A Parliamentary report (*) is maintaining that landlords need to adapt, to take a share of the growing ‘Generation Rent’ sector.

The adapting applies to their properties, creating environments that enable older tenants to live independently. Potentially they can do so free of charge, using the Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG). Closomat, Britain’s leading provider of toilet & bathroom solutions for independent living, has developed innovative packages to assist landlords in equipping for the future.

“According to the report, there has been a doubling of numbers of over 65’s in the private rental sector (PRS) in the past 20 years. It adds that in social housing, the demand for homes for older people is 10 times higher than current availability. It further suggests that more than half of tenants of that age or older have limitations in their daily activities. The DFG is available for tenants, and can, in certain circumstances, be applied for by the landlord, to cover the cost of adapting the home to meet the tenant’s needs,” observes Robin Tuffley, Closomat Marketing Manager.

The most common area within a home to be adapted is the bathroom, and the WC the most frequently adapted fixture therein. Closomat’s Palma Life has been specifically developed for landlords- social and in the PRS. It combines supply and commissioning of a Palma Vita wash & dry (smart) toilet with a total 10 years’ service & maintenance support, in one.

Thus the property is equipped to enable older and/or disabled tenants to go to the toilet without help. The Palma Vita offers enhanced cleanliness & hygiene for tenants of any age, in an aspirational fixture, that is also the only one on the market that can be accessorised to accommodate the tenant’s changing needs.

“It’s a win: win situation,” says Robin Tuffley. “The property is suitable for tenants of any age or ability. It has a fixture that enables someone with issues to go to the toilet independently. It has a fixture that is aspirational. The landlord has a solution that enhances the property, and that could cost little or nothing to provide, and maintain.”

(*) The all-party parliamentary group housing and care for older people: Rental Housing for an Ageing Population July 2019