Housing options for older people in a reimagined housing system: a case study from England

Abstract

The housing options of older people now extend far beyond the traditional choice between staying put and making do, or moving to specialist housing or residential care. A flexible suite of options has emerged, centred on promoting independence and well-being. Valuable insights have been provided into the development, delivery, costs and benefits of these options. Light has also been cast on the experiences and preferences of older people. However, little is known about who gets what housing, where and why. This reflects a tendency within analysis to consider these different housing options in isolation. This study responds by situating the housing options of older people within wider debates about the reimagining of the housing system driven by the neoliberal transformation in housing politics. Taking a case study approach, it explores the gap between the ambitions of policy and realities of provision at the local level, relates this to the particular intersection of state practices and market mechanisms manifest within the case study and, in doing so, rises to the challenge of extending analysis of the impacts of the neoliberal approach on the right to housing to new groups and different settings.