted onto the system in some of the communal areas.•

TV / Door entry security in every apartment•

An interactive events and information screen in the main front of house communal area •

to inform people of café menu, and future events and activities as well as news and

weather

Capability for TeleHealth and Telecare solutions to be bespoke and person led. •

HAPPI Recommendations

In response to the ten recommendations of the design of housing for older people as highlighted

in the HAPPI Report, Hare Hill accommodates:

Internal Space Standards

Flats are spacious, typically 65m² with two •

bedrooms and a well proportioned open

lounge/dining area with through kitchen.

Natural Light to Apartments

Living rooms have large oor to ceiling patio •

doors or bays. Flats with more northwest or

north eastern aspect have bays with side

views to the east. Bedroom windows are

also large and well proportioned.

Building layout to maximise natural light and ventilation

The layout makes best use of the site, maximising southerly •

aspects and views to the park, bowling green and allotments.

Internal corridors are wide with recesses at at entrances,

full width / height glazing to corridor ends frame open vistas.

Ground oor apartments have private patios and all residents

have ready access to secure landscaped gardens.

Adaptability / Care Ready

The at layouts provide direct access to bedroom/bathroom •

with future hoist track provision. Bathrooms are fully

accessible wet rooms. Assistive technology and Telecare is

incorporated with future emerging technologies enabled.

An apartment at Hare Hill

View of the bowling green from

corner window

An assisted bathroom will be provided in an attractive ‘spa-room’ format, and a treatment •

room will be available for visiting therapists.

Circulation areas as shared spaces

Corridors are wide with recesses at all at entrances with •

built-in seating area. Small windows are provided from

kitchens to the corridors allowing social interaction and

‘street’ feel.

The interior design provides differentiations at oor levels •

and at at entrances to aid orientation.

Communal rooms off corridors have glazed walls allowing •

wide resident inclusion in activities within the main

communal area. Circulation zones are exible, open and

inclusive.

Multi-purpose social spaces

The main communal space is a exible multi-purpose open plan ‘foyer’, welcoming to •

residents, visitors and local community. It includes a bistro, lounge, seating areas, reception,

and adjacent hair and beauty salon and a hobbies/club room. This multi-use space acts

as a true ‘community hub’ with the facility being the centre for an outreach programme and

welcoming to local residents including park users.

In addition, there is a small resident-only lounge fronting the private garden.•

Public Realm

The scheme has an enviable location for its resident group. To the south is a park, to the •

east a well-established bowling club and to the north a large and active allotment zone.

The scheme benets from, reinforces, and enhances its setting. Mature trees are retained, •

footpath routes retained/diverted and a landscaped public realm links seamlessly, and

without barriers, to the adjacent park.

New hedges were planted and an existing mature hedgerow retained.•

The private, secure garden area was landscaped and visible to the public realm through •

railings.

A productive garden area provides growing areas for green-ngered residents.•

Energy Efciency

The building is compact, with minimal external wall area, reducing heat loss through the •

fabric.

The scheme achieved a Code for Sustainable Homes level 3 accreditation.•

A centralised plant ensures maximum efciency.•

Two sides of the building are protected by mature trees. •

Entrance alcove

Storage

Externally the scheme includes cycle storage, a potting shed and a greenhouse. Internally •

there is a mobility scooter store with direct external access. There are also a furniture store

and several conveniently-sited general stores.

Within the apartments, the homes meet the HCA storage requirements, with two general •

stores, as well as a tall larder store in the kitchen.

A central store is provided for the storage and charging of scooters. It is not intended •

that scooters will be taken into apartments but wheelchairs may be used in residents’

dwellings.

External shared surfaces

There is one vehicular access into the site, which is off Inglis Street. There is also a •

pedestrian route following on from both footpaths on Inglis Street, one linking to the park

and the other providing a route to the front entrance with resting places along the way that

doesn’t require crossing the car park.

The benches on this pedestrian route will be shaded by the avenue of trees and it is •

intended that they will provide safe places to watch the comings and goings at the front of

the building as this area will not be clearly visible from the private garden. There is also a

pedestrian link from the park to the front entrance that passes in front of the dining patio.

