Housing for Older People
In Ireland, the proportion of people aged 65 and over is growing rapidly, and many people are now living longer and healthier lives. As the population continues to grow, there is an increasing demand for housing solutions that provide independence, safety, and quality of life.
Housing for All
Aging in place refers to older people living in their own homes and communities for as long as possible. To accommodate aging in place, homes may need to be adapted, such as installing grab bars, ramps, and wider doorways for wheelchair access. Housing for All commits to providing funding for these support through various grants such as The Housing Adaption Grant.
The Age Friendly Homes Programme
The Age Friendly Homes Programme was initially piloted by 9 local authorities in 2021 before being launched in 2024. It provides assistance for older people to age in place or discuss alternative accommodation options where it is no longer possible for the older person to remain at home.
The launch marks the official opening of the programme in each of the country’s 31 local authorities. Healthy Age Friendly Homes Programme is an innovative support coordination programme to help older people live healthier and independent lives in their own homes for longer. The cross-sectoral nature of this programme is the first of its kind, with key partners including the Department of Health, Health Service
The national programme’s ambition is to enable everyone to live longer healthier lives by keeping care close to home and expanding the range of health and social care services in the community. It is about providing a range of alternatives for older people who may otherwise transition into long term residential care prematurely.
For more information on Healthy Age Friendly Homes Programme, click here.
Universal Design
Universal Design is about creating homes and environments that are easy for people to use and reflect the fact that all people experience changes in their abilities as they progress through the different stages of life. It is important for designers to take all potential users of the home into account throughout the design process in order to avoid creating a home that excludes certain groups from participating in normal everyday activities. By design homes using the universal design guidelines, it allows older people to age in place. Further advice and guidance can be found at the Centre for Excellence in Universal Design.
To help support older people to live at home for as long as possible, a Healthy Age Friendly Homes Coordinator has been appointed in all local authorities. The Local Coordinator will carry out a home-based assessment and, in partnership with the older person, will identify and design a range of supports to enable the older person to continue living independently.
An overview of the process is outlined below:
- Participants can self-refer themselves or be referred into the programme by family members, friends, healthcare providers, social prescribers, or members of the community (for example, Gardaí).
- Once referred into the programme, participants will receive a home visit from a Local Coordinator who is based in their local authority and has good links into statutory and non-statutory services in the community.
- The Local Coordinator based in the local authority will carry out an assessment of the older person’s needs across six domains: health, housing, social and community supports, assistive technologies, climate, and finance.
- Local Coordinators then work with each older person to design a personalised action plan under each of these areas to support them to live healthily and independently in their own home for as long as possible. Examples of interventions include access to primary care, public health nurse, physiotherapist, occupational therapist, meals on wheels, befriending services, housing adaptation grants, home energy retrofits, and assistive technologies such as wearable devices, pendants and fall detectors.
These role of the Healthy Age Friendly Homes Coordinator is to:
- Provide Information on supports and services available to assist older people
- Signpost older people to supports and services that could assist them
- Implement actions that are agreed in the personalised action plan created by the older person
- Track progress of actions in the personalised action plan.
- Enable & empower older people
Supports provided by Healthy Age Friendly Homes Coordinator include but are not limited to:
- Housing – adaptations, rightsizing, minor modifications, home sharing, decluttering, etc.
- Medical/Health – GP Visits, illness specific supports, transport to hospital appointments, home help, etc.
- Technology – Digital training, connectivity supports, personal alarms, panic buttons, assistive technology etc.
- Community – Meals on Wheels, social activities, befriending, community groups, libraries, physical activity, etc.
- Climate/Energy – Energy retrofits, grant information, BER Assessments, home heating advice, etc.
- Financial – Bills advice, carers supports, pensions, LPT, etc
In addition, there is an Age Friendly Housing Technical Advisor in every local authority. They provide specialist advice to the authority itself, to private sector organisations interested in providing age friendly housing and to the general public.
You can get grants to adapt and improve your home, so it is more suitable to your needs. This may mean you can continue to live there independently.
Grants include:
- Housing Adaptation Grant for People with a Disability
- Mobility Aid Housing Aid Grant Scheme
- Housing Aid for Older Persons Grant
- Disabled Persons Grant Scheme
- Better Energy Warmer Homes Scheme
.
Mobility Aids Housing Grant Scheme
The Mobility Aids Housing Grant Scheme is available to fast-track grant aid to cover a basic suite of works to address mobility problems, primarily, but not exclusively, associated with ageing.
- The works eligible under the scheme include:
- Grab-rails,
- Access ramps,
- Level access showers,
- Stair-lifts,
- and Other minor works deemed necessary to facilitate the mobility needs of a member of a household.
A home can qualify for this grant if it is any of the following:
- Privately owned,
- Rented from a landlord with a current tenancy agreement registered with the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) and with the landlord’s permission to make the changes,
- Provided by an Approved Housing Body (a list of these can be found at www.housing.gov.ie),
- A communal residence (accommodation where people live together in group homes).
An occupational therapist’s report is required, outlining the recommendation of the proposed works. The grant is means tested and the level of grant is determined based on gross income of each member of the household over 18 years of age (over 23 if full time student) for the previous tax year.
