Councils ‘failing’ to house elderly, survey reveals
A survey reveals a 'shocking' failure by many councils to provide housing for older people, its authors claim.
Law firm Irwin Mitchell says two thirds of UK local authorities are failing to prioritise housing for the elderly.
It says less than 10% have both an elderly persons’ housing planning policy and allocated development sites for such housing despite an ageing population.
The firm examined the current and emerging local plans of the 329 local authorities in the UK over four months to look for policies on retirement housing and care homes.
Carl Dyer, head of planning at Irwin Mitchell said: 'Our population is ageing - this is a well-known and documented phenomenon happening slowly and over an extended time period.
'It is exactly the sort of change which our planning system should be able to anticipate and plan for, but that is simply not happening.'
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