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112
Whilst considering re-housing of the aged it must not be forgotten
that there is a large unfulfilled demand on the part of
elderly people who, for various reasons, are not likely to receive
help of this nature from the local authority. These would include
elderly couples whose houses are too big, who could afford an
economic rent and yet who are unable to find alternative accommodation.
To cater for just this type of case the National Corporation
for the Care of Old People, an offshoot of the Nuffield
Foundation, set up the Hanover Housing Association, a non-profit
making organisation which is prepared to operate anywhere in
the United Kingdom where the local authority will welcome them
and provide all the statutory financial help to provide rented
accommodation in accordance with the recommendations contained
in the Ministry Circular 12/62. Transference of elderly
couples from the larger under occupied house would help the
local authority in two ways: it would provide the "young and
growing family" applicants with three bedroom accommodation
and relieve the authority of the future necessity of moving old
and frail people at the most inappropriate time of their lives.
A rapidly increasing retired population necessitates the production
of more housing units of various kinds for the elderly
from bungalows and one-bedroom flats of the orthodox type to
group schemes where they may enjoy privacy among their own
belongings and yet be able to benefit from communal services and
social activities. Such measures will not only enable the elderly
to maintain a measure of independence but will reduce the heavy
demand for residential places provided by welfare authorities.
Shortages of land, money, building materials and labour
bring limitations to what can be achieved within a given time and.
faced with these constrictions, it would seem that, in order to
produce a little breathing space, local authorities must give increasing
consideration to saving and converting the more structurally
sound dwellings. Where demolition is the only alternative,
then a greater measure of prefabrication must be introduced to
speed up completion of houses and reduce labour costs. In the
latter case, expediency must not give rise to the erection of houses
of reduced standards or size which will rapidly become obsolete
and thereby repeat errors of previous generations.
Population, generally, is expected to increase by approximately
8 million during the next 20 years, in which event something like
125,000 new houses a year will be required merely to keep pace
with the increase in households and furthermore, slum clearance
will also make its own demands. Altogether the building industry
will be subject to great strain in attempting to satisfy the need