'Handyman' call for older people

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Basic home improvements could enable many older people to stay independent for longer, reducing the need for costly social or even residential care.

Help the Aged wants the government to help fund a network of "handypersons" who could perform simple tasks such as fitting a bath-rail or a half-step.

It urged the government to match the £17m currently provided by a consortium of agencies to subsidise the service.

With one call to a central number, a handyperson could be despatched.

Heavily subsidised

There is growing interest in finding ways to keep older people living independently within their own homes, as the cost of care is so great.

The charities already involved with providing local handypeople say a bath-rail for instance can make washing that much easier for the 12% of older people who say they find it difficult, and reduce the risk of falls and a hospital stay.

A half-step can provide access to a part of the house or garden that had become off-limits.

"And the advantage is that older people do not perceive it as asking for help, which many are reluctant to do," says Joe Oldman, senior housing policy adviser at Help the Aged.

However, the services as they currently exist are heavily subsidised by the bodies that run them. Volunteers often carry out the work.

The aim is to secure funding to enhance the 200 existing services in England and to ensure they are provided in at least 360 district authorities.

Housing strategy

The Communities and Local Government department said the government was the first to make housing for older people a top priority.

A spokesman said: "We are working with Help the Aged and other key stakeholders on a strategy for housing in an ageing society, which we will publish later this year.

"This strategy will build on recent major investments and reforms."

The spokesman said more than £370m is spent a year improving older people's homes.

In addition, new building guidance requires developers to design homes with the needs of older people in mind.