Housing Aid for Older People
The scheme of Housing Aid for Older People is available to assist older people living in poor housing conditions to have necessary repairs or improvements carried out. Grants under the Housing Aid for Older People Scheme may be paid, where appropriate, in respect of works carried out to a home that is privately owned where the older person:
- owns the home,
- or has a right to live in the home (right of residence) where the work will be done.
The types of works eligible under the scheme include:
- Re-roofing: Applicants applying to carry out roof repairs/ replacement will be required to submit with their application, written confirmation from their insurance company that such repairs are not covered by their existing insurance policy,
- Rewiring: Applicants applying to carry out rewiring must enclose with their application, written confirmation from a qualified electrician stating the condition of the existing wiring,
- The provision of central heating, water and sanitary services (where none exists),
- Repairs to or replacement of windows and doors: grant aid will only be provided in exceptional circumstances,
- Dry-lining,
- Other – any other repair or improvement works which in the opinion of the local authority are considered reasonably necessary.
Better Energy Warmer Home Scheme
The Better Energy Warmer Homes Scheme provides free home energy upgrades to homeowners on low incomes. It is operated by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) and is available nationwide. It covers:
- Attic insulation
- Wall insulation - including cavity wall, internal wall and external wall insulation
- Draught-proofing
- Lagging jackets
- Energy efficient lighting
- Energy advice
You can download an application form from the SEAI website, or contact them to ask for it to be posted out to you.
Housing Adaption Grant for People with a Disability
The Housing Adaptation Grant for People with a Disability assists disabled people in having adaptations carried out to make a house more suitable for them to live in. The person’s disability must be lasting and involve physical, sensory, mental health or intellectual impairment. The types of works covered include the fitting of access ramps, grab rails, downstairs toilet, stair-lifts, level access showers, changes to allow wheelchair access, extensions, and any other works which are reasonably necessary to make a house more suitable to live in.
A home can qualify for this grant if it is any of the following:
- Privately owned,
- Rented from a landlord with a current tenancy agreement registered with the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) and with the landlord’s permission to make the changes,
- Provided by an Approved Housing Body (a list of these can be found at www.housing.gov.ie),
- A communal residence (accommodation where people live together in group homes).
An Occupational Therapist’s (OT) report is required recommending the proposed works. The availability and the level of grant is determined on the basis of:
- Gross income of everyone in the household that are over 18 years of age (over 23 if a full-time student) for the previous tax year,
- Grant amounts are calculated on the net cost of the approved proposed works.
Approval for the works must be obtained before the work starts and payment of the grant is made when the work is completed.
Disabled Person Grant Scheme
This grant scheme is available for people living in social housing. It provides funding for extensions and adaptations to existing social housing stock for older people and for disabled people. The grant provides funding for adaptations such as grab rails, disabled access ramps, wet rooms and downstairs bedrooms. The scheme also provides extensions in cases of overcrowding.
If you are a local authority tenant and require work to be carried out in your home, you should contact your local authority for more information.
In some cases, your home might be too big for you needs, Healthy Age Friendly Homes Coordinator can advise you of alternative options including rightsizing.
Rightsizing means finding a home that’s right for you now and in the future. This might mean moving to a smaller home or somewhere on one level.
Age Friendly Ireland has produced a guide to rightsizing, from adapting the home to moving to more suitable accommodation. It contains a section on the Do’s and Don’ts of rightsizing and steps to take depending on which option is chosen. This guide can be accessed here.
Many local authorities in Ireland have rightsizing policies to support people access age friendly housing schemes in their area. This housing may be available to current social housing tenants of the local authority, an approved housing body, or those eligible for social housing. For more information see the local authority website.
An example of a local authority that operates a rightsizing policy is South Dublin County Council. You can find out more about this here.
More Information
Derived from the World Health Organisations Global Age Friendly Framework, Age Friendly Ireland is a Local Government led service in Ireland, working with multiple national stakeholders to prepare Ireland’s infrastructure and services for the predicted rapid increase in our older population.
Age Friendly Ireland works directly with older people nationwide to ensure that their voice is heard and valued when it comes to decision making at both policy and operational levels through active consultation. The shared service centre, based in Meath County Council, coordinates 35 local Age Friendly programmes across each local authority area in Ireland.
This document is a guide to the housing options that are available through local authorities including accommodation for older people. The document is an initial source of information. All local authorities have websites where additional and more detailed information can be found on all the options contained in this document.
If you are homeless or at risk of homelessness, the Homeless Prevention Service Directory can provide you with more information on supports and services available nationally to assist you.
This website provides information on housing and supports to help individuals live independently. It contains videos on how to apply for grants.
- The Housing Agency Publications
The Housing Agency has carried out research on a wide range of different aspects of housing. This includes Housing for Older People. The publications to date on Housing for Older People are included below. The publication section on The Housing Agency website is a live resource with new publications been added regularly. To view all publications, click here.
For more information please see the Age Friendly website or contact your local authority Healthy Age Friendly Homes Coordinator for more information.