Older People's Strategy - Newcastle City Council

87 Family circumstances and needs. Requirements due to lifestyle and religious beliefs(see Annex 7, Note 16).Most older people want to continue to live in their own homesfor as long as possible and are therefore seeking quality andchoice in housing with flexible support services which enablethem to maintain independence. Although many older peoplemay be willing to downsize to smaller properties, they are stilllooking for a decent amount of space to allow for visiting familyand friends and hobbies.As older people’s needs change, so they need good-qualityindependent advice, information and support to enable themto make the right choices (see Aim 2).Most older people prefer to live in general housing stock;however, as their needs change, some require adaptationsto their existing homes and others seek to move to specialistaccommodation (e.g. independent supported living houses;sheltered accommodation; extra care housing).For some people residential care is the most appropriateoption. It is important that we ensure that the design of carehomes and the quality of services provided give people thebest possible chance of living happily and with dignity.Where we are nowKey plansNewcastle’s Housing Strategy and the Local DevelopmentFramework Core Strategy set out the vision and key outcomes