Into Perspective

HOW MUST THE MAYHEW REVIEW BE USED TO ADDRESS THE CARE AND HOUSING CRISES?

Review re-visited

The essence of The Mayhew Review centres around Professor Les Mayhew’s belief that the United Kingdom is currently not meeting the demands of its ageing population. In particular, the increased demand for older people’s care and suitable housing options for the UK’s ageing population. Professor Mayhew communicates his understanding that while Government has been made aware of the shortcomings in this country’s care and housing offer, little has been done to enact subsequent housing policy change or roll out improved care provision.

Professor Mayhew highlights key statistics that add weight to his argument that the UK’s current housing and care landscape is not fit for purpose. Crucially, the population aged 65+ is set to increase from 11.2 million to 17.2 million by 2040. Professor Mayhew understands that it will be much more evenly spread than at present, with older people accounting for 25-30% of the population in many areas. The vast majority will live in standard housing while as many as 6.2 million will live alone – half of them aged 80+ – piling pressure on geographically dispersed care services.

The Mayhew Review puts forward one overall recommendation to ease the care and housing crises, that being the Government’s Older People’s Housing Task Force should be mandated to implement the review’s recommendations and report on the outcomes. The sector has been waiting for the Task Force to be formally launched since its announcement in the Levelling Up White Paper

What must change?

2023 marks another crucial year for the sector as it continues to provide invaluable support to society’s most vulnerable people, all while responding to the challenges arising from successive years of underfunding, increasing workforce shortages and the absence of long-awaited reform. Suitable housing for older people is another area of the sector that requires immediate attention.

Research from The Health Foundation has found that 17% of homes in England were classed as non-decent in 2019, and that there was notable variation between housing tenures. The proportion of homes that are non-decent was highest in the private rented sector, at 23%. 16% of owner-occupied homes were non-decent, and 12% of social rented homes.

The Health Foundation also found inequalities in who lives in non-decent homes. Single adult households, particularly those over 60 and those on low incomes, are more likely to live in non-decent housing. Around a third of people aged 50 and over say their home needs work to make it suitable as they get older, according to research conducted by the Centre for Ageing Better.

‘Fixing the Care Crisis’, a report by Damian Green MP on behalf of the Centre for Policy Studies, recommends that local authority funding should be shifted towards central Government, arguing that this would ease the pressure on local budgets and encourage the approval of more retirement housing. In addition, the report claims that local authorities are currently incentivised to reject applications for new care homes and prioritise mainstream housing over retirement housing. The report calls for a complete overhaul of the system in order to build more housing and facilities suitable for older people.