New Publication Launched on Guidelines for Age Friendly Housing Design
8th April 2025: Age Friendly Ireland has announced the launch of a new publication titled ’Ten Universal Design Features to include in a Lifetime Adaptable and Age Friendly Home’.
These guidelines are aimed at anyone who is interested in making homes more age friendly, including:
- Practitioners involved in providing social housing for our ageing population
- Private developers
- Homeowners who wish to adapt their current home or move to a more suitable home.
The document can be downloaded from the Age Friendly Ireland website at: https://agefriendlyireland.ie/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/AFI-10-Universal-Design-Features.pdf.pdf
Age Friendly Ireland (AFI) supports cities, counties and towns across Ireland to prepare for the rapid ageing of the population, by paying increased attention to the environmental, economic and social factors that influence the health and well-being of older adults. AFI works through local programmes to provide walkable streets, housing and transportation options, access to key services and opportunities for older people to participate in community activities.
Kildare County Council is committed to providing services that meet the needs of the current older population and to future-proof for ageing for all our citizens. To this end, Kildare launched the County Kildare Age Friendly Strategy, 2023 -2027. This document sets out the ambition and goals of the Kildare Age Friendly Programme over the next 4 to 5 years. A copy of the strategy can be found at: https://kildarecoco.ie/media/Kildare%20age%20friendly%20Strategy.pdf
Kildare County Council’s Housing and Regeneration Department’s Architectural Services Section is central in the design and provision of housing that allows older people to live in their own homes and communities with dignity and independence.
Various other supports for older people are available, including:
- Healthy Age Friendly Homes scheme: which provides assistance to older people to allow them to age in the home and avoid premature admittance to long-term care. Information on this scheme is available at: Healthy Age Friendly Homes Programme | Age Friendly Ireland
- Rightsizing: Rightsizing is the term that describes a process of adjusting a house to suit current needs of the resident. There are several rightsizing options available including adapting a home to better suit housing needs, home-sharing, supported housing and moving to a more appropriate or age friendly housing development. A guide to rightsizing can be found at: https://agefriendlyireland.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/AFI-Rightsizing-Policy-Guide.pdf
Details of the allocation requirements are available at https://kildarecoco.ie/AllServices/Housing/AllocationPolicy/
- Housing Aid Grant for Older People: This scheme assists older people (aged 66 and over) living in poor housing conditions
- Mobility Aids Grant:This grant is for older people and/or disabled people who find it hard to move around their home due to mobility issues.
- Housing Adaptation Grant – Used to improve access in homes, this grant is for people with a physical, sensory, mental health or intellectual disability.
Further details of these grants can be obtained from housinggrants@kildarecoco.ie.
Carmel Cashin, Senior Community Worker and Age Friendly Coordinator, Kildare County Council works to coordinate the supports and services with the needs and requirements of the older cohort. Carmel can be contacted at ccashin@kildarecoco.ie.
Kildare County Council’s Age Friendly Technical advisor is Colm Cosgrove, Senior Executive Architect in the Housing and Regeneration Department. Colm can be contacted at ccosgrove@kildarecoco.ie
