Extra care housing: is it really an option for older people?

Extra care housing enables older people to remain in their 'own home', while providing appropriate housing and access to health and social care services that are responsive to their needs. This research explored the current levels of development and expansion of extra care housing in terms of the numbers of schemes and places and factors that contributed to and were problematic in its development. A stratified sample of 16 authorities was selected from 148 local authorities in England which had social services responsibilities: 13 agreed to participate. Each authority completed a brief form indicating its level of provision, and the leads were interviewed over the telephone. An opportunistic sample of three registered landlords was also selected. The findings illustrate that local authorities and the Government were united in their aims for developing extra care housing. However, the baseline for provision in the authorities was very limited in comparison with the number of care home places. Good working partnership between social services and housing departments was seen as the most significant factor in the successful development of schemes.