Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to support (a) public sector and (b) private sector provision of extra care housing facilities for older people; and if he will make a statement.

The Department of Health is providing £315 million over 5 years for the Care and Support Specialised Housing fund. The fund is administered by the Homes and Communities Agency and, within London, by the Greater London Authority. The main aim of the fund is to support and accelerate the development of the specialised housing market for older people and disabled adults, which includes extra care housing for older people. The successful bids for Phase 1 of the fund were announced last year and will deliver over 3,500 affordable homes. The prospectus for Phase 2 should be published later this year. Phase 2 will build on the earlier phase and will seek to include developments which work across sectors to deliver more specialised housing.

Extra care housing for older people is also funded through the Department for Communities and Local Government's Affordable Homes Programme. The allocations made outside London for the current 2011 - 15 programme include funding for over 1,100 extra care homes. In addition, extra care schemes are eligible for investment through the range of private sector investment programmes run through the Homes and Communities Agency; for example the Builders Finance Fund and Build To Rent. Details can be found on the Agency's website: http://www.homesandcommunities.co.uk/ourwork

Allocations for the 2015 - 2018 Affordable Homes Programme are expected to be announced in July.

Older people have a wide range of different housing needs, ranging from suitable and appropriately located market housing through to residential institutions. On 6 March, we published our planning guidance, which contains guidance on assessing housing need, and requires local councils to consider housing for the elderly against their housing requirement. The guidance requires plan makers to consider the size, location and quality of dwellings needed in the future for older people, which will be clearly set out in the Local Plan. We are clear that local councils and mainstream housing providers need to start taking older peoples housing far more seriously and increase the quality, choice and provision of housing for older people.