Older persons housing strategy

Welwyn Hatfield borough is located centrally within Hertfordshire with central London just 15 miles to the south of the borough boundary.

The borough has two main towns Welwyn Garden City and Hatfield, as well as a number of large and small villages providing a mix of urban, suburban and rural areas.

Population Growth

In line with National and regional trends, Welwyn Hatfield's' population continues to increase, the most recent population estimate for the borough was 116,000 people.

Population predictions also signify a significant increase in the ageing population over the next 20 years. The proportion of people aged 65 and above is expected to increase from 16% to 19.5% of the total population by 2037

Quality of Life & Levels of Deprivation

Generally, the quality of life in Welwyn Hatfield is considered to be good. Welwyn Hatfield is ranked 266th out of the 326 local authorities in England in the 2015

Indices of Multiple Deprivation (where 1 is the most deprived), placing it in the 20% least deprived local authority areas.

Life expectancy is around two years above the national average at 84.8 for women and 81.5 for men (an average of 83.2), and the borough performs better than the national average on 17 of the 32 indicators in the Department of Health's Local Authority Health Profiles. However there are disparities in the health of those in the most and least deprived areas of the borough - average life expectancy varies from 84.5 years in Welwyn East ward down to 75.2 years in Hatfield Central.

Health & Wellbeing

Good quality well designed housing can maintain the overall health and wellbeing of older people, and significantly reduce demands and expenditure on the NHS. For example injuries due to falls among older people have been estimated to cost the state over £1 billion a year, 1 in 4 falls involves stairs and the majority take place in the home.

With a growing older population comes a predicted increase in health, care and support needs.

This inevitably leads to growth in the demand for adapted and specialist housing in the borough to support the health needs