“New Housing Plan Shows Promise but Fails to Set Targets for Older People”, says ALONE

ALONE says new housing plan published by Government today shows progress, but doesn’t confront the challenges of a generation of older renters 

Dublin, 13 November: ALONE, the national organisation that supports older people to age well at home, has today expressed concern that the Government’s new housing plan does not set national targets for delivery of housing for older people.  

Nonetheless, the organisation welcomed commitments to an action plan on housing for older people, wider delivery of supported housing, to examine affordability challenges for older renters and ways to address them, cross-departmental funding mechanisms to deliver on Housing with Support, and significantly increased funding for Housing Adaptation Grants.   

“We are concerned that the commitment to deliver 12,000 new social homes every year over the lifetime of the Plan does not go far enough, given the level of demand among older people and across the population,” said ALONE CEO Seán Moynihan. “We welcome commitments to a new action plan on housing for older people, but we need this to translate into homes that are genuinely accessible, adaptable, and provide the safety and security that people want and deserve. There was an 83% increase in older renters in the last Census and many will struggle to afford housing when they retire. Future Forty tells us we need to plan for the future, and we need a plan for housing for older people that delivers for the long-term.” 

ALONE also urged the Government to ensure that the policy commitments for older people to be fully implemented. “Actions relating to delivery of housing for older people were removed from the list of priority actions in the last iteration of Housing for All, which prevented progress being reported on these measures,” continued Moynihan.  

He concluded, “It is only in the coming months that we will see the impact on Local Authority Housing Delivery Action Plans. ALONE will continue to work with the Department of Housing and the Minister for Older People and Housing and local authorities to ensure that housing for older people does not fall off the agenda. Good housing for older people benefits every generation – after all, our social protection system is built on home ownership.”  

ALONE has outlined the scale of housing demand for older people to 2040, calling for the Government to provide or support the delivery of: 

• 82,500 social housing units built to Universal Design standards for older people by 2040 — representing 25% of the 330,000 total units needed. 

• 123,000 additional smaller housing units by 2040 as part of the overall national housing stock. 

• Delivery of 1,721 housing with support units by 2040.