City of York Council is opening a new chapter in its housing services with its first ever guide for older people who are considering their housing options.
‘Positive Ageing – Housing Choices: the Older Person’s Guide to Housing Options’ aims to inspire and inform older people in the city about the range of housing options available to them.
The launch will take place as part of City of York Councils’ first ever Housing Week which aims to share best practice and promote innovation to meet the city’s housing challenges. It will take place on Friday 9 November 2012 from 10am – 1pm at Auden House, a sheltered accommodation scheme with extra care managed by York Housing Association and built at the heart of a £20 million project to replace nearly 100 post-war pre-fab bungalows with almost 200 high-quality mixed tenure homes constructed with partners including York Housing, City of York Council and Fabrick.
The new guide has been developed by City of York Council with significant contributions from older people in the city connected to Age UK, York Housing Association, Yorkshire Housing, Older Citizens Advice York and York Older Persons’ Assembly.
The contributors made the point, and the guide reflects this, that older people are increasingly choosing to remain in their own homes for longer and are looking for services to assist and support them with this. City of York Council’s Housing Strategy 2011-2015 makes clear the council’s commitment to ensuring that older people can remain independent in their own homes for longer. ‘Positive Ageing – Housing Choices’ actively demonstrates how that strategy supports that desire for independence by listing help and assistance available for people to remain in their homes for longer, along with information on other types of accommodation that people may wish to consider.
Members of the public are invited to visit Auden House and meet staff from York Housing Association and City of York Council. The document will be available at www.york.gov.uk/housing and as a printed booklet.