LGBT Housing in older age

In 2015 Commonweal Housing joined forces with Stonewall Housing and the Big Lottery Fund to fund a study into the current provision of housing and related care and support for the older LGBT population in the UK.

Stonewall Housing a specialist Lesibian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT )housing charity in England, they provide Housing support and advice for LGBT people as well as supported housing for young people and lobby on for LGBT housing rights.

Stonewall approached Commonweal as they were considering potential housing solutions to the social injustice of housing for the older LGBT population in the UK. The result of those conversations was the commisioning of a pioneering feasibility study for Stonewall Housing to look at the demand for dedicated older LGBT housing in the UK.

Particular circumstances for this client group can mean a difficult relationship with family or a lack of children, so the support net that many older people  come to rely on can be absent. Perhaps as importantly, there can be greater barriers to key components of a happy and fulfilling later life such as companionship and protection from loneliness.

Supporting the exploration of such issues and helping experts to identify possible solutions is at the heart of Commonweal’s charitable mission helping to identify, develop and test ‘housing solutions to social injustice.’

The report reviews research reports from the last two decades and examines options for potential new schems such as co-design and quality og build issues, security and loaction concerns, community facilities and tenure and affordability consideration.

The report can be scrolled below or downloaded here