Will you be able to get into your house as you get older – make changes now before its too late?

As we have recently found getting my mother in and out of the annex has present challenges even though when I built it the front door had a ramp to it and the back door was level outside they both had traditional thresholds – how dumb there is the plastic from the double glazing in the way!!!

I am so annoyed with myself as to put level thresholds in which are basically flat would have cost no more and been so usable…argh and not that easy to change now which I am looking onto…

But this does throw up a big issue with housing and access and a recent report outlined this as follows where elderly are put at risk by severe shortage of accessible housing….

Current planning rules are fuelling a housing crisis which is forcing frail and elderly to live in dangerous housing conditions..

One of the things I have said in some of my posts is if you build your own annex and do the right things you can make a very safe environment for you relative, ramps, larger door openings, level showers etc

Planners and local authorities, the government should encourage us to build our own living accommodation, it costs them nothing, it actually saves them money as they don’t have to house us.

The report goes on to say that many elderly and frail people are stuck in hospital because their home is not safe to live in…and those that are sent home some to unsafe houses/flats lead to accidents and then returns to hospital.

Builders don’t want to build suitable houses as they don’t think they are so profitable, but if you build you own annex you can do what you want, well subject to planning restrictions.

Also many people had to wait an average of 22 weeks nearly 6 months before adaptions were carried out in their houses to make them safer to live in, if you do modify your own accommodation early enough then your relative can live more safely.

A charity director at Age Uk quoted “that providing accessible homes must be seen as core to reducing pressure on social care and the NHS”

Finally a recent government minister quoted that – our new planning rules make it clear that the needs of the elderly and disabled must be taken into account when planning homes….definitely worth remembering when you put in a planning application for an annex, lets put the pressure back onto the council to help us create good granny annex’s!!!!!

Thanks

David