Older People's Strategy - Newcastle City Council

114 However, there is a growing interest in leasehold propertiesfor older people. The growth of owner occupation is a long-term trend, whichis likely to continue with the support of government policy.The purchase of council homes under the ‘Right to Buy’scheme has been a significant part of this growth (HousingStrategy). This may result in an increasing number of people beingable to partially or fully fund their care.Disability Newcastle has a high proportion of households includingsomeone with a disability (27.3% compared to a 15%national average). In 1991, just under 29% of households had one or morepersons with a limiting long-term illness. For 2001, this hadincreased to just over 39%. Newcastle has increasing numbers of people with complexphysical and learning disabilities living longer, with increasedexpectations in relation to levels of support to enableindependent living. At present we estimate there to be 1,449adults with learning disabilities in Newcastle and 418children. National predictions suggest that the number ofpeople with learning disabilities will rise by 1% a year for thenext fifteen years and we expect this increase to bereflected in Newcastle. It is estimated that 27% of all households contain a personwith a physical disability. Over half of these people live insocial housing.