A BRADFORD man’s ideas to help the elderly stay independent in their own homes for longer have recently been heard at No 10 Downing Street.

James Place, 32, of Saltaire, a service innovation manager with Bradford Housing Association Accent, worked with a team of other housing professionals over four months to come up with the ideas, the best of which were presented to Prime Minister Theresa May.

“There is little doubt that we are all living longer and most of us are choosing to stay in our own homes for as long as possible,” said James.

“In Bradford, research shows that there will be 9.5% more people over the age of 60 by 2025. Staying in our homes is becoming more and more difficult due to what we need and the type of home we live in.”

“After talking with over 20 experts and academics, and the general public, we formed around 10 ideas, but decided to focus on one, improving life through aids and adaptations.”

The best ideas put forward by James and his colleagues, working as the Adapting with Age group, were further developed by the National Housing Federation, which represents housing associations across England, and presented to the PM and other senior politicians, innovators and investors. The PM’s policy team then approached the group to potentially develop the ideas further, which led to a visit to No. 10. The ideas are under wraps at present.

“Asking people to do something different will be the biggest challenge”, says James. “It will mean customers have to change their habits, and builders have to accept something new when building new homes. If our products are already included in new homes, people will accept them and find life easier in the process.”

“The Government’s Industrial Strategy holds the key to our designs being developed, and we have high hopes that they could become common place in our homes of the future.”

James has worked with Accent, who are based on Otley Road in Baildon, for 14 years. Accent has been established as one of Bradford’s leading housing associations for over 50 years.