Allocations

All of the apartments at Hare Hill are for social rent. The allocations policy utilises the formulation

of a multi-agency allocations panel made up of representatives from RBH, Rochdale Council

Adult Care, the care agency provider and the local NHS Trust (as needed). In addition the

scheme manager and on-site care manager are also involved. The panel meets every six

weeks and cases are presented in line with priority and need.

This panel allocates cases in line with the amount of care hours needed and links this to priority,

not necessarily to the time the case has been waiting in the queue. This approach identies

who would benet from what Hare Hill as an extra care scheme offers, and gives them priority.

A promise had previously been made with Rochdale Council to take some allocations from

residential care and this played a part in the decision making. Wherever possible the care

need mix is kept as an even split between high, medium and low care needs.

The panel met regularly throughout the latter part of 2014 and early part of 2015 to allocate

spaces. Due to early negotiations and marketing, the majority of the apartments were allocated

prior to completion.

Care is provided to residents by a care provider commissioned by Rochdale Council Adult Care

within an agreed amount of delivered hours per week. Any additional night time requirement is

paid for by residents through an additional welfare charge.

Hare Hill is suitable for people with low–medium level dementia. There has only been a

single incident where a resident doing hand-washing in the kitchen sink accidently left the

tap on. During June 2014 the entire development team at RBH received a ‘Dementia Friends’

information session.

Cost effectiveness

Total Project Cost £4.55m

Land Acquisition £0

Works Only Construction Costs £3.84m

Contractors Design Fees £112k

Professional Fees and Other On-Costs £484k

Furniture and Interior Design £122k

The total cost of construction was £4.5million and the design and build contract cost was

£3.9million.

Design work commenced July 2012 with planning approval granted June 2013. Construction

work began on site January 2014 with completion April 2015. By June 2015 the scheme was

at full occupancy, reecting the demand for extra care accommodation in the area.

The total oor area for the scheme is 4204m² and the communal areas form 9% of the total

Gross Internal Floor Area.

The scheme featured a variety of cost effective elements, such as:

A simple footprint with load bearing walls: the only area requiring steel structure being the •

open communal areas.

Identical kitchens and bathrooms in each apartment type (1 or 2 bedrooms).•

Flush façade with applied window •

boxes and corner bays: only the corner

bays require additional structure.

Unique but uncomplicated roof structure •

sitting over load-bearing walls.

Surrounding green areas within the park •

contribute to the landscaped context of

the scheme with no cost to RBH. The

landscaped garden is relatively small

so the high quality planting and garden

features were concentrated for greatest

effect.

A small palette of materials was used – natural stone, brick, bre cement roof tiles and •

metal clad features.

The use of expensive natural stone was concentrated in the locations it gives most impact. •

For the remainder of the elevations a buff brick that toned well with the local natural stone

was used to give the overall appearance of a stone built building without having to use

expensive natural stone throughout. This was something negotiated at the planning stage

with the Planning Ofcer and Civic Society.

View of Hare Hill from the bowling green

Input from Structural and Services engineers was sought early in the design process. This •

meant that all aspects of the design were well integrated and a co-ordinated and relatively

advanced package of information was issued for tender securing more accurate prices. In

the post completion review the Contractor stated that this was their preferred approach as

it allowed them better cost certainty.

There is exibility to adapt the apartments to the residents’ needs without signicant •

alterations to the layout. This means that items like grab rails did not need to be tted at

the outset - items that can make a space feel more institutional.

How the scheme is working now

The rst residents moved into Hare Hill during May 2015 and the scheme was fully occupied

by June 2015.

Generally the scheme is very well liked with residents advising they like the choice of either

privacy in their own apartment or taking part in social and communal activities.

The café is very popular and is used by people

visiting the adjacent library, bowling club, cricket

club, in addition to residents and other visitors to the

scheme. The café is run by a local social enterprise

who RBH partner with for other projects and is staffed

by local adults with mild learning disabilities – offering

employment training to this disadvantaged group of

people, RBH help support the social enterprise with

some of the overheads.

The residents lounge tends to be used only for

specic activities or occasions. Residents prefer to

sit in the public areas where there is more day-to-day

life and activity.

The laundry is well used and has become very much a social space.

The bench seating provided in the corridors is well liked and these are used as informal social

spaces as well as creating a resting place for the residents with mobility issues.

The secure doors separating the public and private areas were originally installed as a fob/

intercom access but with the weight of the re door and overhead closers, some residents

have struggled to open these doors. An automatic

door opening device has now been tted to all these

communal doors.

