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<p>This Government is committed to ensuring that more people than ever before can
access a safe, secure, affordable place to call home. That is why, in the revised
National Planning Policy Framework, we strengthened policy to create a clear expectation
that all councils have policies in place for addressing the housing needs of older
people. We also widened the definition of older people in the Framework to include
those approaching retirement and have published further planning guidance to assist
councils to get the right policies in place. Many older people are already benefiting
from the more than 460,000 affordable homes we have delivered since 2010.</p><p>Building
on the current £9bn Affordable Homes Programme, the Chancellor announced in the last
budget that we are investing £12bn to build affordable homes between 2021/22 and 2025/26.
This will be the biggest cash investment in affordable housing for a decade. Since
2012-13 we have also provided over £2.7bn, delivering around 280,000 adaptations by
the end of 2018-2019 to ensure older and disabled people can live independently and
safely in their own home.</p><p>The cross-government initiative 'Home of 2030' aims
to inspire and reward the ambition of housing providers, designers, the supply chain
and others through a design and delivery competition which addresses the major challenges
of future housing needs: an ageing society and climate change. The competition's aim
is to normalise new homes which are low-carbon, deliver low energy bills and are age-friendly,
enabling all generations to live independently in housing which adapts to their needs
as they age.</p><p>The Government is working hard to ensure our economy is protected
in the long term and is committed to building more homes. We will continue our progress
towards our target of 300,000 homes a year by the mid-2020s. This will see us build
at least a million more homes, of all tenures, over the next Parliament – in the areas
that really need them. This includes reform of the planning system, including ensuring
that planning permissions are built out more quickly, and more than £44bn of financial
support over five years to 2022/2023.</p><p>We are continuing to work with providers
and others to ensure we can provide a range of housing options to meet the needs of
everyone including older people and welcome this report as a contribution to the debate
about how we can encourage the provision of a range of high-quality housing options
for older people.</p><p> </p>
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