Inside Housing has recently published an indepth article on almshouses and how we are experiencing a groundswell of interest in almshouse development.
Almshouse Association CEO Nick Phillips was interviewed for the piece together with a number of other leading figures in the almshouse and building sectors, including Dr Alison Pooley and Anne Taylor, chief executive of Thorngate Churcher Trust.
“Almshouses: a few, often centuries-old homes dotted around the country. Blink and you might miss them. Or will you?
The numbers may be small: 30,000 almshouses across England and Wales provide low-cost housing for around 36,000 people who are mainly, but not exclusively, older. Yet in recent years, these charity-owned homes, the oldest dating from the 10th century, have been steadily growing in number.
Records are patchy, says Nick Phillips, chief executive of umbrella organisation The Almshouse Association, but he estimates that almshouse charities are today building between 700 and 800 new homes a year, up from just a few hundred annually 20 years ago. He wants to sustain that momentum. “We would like to support almshouses to build another 5,000 between now and 2030,” he says.
So what is behind the trend, how are today’s new almshouses taking shape – and being paid for – and are they offering something that other affordable housing providers do not?”
INSIGHT 13.10.21 BYÂ CAROLINE THORPE
To read the article in full, please click here
To read Lord Richard Best’s Comment in Inside Housing, please click here
Posted 13 October 21