ABSTRACT
Sheltered housing is a firmly established form of housing for older people. In England, for example, there are around 465,000 sheltered houses. Less than 10 per cent are privately owned, about 300,000 are owned by local authorities and 120,000 by housing associations (Balchin 1995: 264). While there is an extensive literature on the social policy aspects of sheltered housing (for instance, Butler et al. 1983; Oldman 1986; Tinker 1984) and the experiences of people who live in it (Byetheway 1982; Middleton 1983), little attention has been directed to the sometimes competing perspectives of those who design it and those who are to live in it. This chapter attempts to redress that balance through an examination of sheltered housing in terms of the category of space and specifically how it is bounded and utilised.
