London LIN 5 th December 2013 Older Peoples

London LIN 5 th December 2013 Older Peoples Housing in Royal Greenwich Gill Ackrill Head of Strategy & Partnerships, Housing Name of presentation

Background • In 2007 the Council published its Housing Strategy for Older People • Most people want to stay independent in their own home for as long as possible • Lot of older people living in larger family homes – no longer suitable for their needs • Older people want to avoid hospital or residential care, many prefer mainstream housing rather than sheltered housing • Some people need Extra Care housing as an alternative to residential care • Range of provision in Royal Greenwich – Council owned, registered providers & alms-houses – about 1900 in total Name of presentation

Strategic approach • Cross authority approach to identify current and future need • Review carried out of existing Council schemes to identify if they meet the needs of current and future residents • Identified gaps in provision • Improved relationship with RPs and alms-houses – coordinating group established • Early meetings with developers & RPs to plan new provision • Project group to coordinate all activity – reviews progress and lessons learned Name of presentation

What are we doing? • Developed Extra Care homes: • Remodelled Richard Neve House (Plumstead) - 43 homes • Lakeview with Gallions in Thamesmead – 58 homes • Royal Military Academy (Shooters Hill) – 60 homes • Decommissioning 7 sheltered schemes because they are not suitable for longer term sheltered housing – 240 properties in total • Bringing 16 Sheltered schemes up to modern standards • Developing new senior living homes – with waiting list developed to ensure targeted marketing for local people Name of presentation

Extra Care homes • Greenwich had no Extra Care housing prior to 2009 • All schemes developed meet high level specification with space to bring in services and support as needed • One care provider across all 3 schemes – consistent approach • Provide low, medium and high levels of care dependent on each residents needs • People can move in with relatively low levels of support needs but more support can be provided if and when they need it. Name of presentation

Lakeview Name of presentation

Richard Neve House Name of presentation

Royal Military Academy Name of presentation

Decommissioning 7 RBG schemes Why review? • Changing expectations of people wanting sheltered housing • All 7 schemes have more than 50% bedsits, most have shared bathing facilities • Conversion to self-contained homes unfeasible & expensive • Higher level of refusal rate by applicants because of the above • Therefore high level of voids throughout the year – some over 20% • Location and other factors make them less popular Name of presentation

Bringing 16 Sheltered schemes up to modern standards • Programme of works being developed for remaining Council schemes to bring them up to a better standard – 650 homes • Fire safety works done as a priority • Consultation taking place with residents in individual schemes on timescales and types of works – lot of Decent Homes type works already being done. • Carrying out works to schemes where feasible to create 1 beds from bedsits with shared bathing. • Consultation took place with residents about scheme managers – as a result we have improved the service : • all schemes have day time manager cover but not resident warden • Floating support at weekends • Increasing & improving provision in schemes by converting scheme manager flats into additional sheltered accommodation Name of presentation

Developing new senior living schemes • Lot of Council general needs homes have older people who want to move somewhere smaller, more manageable but are of a high quality • When consulted some older people said they wanted dedicated over 55 s housing but not traditional sheltered • People liked the idea of some communal facilities and local services which would be available to wider group of older people • opportunities to get together and provide mutual support • Also said would like to see more opportunities for shared ownership and/or discounted sale for people wanting to down-size Name of presentation

New schemes built • Hambledown Road - 7 x 2 bed bungalows in Eltham – LANB programme • Eltham Baths – London & Quadrant - 22 x 1 & 2 bed rented homes • Kidbrooke – Halton Court - Viridian - 150 x 1 & 2 bed rented, and 20 shared ownership units. Schemes in development – completing 2015 • Royal Arsenal – Viridian - 67 rented, 48 shared ownership & 50 discounted sale • Mabel Polley – 37 x 1 & 2 bed homes • LANB garage sites - 26 x 2 bed bungalows • Longer term – looking at HRA land opportunities Name of presentation

Kidbrooke Senior living Name of presentation

Eltham Baths Name of presentation

Hambledown Road Name of presentation

Accessing senior living schemes • Developed a waiting list for all new senior living schemes in the Borough • Open mornings held to increase awareness, adverts in local press • Priorities for the new homes are: – Council tenants over 55 who want to downsize from a family home – People being rehoused from the sheltered decommissioned schemes & Woolwich Estates – RSL tenants over 55 wanting to downsize Name of presentation

Lessons being learned • 1 -1 support key • Needs comprehensive package for moves • Affordability key - need a range of housing types to meet income needs – not all older people are on benefits • Probably need more 1 beds than 2 s – particularly for people caught by under occupation charge • Sometimes need to be flexible with allocations Name of presentation

More information: Gill Ackrill Head of Strategy & Partnerships, Housing Services gill. ackrill@royalgreenwich. gov. uk 020 8921 5630 Name of presentation