Joseph Rowntree Foundation

							Setting Up a New Village Scheme
      The Story of Hartfields

  Karen Croucher and Mark Bevan
     Centre for Housing Policy
         University of York



         The Centre for Housing Policy
          http://www.york.ac.uk/chp/
                          Outline

•   Context, project aims and methods
•   Barriers, challenges and constraints
•   Partnership relationships
•   Financial model
•   Marketing
•   Physical environment
•   Selection of residents
•   Lessons for policy makers and practitioners

                    The Centre for Housing Policy
                     http://www.york.ac.uk/chp/
   Hartfields




The Centre for Housing Policy
 http://www.york.ac.uk/chp/
                      Hartfields:

• 242 units of mixed tenure accommodation (flats
  and some cottages)
• High density
• Range of communal facilities
• Owned and managed by Joseph Rowntree
  HousingTrust
• Partnership with Hartlepool BC
• £10M from DH Extracare Funding Programme
• £0.7M from Housing Corporation
• Rooted in wider extracare strategy for Hartlepool
                   The Centre for Housing Policy
                    http://www.york.ac.uk/chp/
                Aims of the project

• Funded by Joseph Rowntree Foundation
• Track the early development of Hartfields
• Explore the key decisions and why they were
  made
• Explore the expectations of key stakeholders:
  partner organisations, service providers,
  residents, local community
• Draw out practice lessons for similar
  developments
• Contribute to the evidence base
                  The Centre for Housing Policy
                   http://www.york.ac.uk/chp/
                          Methods

• Collate documentation that recorded decision
  making process
• Interviews with key stakeholders before scheme
  opened and in first year of operation
  –   Hartlepool Borough Council
  –   Primary Care Trust
  –   Key managers at the JR Housing Trust
  –   New staff and residents at Hartfields
  –   Other local stakeholders: community groups,
      voluntary sector
                      The Centre for Housing Policy
                       http://www.york.ac.uk/chp/
     Partnership Working: Hartlepool Extra Care
               Partnership Committee

• Clear remit and focus
    –   Oversee the development of the Care Village
    –   Monitor funding agreement between DH and HBC
    –   Conclude business when first residents arrive
    –   Final decisions on development with JRHT
•   Wide representation
•   Problem solving role
•   Organisation change at HBC and JRF/JRHT
•   Continuity
•   Different concerns of different partners
                       The Centre for Housing Policy
                        http://www.york.ac.uk/chp/
                  Financial model

• DH funding and JRHT investment
• Mixed tenure: 40% for sale, 40% for rent
  (nominations from HBC), 20% shared ownership
• Affordable
• Supporting People funding
• Four bands of care initially planned
• Fair Access to Care: substantial or critical needs
• Attendance Allowance to cover low/moderate
• Housing market collapse/recession

                   The Centre for Housing Policy
                    http://www.york.ac.uk/chp/
                         Marketing

• Marketing strategy prepared 2006
• Promote the idea of an “extracare village”
  –   Independent living
  –   Services and costs
  –   Mixed tenure
  –   Facilities shared with wider community
• Range of promotional activities
• Sell properties in a recession
• Flexible options for purchasers
                      The Centre for Housing Policy
                       http://www.york.ac.uk/chp/
               Physical environment

• Green field site designated for residential
  development
• Increase in site price
• Speed of development/Design and build
  approach
• Location of social facilities
• Location of facilities to be shared with wider
  community: GP surgery, day centre, park
• Parking and transport
                    The Centre for Housing Policy
                     http://www.york.ac.uk/chp/
                 Resident selection

•   Independent living
•   Hartlepool residents aged 60 and above
•   Mixed tenure and range of needs across tenure
•   Complicated allocation process
•   Difficulties selling properties
•   Initial HBC allocations to high level needs
•   Concentration of disabled/frail in rented
    properties

                    The Centre for Housing Policy
                     http://www.york.ac.uk/chp/
  Messages for policy makers and practitioners

• Enabling role of planning
• Role of Partnership Committee
• Promoting realistic expectations of “extra care”
  to residents and providers
• Accommodating different lifestyle choices and
  needs
• Responding to external challenges/changes
• Managing complex communities of older people
  – New skills? Combination of skills? Training? Sharing?
                    The Centre for Housing Policy
                     http://www.york.ac.uk/chp/
                Future Challenges

• Public sector funding
  – Supporting People
  – Attendance Allowance
  – Personalised budgets
• Local housing market
• Competition from other extracare schemes
• Demonstrate the added-value of preventive
  services
• Balancing and meeting diverse needs
                   The Centre for Housing Policy
                    http://www.york.ac.uk/chp/
            A different way of life

When I heard of Hartfields, I said, “This is the
kind of place I’ve been thinking about”, and I
couldn’t put it exactly into words, but I used to
think, “Why can’t you go to a place as a stepping
stone, before you get to a place where you need
complete attention?”. And when I read about
here, it was “well, this has been my thinking all
along”. So I was determined to get here, by hook
or by crook. And I’m enjoying it.
     Hartfield resident, 2009
                 The Centre for Housing Policy
                  http://www.york.ac.uk/chp/