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33 A reduction in the proportion of older people who live in a home that falls below the set standard of decency (England).
Baseline and trends: Baseline year –1996. In 1996, 46 per cent of older people lived in a home that did not meet the set standard of decency. This has since fallen to 34 per cent in 2001, 32 per cent in 2003, 29 per cent in 2004 and 27 per cent in 2005.
Definition: The proportion of older people (aged 60 or over) who live in a home that is not decent. The definition of a decent home is one that meets all of the following criteria:
- it is above the current statutory minimum standard for housing;
- it is in a reasonable state of repair;
- it has reasonably modern facilities and services; and
- it provides a reasonable degree of thermal comfort.
Data source: The English House Condition Survey was undertaken every five years up to and including 2001 from which date fieldwork was organised on a continuous basis. Results from the survey have been published annually since 2003, based on combined two-year data sets. The EHCS Annual Report was publsihed in June 2007.
Further information
An overview of the English House Condition Survey is available at: www.communities.gov.uk/ehcs
This includes most current and available data, with further breaks covering a range of household and dwelling classifications, type of location and deprived areas. More information and guidance on decent homes is at: www.communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1152190.
More information and guidance on decent homes is at:
http://www.communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1152190
Research Evidence
“Monitoring the delivery of decent homes by local authorities: A scoping study”
www.communities.gov.uk/pub/607/181MonitoringthedeliveryofDecentHomesbylocalauthoritiesascopingstudyPDF103Kb_id1155607.pdf