Darren Paffey MP visits Abbeyfield House for Starts at Home Day

Darren Paffey MP has visited Abbeyfield House in Southampton, to mark Starts at Home Day.

Starts at Home Day is a national celebration of the value of care and support services and the difference that having a safe and secure place to call home can make to people’s lives. It is an opportunity for sheltered housing providers such as Abbeyfield to raise awareness of what they do and build political support.

Abbeyfield House is managed by Abbeyfield Living Society (ALS), a national charity and part of the Abbeyfield movement that provide housing, care, and support for thousands of older people worldwide.

Following a tour of the facilities, Mr Paffey, MP for Southampton Itchen, met with some of the house’s residents to find out how living there has enriched their lives, and discussed with staff how the house supports the residents day-to-day.

Sheltered Housing Manager, Lucy Perry, also explained how Abbeyfield House engages with its local community and the difficulties faced by sheltered housing (also known as supported housing) providers around the country. Issues such as inflexible funding models and meeting the complex needs of an ageing population are compounded by rising operating costs, inflation and challenges with staff recruitment and retention.

The MP said, “It was a privilege to visit Abbeyfield House to find out more about the work they do and the valuable services that ALS provides for older people.

“I was able to hear first-hand from Pat, who has worked there for many years, about their experiences of the immeasurable benefits of sheltered housing as a safe and secure home, giving them the opportunity to engage socially with their fellow residents and others in the local community, and the value of retaining independence and choice in later life.

“The challenges that housing providers face were also made clear, and I look forward to seeing how I can support Abbeyfield House in the future, so that they can continue to provide an excellent service to their residents in our community.”

ALS manages a number of sheltered housing schemes across the UK offering a safe, secure and comfortable residential environment for older people. Residents can retain their independence while enjoying the benefits of living in an environment built on values of companionship and community, with access to communal living and dining areas, nutritious home-cooked meals and a varied activities schedule.

Sheltered housing is also of great value to UK society as a whole in the way that it reduces pressure on the NHS, promotes the health and wellbeing of residents and saves money. The National Housing Federation, which supports Starts at Home Day, estimates that without supported housing there would be 41,000 more homeless people, costing over £40,000 per person per year; a need for 14,000 more inpatient psychiatric places, costing £170,000 per person per year; a need for 2,500 more residential care places, each costing £45,000-£50,000 per year; and a need for 2,000 more prison places, each costing £32,700 per year.[1]

Abbeyfield’s involvement in Starts at Home Day follows their sponsorship of an inquiry into the regeneration of outdated sheltered housing, conducted by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Housing and Care for Older People, which recently published its report. The report found that much more investment is needed to ensure that sheltered housing is fit for purpose and can continue to fulfil the needs of residents. It appealed to the government, Homes England and the Greater London Authority to recognise the value of investing in the refurbishment of existing sheltered housing, and provided several recommendations on the best way forward. This report was subsequently used to inform a report published by the Older People’s Housing Taskforce, which made further recommendations to the government.

ENDS

[1] https://startsathome.org.uk/2024/08/20/what-are-we-calling-for-during-starts-at-home-2024/