The Good Homes Project gives all those committed to Ageing in Place, the well-being of older people, and a sustainable housing stock a better knowledge base to transform those aspirations into reality. It is a collaborative project between CRESA, Public Policy & Research, Auckland University and BRANZ and brings together expertise in housing, health, the built environment, energy, neighbourhoods and communities.

Our research aims to help New Zealanders age positively as valued members of their families and communities and to reduce displacement because of poor house condition. The research consists of national surveys and case studies in Auckland, Kawerau, Marlborough and the Chinese new settler community. It focuses on understanding the issues around repairs and maintenance for older people.

The Good Homes project has transformed the findings into three practical Tools to assess the home, work out what repairs need to be done and who is the best person to do them. It is a new approach to helping people maintain their homes, stay healthy and have more choices about their housing as they grow older.

1. Householder Tool

The Householder Tool is a checklist to go through the home, room-by-room, to identify things that need repair, maintenance or are unsafe. The Householder Tool suggests solutions to fix any problems and who to contact.

2. Support Service Provider Tool

The Support Services Provider Tool is very similar to the Householder Tool but is designed to be used by agencies that support older people in their homes (eg District Health Board staff, Age Concern, Presbyterian Support Services). The agency completes the checklist and helps arrange repairs for the older person.

3. Repairs and Maintenance Provider Tool

The Repairs and Maintenance Provider Tool is for property managers, housing providers, landlords or repairs and maintenance services with some technical knowledge of dwellings. It allows a more detailed assessment and comes in two parts – a paper-based checklist and an electronic tool (Excel sheet) that identifies and prioritises tasks based on urgency and cost.

The Good Homes research and development of these three Tools have been undertaken to fulfill the following research objectives:

Objective 1: Older People’s Dwellings and Staying in Place To  enhance older people’s ability to repair and maintain their dwellings and to age positively in their communities by: (a) establishing the current condition and performance of the dwellings of older owner occupiers and tenants; (b) the repair and maintenance investments and practices of older people; and, (c) the extent and relative importance of repair and maintenance burdens in prompting older people’s disengagement from their communities and movement into higher dependency living environments.

Objective 2: Meeting Older People’s Repairs and Maintenance Needs To enhance older people’s ability to repair and maintain their dwellings through the active development and provision of targeted and responsive repair and maintenance services, products and policies by: establishing the range of services and product gaps experienced by older owner occupiers and older tenants; identifying variations in the repair/maintenance service needs of older people associated with locational and socio-cultural characteristics; establishing the capacity of the building industry, the community housing sector, the older people sector and public agencies to respond to the repairs and maintenance needs of older people.

Objective 3: Practical & Effective Staying in Place Repairs & Maintenance To improve the capacity of the private, community and public sector’s to effectively support older people to repair and maintain their dwellings and age in place by demonstrating effective and practical product and service delivery opportunities, systems and models.