Welfare housing for older people

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Wel_hops: Welfare Housing Policies for Senior Citizens

Improving independence, choice, and quality of life for older people across Europe

Brighton & Hove City Council is a partner in a new European Union project aimed at improving the quality of life of older people.

The Wel_hops (Welfare Housing Policies for Senior Citizens) project recognises that the population of older people across Europe is growing quickly, and in particular the population of those aged 85+, the oldest old, is the fastest growing population in the developed world.

Wel_hops is part funded by the European Union under the INTERREG IIIC  programme promoting inter-regional co-operation across Europe. The study runs to the end of 2007 and is looking at housing for older people.

It aims to:

• analyse good practice from across Europe
• publish an older persons’ housing design guide
• develop a website to publish good practice (www.welhops.net) 
• encourage housing to be built to the design guide standards

Brighton & Hove City Council are leading on this project on behalf of the UK, with other project partners from Italy, Sweden, Hungary, and Spain:

• ERVET (Lead Partner), Emilia Romagna Economic Development Agency, Italy
• Blekinge Institute of Technology, Sweden
• FAMCP, Aragonese Federation of Municipalities Regions & Provinces, Spain
• Municipality of Gyor, Hungary 

The project is including a review of Brighton & Hove’s New Larchwood ExtraCare scheme, to identify design features that contribute most to an improved quality of life. Project partners from Europe visited the scheme in March 2006. A design guide, based on the good practice, will be published next year that could be used to help design any future schemes across the whole European Union.

Further information on the project is available from the wel_hops website. This site also contains information on around 30 older persons housing schemes across Europe that the project has reviewed over the last year. The design guide and other good practice will be published on the wel_hops website as it becomes available.

The Welhops Housing Design Guidelines have the potential to improve the quality of housing in Britain and across the European Union. The draft design guidelines have just been published for consutlation. If you would like to view these guidelines and take part in the consultation, please click this link to be taken to the guidelines consultation page.

 

If you would like to speak to an officer involved in the project, please contact:

Housing Strategy Manager
Brighton & Hove City Council
t: +44 (0)1273 293159
e: housing.strategy@brighton-hove.gov.uk

or

International Development Manager
Brighton & Hove City Council
t: +44 (0)1273 545374