There is a single lift at Hare Hill which can be busy

as it is used by residents, visitors and care staff.

The option of a second lift was discussed during the

design stage but the expense of a second lift coupled

with the loss of an apartment or communal space

made this nancially unviable.

The garden area is very popular as it provides a

secure area but with views to the life and activity

of the entrance and the public right of way to the

adjacent library, bowling green, cricket club.

Community café at Hare Hill

Vegetable beds in the garden area

The size and layout of the apartments is well liked and the

option of the second bedroom for use as a bedroom or

dining room or study is popular. Ground oor apartments

have a small patio area and the installation of external

wall mounted clothes drying racks is very popular.

The kitchen windows opening onto the corridor areas are

also popular. Some residents have taken the opportunity

to personalise these windows in various creative ways.

Residents have also commented that these windows

give them reassurance that they are not alone.

One wheelchair user had difculty with pulling his

apartment front door open and retro-tting a grab rail to

the door has helped him with this.

Another comment has been that kitchen wall cupboards

are too high for some to use although they have been

tted to HCA standards.

Carers or families take refuse out to the communal refuse store for those residents who are

unable to do this for themselves. The communal refuse store has been set up with the Council

in line with their recycling strategy.

Conclusion

The success of Hare Hill is borne out by the popularity of the scheme, both in the time to

achieve full occupancy and the popularity of the community facilities. With just over a year

since handover the scheme is popular with residents and with the local community.

“My mum’s been living at Hare Hill for the past 2 months. All I can say is wow what a

lovely environment for my mum. The staff are all very helpful, pleasant and nothing is

too much trouble for them. They offer 24 hour care, also have a lovely hairdressers

and the cafe is superb. Adam who runs the café is so pleasant and always asks after

my mum. It’s just a joy to visit my mum in lovely surroundings; you’ve denitely made a

difference in my mum’s life. In my mum’s words she feels like the QUEEN.”

Tracey (relative of a resident in Hare Hill)

Comment posted on Housingcare.org

“Littleborough Removals are proud to announce that they have helped their rst

resident move into the new and magnicent facility at Hare Hill, Littleborough. I had the

unpleasant job of moving many old residents out of Hare Hill House into many other

sheltered housing throughout the borough but I can state without fear of contradiction

that this new Extra Care Housing facility is the best I have ever been in. The rooms

are wonderful, spacious and possibly one of the best settings in the country. The whole

place has a warm and homely feel to it and the building is state of the art and the

people of Littleborough have been truly blessed with this Home. I wouldn’t hesitate to

recommend to anyone, if given the chance to live here to take it in a heart beat.”

Jamie (helped new service users move into Hare Hill)

Comment posted on Housingcare.org

View over the bowling green

“Our new purpose built Extra Care facility at Hare Hill is a very exciting project that will

benet the local community as well as older people across the borough”

Clare Tostevin, Director of Communities

Quoted in New Articles

“This is a dening moment in the way we care for our older residents. It will mean they

can maintain their independence but still have the reassurance of 24-hour care on site,

as well as community facilities which will keep them connected to their friends and

neighbours.”

Councillor Iftikhar Ahmed, Cabinet member for Adult Care at Rochdale Borough Council

Quoted in New Articles

Note

The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the

Housing Learning and Improvement Network.

About the Housing LIN

The Housing LIN is a sophisticated network bringing together over 40,000 housing, health and

social care professionals in England and Wales to exemplify innovative housing solutions for

an ageing population.

Recognised by government and industry as a leading ‘knowledge hub’ on specialist housing,

our online and regional networked activities:

Connect people, ideas and resources to inform and improve the range of housing choices •

that enable older and disabled people to live independently

Provide intelligence on latest funding, research, policy and practice developments, and•

Raise the prole of specialist housing with developers, commissioners and providers to •

plan, design and deliver aspirational housing for an ageing population

For information about the Housing LIN’s comprehensive list of online resources on designing

for an ageing population visit: www.housinglin.org.uk/Topics/browse/Design_building/

Published by

Housing Learning & Improvement Network

c/o EAC, 3rd Floor,

89 Albert Embankment

London SE1 7TP

Tel: 020 7820 8077

Email: [email protected]

Web: www.housinglin.org.uk

Twitter: @HousingLIN & @HousingLINews